network:
Why fish fingers are made of fish
What do you do when the key attributes of your product are, shall we say, less than palatable but you still need to launch a marketing campaign? The answer, try out a bit of reverse-existentialist marketing!
Before I go any further, I’d just like to say I’m not a vegetarian, but the release ‘caught’ my attention for its reverse-existentialist approach.
It went on: ‘New national TV advertising for the UK’s leading meat-free brand will support the Quorn Fish-less Fingers, focusing on the sustainable values of Quorn foods’.
Further evidence of the sustainable nature of Quorn followed: ‘Quorn Foods has significant and long-established credentials in this area, as it was developed as a response to the threat of global food shortages in the 1960s. Research was commissioned to find a sustainable and healthy form of protein and the result was mycoprotein, the foundation of all Quorn products.’
Fish-not-really from Quorn
Interesting, but mouth watering ‘mycoprotein’ is hardly threatening my allegiance to Captain Birdseye so far. It continued: ‘The new ad is called “No Catch”, and highlights the Quorn fish-style range as a sustainable answer to growing consumer concern regarding over-fishing.’
So let’s get this right. Fish stocks are running low, you are worried. So you should buy something in the same shape, which doesn’t taste of fish, to replace your weekly fishy needs? And there is more form Quorn on the way.
Quorn Fish-less Fingers are part of a new Quorn range of fish-style products which include Quorn Salmon Style & Dill Fishbakes and Quorn Tuna Style Melts, with Quorn Ocean Pie launching in-store in October.
Note the cunning use of the word ‘style’ in there, which also leads me to wonder what part of the ocean the ‘mycoprotein’ in Quorn Ocean Pie comes from. But on a serious note, this last bit of information perfectly explains reverse-existentialist marketing. Quorn does not exist as a true rival to fish-based or meat-based products, but as an alternative. Therefore it cannot directly compete on claims with these alternatives (leaner beef, 100% fish etc) and can only define itself by making comparisons to meat or fish based products, which it is seeking to replace, or it has to face the horrible truth: ‘100% mycoprotein’
The result, reverse existentialist marketing. I wonder what Kierkegaard would make of it all?
Greg Brooks is content strategy director at C Squared.
P.S (There are more fish-not-really antics on show from LG in Thailand here - Ed.)
Comments