Page 21 - Marketing Times v1

at the top of their industry
importance to High Liner’s customers. “We
are a leader in seafood sustainability. Stocks of wild sh aren’t growing, and some are over- shed, while demand continues to increase. Now, 99 percent of our sourcing comes from species, regions, and sources which are certi ed, assessed, and publicly documented as practicing sustainable harvesting. This is signi cant, as
our total volume in 2013 of our eight largest species represented over 195 million pounds. Our clients want to know that we are out in front of these initiatives with nancial and human support. Our future depends on it.
“We can’t do it all ourselves, though,” adds Piscatelli. “We have two key advertising agencies who help us develop our strategy, branding,
and messaging, and we rely on Village Press to manage and deliver our marketing execution.” Foodservice marketing requires marketing for the guest-side of a restaurant, called the “front of house.” And an entirely different set of marketing for the chef side, or the “back of house.” A menu insert or table tent and many other forms of marketing are used to entice the restaurant’s customer to order High Liner’s products. At the same time, the chef and kitchen staff need
to understand the nutritional information, preparation, safe-handling requirements, recipes, and other helpful information. “Village Press makes sure our marketing is where it needs
to be, when it needs to be there. Imagine the weeks leading up to Lent. This is our biggest selling season for seafood. And, in the past,
we would have drive-through signs at every Wendy’s in the country, danglers hanging from the ceiling, posters in the windows, Village Press made it all happen, for hundreds of restaurants, on-time and on-budget.
“Village Press’s creativity, innovation, and value proposition has continued to grow for us during my fteen years,” states Piscatelli. “Now, they partner us with their other clients to develop new technologies and new ef ciencies, and it is a very progressive business approach. We get better every year, with Village Press,
and we need a supplier who can lead us. One of our team members commented that Village Press gets more done than any supplier we have, and they do it every year.”
Incentives are a signi cant part of launching new products for High Liner and for most food manufacturers. The distributors
– such as Sysco, U.S. Foods,
Gordon Foods, and many
others – do not want to stock
a manufacturer’s new products
without promotional support.
Otherwise, these products
won’t move out of the ware-
house and into the restaurants,
dining halls, hospitals, etc.
According to Piscatelli, “We
utilize rebate offers to incentivize
new and returning customers to
buy cases of our products. Village Press
is instrumental in this process, as they receive the coupon, purchasing information, and other data required to verify compliance
of purchase, and then process the checks
and manage the bank account. These incentives are critical to generating new customers for High Liner.” Adds Piscatelli, “Village Press is world-class in the services, knowledge, and relationship they provide
to our marketing and selling teams, and
our restaurant operators.” 
“Village Press makes sure our marketing
is where it needs to be, when it needs to
be there.”
Fall 2014 • Traverse City Marketing Times 21
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