Goldfish are Out, Chilean Sea Bass is In
If you were around when IHOP became IHOB to promote their new burger menu, you’ve seen this before.
Recently, Goldfish announced they’d be temporarily changing their name to “Chilean Sea Bass.”
This announcement spurred a wide range of reactions across the Internet from sad to impressed to confused, to name a few.
If you aren’t a PR nerd like myself, here’s exactly why they did it.
Earned Media
Earned media is the treasure trove that every PR campaign strives for. Earned media is exactly what it sounds like - any form of media coverage that occurs organically, without the company having to pay for it. This includes coverage like news stories or social media posts by consumers.
With the all-too-often limited budgets for public relations and advertising, earned media is a great way to get people talking about your product without breaking the bank.
Just like IHOP/B a few years back, announcing a funny name change to spur conversation and give Goldfish the opportunity to connect with a new audience certainly seemed to work out for Goldfish with this campaign. Not only did social media posts about the crackers blow up but the name change was covered by news stations from CNN to TODAY.com to E! Online.
Repositioning and Reconnecting
Pepperidge Farm themselves shared that the idea behind this campaign was to appeal to an older audience. As Goldfish is heavily regarded as a children’s snack, this rebranding, no matter how satirical, was meant to reposition Goldfish within the snack market.
While as kids we may have loved the snack for its adorable shape that always smiled back at us, what keeps consumers repurchasing is ultimately the taste. This campaign aimed to target the kids who may have grown up on Goldfish, but stopped buying them as eating a smiling fish-shaped cheese cracker may have seemed like a thing of their past.
With this temporary rebrand, Goldfish is reminding us all that they are a tasty and fun snack for all ages. Fueled by nostalgia and the ability to say they purchased the limited edition “Chilean Sea Bass” bags, perhaps “as a joke,” consumers are coincidentally reminded of the tasty joy the snack brings them, inviting them to continue purchasing long past when this campaign ends.
Hopping on the “Limited Edition” Frenzy
Lastly, people go crazy for anything limited edition. As exemplified by this post, consumers will go to great lengths to get their hands on something only a select few can say they have.
A technique often used by luxury brands, attaching the “limited edition” label on a product makes it seem exclusive. Additionally, understanding that this product will not be around forever encourages people to talk about it with a sense of urgency and get to purchasing faster than they may have otherwise.
While this campaign may not have appealed to everyone, I’ve never seen so many people on the Internet talking about Goldfish - and that was their goal all along.
You heard it here first,
Kylie
