How can three weeks of strategic work on the theme of sustainability influence attitudes towards seafood? The Norwegian Seafood Council will find out when the “Change of the Sea” campaign launches in the UK in June.

– This is a pilot project that is very different from our usual marketing activities. While sustainability is an important part of our communications today, we have never invested strategically in a campaign focused on sustainable seafood, said Anette Grøttland Zimowski who is responsible for international PR at the Norwegian Seafood Council in a press release.

June 11 marks the start of a three-week campaign under the auspices of the Seafood Council. It is called “Sea Change” and will be based in Letchworth Garden City.

– During the campaign period, we will carry out a number of activities in this small British community. Through sharing knowledge, commitment and inspiration, we will convey that sustainable seafood is not only good for people’s health, but also for the planet. Unfortunately, this is a very poorly communicated message, says Zimowski.

Also international

Although the Seafood Council has chosen Letchworth as the base of the campaign, he stressed that its aim is to gain national and international attention.

– We have partnerships with the local newspaper “The Comet” and the city’s Facebook page, but local activities are only a small part of this project. With the help of social media, media buying and press invitations, we will increase the visibility of sustainable food from the ocean, he said.

Seafood today is a small part of the western world’s diet. This is despite leading researchers showing that our oceans have the potential to produce six times as much food as they currently do, the Norwegian Seafood Council communicates in a press release.

– Seafood meets a number of megatrends, such as sustainability and health. Nevertheless, the protein battle is often fought between meat and vegetarians, while seafood is nowhere to be seen. As a large and responsible seafood nation, Norway has a responsibility to do what we can to elevate seafood into the food debate. The world needs to eat more sustainable food from the ocean, and now we’re using an entirely new tool to deliver that message, says Anette Grøttland Zimowski.

Two main goals

According to him, the campaign has two main goals:

1. Promote sustainable consumption of seafood on the role of the ocean in future food production.

2. Position Norway as a responsible seafood country and a leader for positive change.

– For us as the world’s largest generic marketing agency for seafood, it is at least as important to explore how PR campaigns across multiple channels can impact attitudes, purchase intentions and sales. The entire Seafood Council is now looking forward to testing new ways of working and methods, internally and within each individual discipline, he concludes.