How New Zealand King Salmon won the 'Wagyu beef' blessing

The story was part of a five-month campaign by New Zealand King Salmon ahead of its Ora King Awards in the United States next month, for which it employed external PR support to help buoy the profile of local chefs entering the awards.

But for New Zealand King Salmon -- whose sales, marketing and advertizing spend was NZD 9.6 million (€5.5 million/$6.1 million) in its 2019 financial year, a generous 5 percent of its NZD 172.6 million ($109 million/€99 million) revenues -- it is not about higher sales. The company does not currently have enough capacity to raise supplies beyond its current buyers.

Its marketing work is about brand value and giving the chefs that work with Ora King salmon credibility in order to bring customers to their restaurants.

Ora King is the most expensive farmed salmon in the world by a long shot, with a price point roughly double that of commodity product. At that price, chefs buy not just a fish, but a full service package.

And that is what the Ora King brand embodies.

It is centered around "best of" -- best of breed, best of product, best of service. "It is more than just a beautiful product. It is also about relationships and service," said McCowan.

A growing name

The brand has only grown more prominent and recognized since its launch in 2012.

"It is great to look back at its longevity," said McCowan.

Unlike its commodity counterparts, New Zealand King Salmon does not have huge budgets to spend on marketing.

"We're a Kiwi company. We don't have huge budgets down here," said McCowan, saying a lot of the company's marketing spend is on its people. "We employ clever people with clever ideas."

The next opportunity for McCowan and her team will be the new product from the offshore project that is set to transform New Zealand King Salmon's production and enable it to finally increase its volumes.

"Open-ocean will certainly bring an alternative taste experience," said McCowan. "It is such a wonderful environment -- what will that bring from a culinary perspective? We are currently trying to benchmark that."

How to find your voice

McCowan's advice to other companies is to know your customer and to work out where you can find your value and how you can "speak that with a unique voice."

"You need to be true to your voice - there needs to be consistency and repetition."

"If you were to ask any one of my team members about the Ora King brand, they would not use exactly the same words, but what they said would be totally aligned," said McCowan.

But the path hasn't always been easy. Ora King was introduced after New Zealand King Salmon had been selling its retail brand, Regal, for several years and there was some resistance among employees.

"We went to great lengths to help people understand why we were introducing this new brand and what role they played in its production. People started feeling confident enough in it to be proud. We worked hard over the years to create these internal ambassadors."