Frozen seafood giant Gorton's goes on social media influencer hiring spree for new launch

With over 90,000 followers already on the social media app TikTok, Nippon Suisan Kaisha-owned Gorton's is leveraging its social media presence to promote new products, including its new air-fried butterfly shrimp product.

The company launched a creator team of eight influencers, who will make exclusive content for TikTok, according to the trade news site Marketing Dive.

The 170-year-old brand is looking to strike a connection with Gen Z and Millennials, it said.

To build excitement for the air-fried product launch, Gorton’s enlisted a handful of creators, including Chef Ced and Alyssa in the Kitchen, among others, who posted teaser videos featuring the brand’s iconic yellow slicker coat, according to the trade site.

Social media is becoming an increasingly important space for seafood companies.

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Consumers are increasingly using social media to make purchasing decisions. Around 28 percent of all US-based adults have made a purchase because of an ad on social media, according to Chris Dubois, IRI's senior vice president.

If Gen Z consumers are measured separately, around 35 percent have made a purchase because of a something they have seen on social media.

Dubois predicts that younger consumers -- Millennials (ages 27-41) and Gen Z (ages 10 - 26) -- who are driving the purchasing boom on social media sites such as TikTok, will account for half of the total American population by 2030.