Prince Edward Island Fishermen's Assoc.

PEI Fishermen’s Association Promotions Report

This campaign has initiated various promotional activities over the past three months spearheaded by our Taste Wild PEI Lobster Campaign. A number of these initiatives have received funding from the PEI Department of Fisheries, Aquaculture & Rural Development. Here is a current list of promotional activities. Planning and brainstorming for new projects are ongoing.

Peifa.org Website: The current peifa.org website is being revamped to be more user friendly and appealing to both FA members and consumers. The website will continue to have many of the features of the current website but will also include information such as how to cook seafood, where to buy it, and seafood recipes. We hope to release the final version by early fall.

Tastepeilobster.ca Website: A website dedicated to the promotion of PEI lobster was created earlier this year (tastepeilobster.ca). The site features a Google Map feature on where to buy lobster in the province, information on our Taste PEI Lobster Photo Contest, and general promotional material of PEI lobster.

Charlottetown Airport Presence: The hub of the ‘2013 Taste Wild PEI Lobster Campaign’ is located at the Charlottetown Airport. Featured at the arrivals section, there is a large banner and two black lit signs, two 30 second videos, and a brochure display. Seafood shops and restaurants that have paid to be in the PEI Visitor’s Guide are also featured on a Google Maps touch screen feature that is used in the Visitor’s Information Centre at the Airport. Approximately 300,000 people use this airport annually.

Summer Student Promotions Position: Connor MacPhee (4th year UPEI Business Student) has been working in a promotions role since the final week of May and will be working until the end of August. Connor was hired from a Post-Secondary Student Program at Skills PEI. Connor has been working on all of the projects listed in this summary.

Festivals: We have been attending multiple festivals across the province over the summer of 2013. We attended the Canada Day Festivities in Rustico, the Northumberland Fisheries Festival, the Crapaud Exhibition, and entered a float in the Gold Cup and Saucer Parade. Our booth included having someone dressed up in a lobster costume (see photo) taking photos with visitors, a TV set up playing our video documentary, having brochures and recipe cards to hand out, children’s lobster colouring sheets, and a draw for a lobster trap decoration.

Brochures: 10,000 ‘Taste Wild PEI Lobster’ brochures are currently in circulation across the province at PEI Visitor Information Centres, fresh fish shops, the Charlottetown cruise ship port, and have been passed out during the festivals we have attended. The brochure informs readers on lobster’s nutritional benefits, hints on how to cook it, where to buy, the industry sustainability, information on our photo contest, and PEI lobster’s competitive advantage.

Taste PEI Lobster Photo Contest: We are also holding a Taste PEI Lobster Photo Contest where entrants can submit photos (catching, eating, or really anything involving PEI Lobster). The grand prize for the contest is an Apple iPad and additional prizes as well. We’re looking for fun, family based, and scenic photos that can be used in future promotions for the industry in the province. We’ve been getting some great entries and the contest is ongoing until September 30. Entries can be submitted at photo@tastepeilobster.ca or by tweeting #PEILobsterPhotoContest on our new Twitter account (@PEIFishAssoc). More information on the contest can be found at tastepeilobster.ca.

Google Maps: A Google Maps feature has been created as well as placed on our tastepeilobster.ca website. Google Maps allows users to find the exact geographical location to find seafood at fresh fish shops as well as peddlers (those who were interested) across the province. As of August 19 the feature has been used by slightly over 3400 users.

Welcome PEI Handbooks: There is a full page ad on page 25 of the Guide with the poster for the Taste PEI Lobster Photo Contest listing the tastepeilobster.ca website, the e-mail address to submit photos, and a QR code for smart phones. The contest and a photo of the iPad is also listed on the front page of the Guide guiding readers to page 25 (great coverage)! There are 200,000 of these guides distributed each year. We have also been featured with the same ad in the Welcome Prince County Handbooks.

Twitter: A PEIFA Twitter account was created on June 17 (@PEIFishAssoc).We currently have approximately 185 followers on the account (as of August 19) and have been mentioned, retweeted, and favorite by many other accounts thus reaching an audience much larger than the 185 who consistently follow the account. The account ‘follows’ relevant media personnel, chefs, fishermen, restaurants, and organizations that have affiliation with Prince Edward Island and seafood.

Newsletter: A PEIFA Newsletter has been created and began its distribution with our December, 2012. This newsletter will be sent out to members on a quarterly basis featuring updates from the Association, interviews, and general information.

‘Our Story, Our Island, Our Fishery’ Video Documentary: A ten minute video documentary was created in Fall of 2012 featuring many great aspects of the fishing industry on Prince Edward Island. The video is placed on the home page of the peifa.org website, it is on Youtube (peifishermenassn account), as well as used at festivals and events being shown on a new 40 inch HD television.

Youtube: The ‘Our Story, Our Island, Our Fishery’ Video Documentary is on YouTube under the account ‘peifishermenassn.’ As of August 19, the video has had approximately 9,000 views.

Lobster on the Beach: Along with Chef Corbin, the PEIFA hosts ‘Lobster Party on the Beach’ as a ‘Signature Event’ as part as the PEI Fall Flavours Festival. This year’s event is being held at Cedar Dunes Provincial Park in West Point, PE. (159 Cedar Dunes Park Road) on Sunday, September 8, 2013 at 4:00 – 7:00 pm. There will also be transportation offered leaving the Delta Prince Edward at 1:15 and the Farm Centre at 420 University Avenue at 1:30. Cost for transportation is $12 per person. More information is available at http://www.fallflavours.ca/calendar/56/4672-Lobster-Party-on-the-Beach

Shellfish Festival: The PEIFA is also involved with and sponsors the 2013 Shellfish Festival being held at the new Charlottetown Event Grounds in Charlottetown September 12 – 15. The event features a number of different events and cooking lessons from Chef Michael Smith. More information can be found at: http://peishellfish.com/

Food Network Lobster Contest: The PEIFA sponsored a ‘Prince Edward Island Lobster Contest’ through the Food Network and PEI Flavours. Entrants could submit their entry online and have the chance to win a free PEI lobster dinner anywhere in Canada. The lobster would be shipped from PEI and would also include all necessities for having a great PEI lobster dinner.

Cook – Crack – Eat Video: Plans are also in the works of creating ‘Cook – Crack – Eat’ instructional videos on how to prepare and eat lobster. The videos be featured on the modified PEIFA website.

Sponsorship of Gran Fondo PEI Cycling Event: The PEIFA has signed on to be a sponsor for the inaugural ‘Gran Fondo PEI’ cycling event which features three long distance cycling races across the province from August 23 – 25. All riders in this event will also be wearing cycling shirts featuring a photo of a lobster.

Recipe Cards: Recipe cards have been produced and distributed to fresh fish shops across the province and have been handed out during festivals we have attended. The cards feature recipes for: lobster stuffed potatoes, lobsters and scallops with sun-dried tomatoes in basil cream, lobster stew, lobster cheese casserole, and lobster strawberry mango salad.

Post-it Notes: To grow the reach of our Photo Contest we created post-it notes featuring information on the Contest and how to enter. The idea behind this is to have a different eye-catching marketing technique with something bright and that stands out. Some of these have been placed in the brochure and also have been placed in random locations to grow the Contest exposure.