The name of your product or brand is crucial to being able to attract customers. No one understands and acts on this premise this better than the fishing industry and we can all learn from them.
You’ve probably heard of and maybe even ordered Chilean Sea Bass. However, twenty years ago it’s unlikely that you would have ever seen this particular fish on a menu and, if you did, you were definitely not ordering it. That’s because back then it went by its original name, the Antarctic Toothfish.
That’s right. This particular fish is plentiful and tasty but it’s not all that fun to look at. The fishing industry realized this and decided to rebrand the species. Rather than labeling it as the Antarctic Toothfish they started calling it Chilean Sea Bass. It is not from Chile and is not really bass. That didn’t stop them. And now, diners are ordering it at ever increasing rates and prices.
For the fishing industry, it was as simple as changing the product name. Obviously, they didn’t improve the product or add new features. It is a fish. It is what it is. Except the name. The name they could change. And, so they did. And now it’s flying off menus everywhere.
You may not think of the fishing industry as leaders in marketing and branding, but they are, and we could all learn from them. The Chilean Sea Bass is not the only fish that’s had some rebranding.
Escolar is now White Tuna
Slimehead is now Orange Roughy
Rockfish is now Red Snapper
Similar in fashion to just giving a species a new name, the fishing and seafood industry is great at changing perception of various species. Last century, lobster was served to prisoners as a cheap meal. Eventually, lobster was ‘discovered’ and started showing up on restaurant menus, leading to today’s scenario where you can pay an exorbitant amount for a lobster at many upscale restaurants.
Regardless of what your product is, it can live or die by the branding and positioning that you choose for it. For this reason, before you go to market and throughout the life of your product, it is vital to research competitors that you consider to be direct competitors but also those that you may consider to be in a higher or lower class.
Simply throwing a new name or higher price tag on your product is probably not going to massively change your bottom line but these characteristics will help to define your product and brand in the eyes of your target market
Like the fishing industry and the Antarctic Toothfish, position your product where you believe it should be and then start selling that idea to everyone and anyone. With the right branding and positioning you can get your very own Antarctic Toothfish onto the menus of five-star restaurants.