‘He’s on Salmon’: Tassal makes a splash with new integrated brand platform via Havas Host

Tassal, a trusted name in fresh Tasmanian Salmon is making a huge splash across an integrated brand platform developed by Havas Host, as it extends its brand reach to now encompass prawns and barramundi, shifting to a new brand position – “Tassal – It’s Australian For Seafood”.

Working alongside research agency Kantar, Tassal identified there was an opportunity to seize the moment when acquiring Cone Bay Barramundi. With strong awareness of the Tassal brand, there was a chance to cement its position in seafood, and in turn, it has also rebranded the Tropic Co Tiger Prawn brand to Tassal Tiger Prawns.

With the Tassal Masterbrand shift, there was an opportunity to celebrate each of the protein variants with their own creative, starting with the launch of a new Tassal new salmon campaign. This is part of an integrated campaign with an audience-first approach across key media channels in multi-format OOH, BVOD, high-impact display, social and search, paired with PR, ambassadors, influencer and owned media activations.

Research conducted by Kantar demonstrated that people think of salmon as a delicious and nutritious food – whether it be naturally smoked cooked fillets, fresh fillets, or smoked salmon slices – but it is often considered only for special occasions. Tassal wants to get Australians thinking about salmon as an everyday protein, to make delicious and more interesting meals.

As part of the above the line approach, Tassal worked alongside Havas Host to create a new brand platform for Tassal salmon – ‘It Must Be Tassal’.

To bring the platform to life and strengthen the awareness and love for the Tassal brand, the campaign asserts its quality and premium credentials with a bold creative message, amplified in equally bold media placements.

The creative plays on the premise of ‘he’s/she’s/they’re on salmon’, with the hero character in the film taking his place in a synchronised swimming troop.

A group of female swimmers make their way towards a swimming pool, but in their midst is a slightly larger and hairier male swimmer. The swimmers dive into the pool, to the tune of Puccini’s ‘O mio babbino caro’, making a graceful underwater circle which the hairy chap swims through the middle of. The scene cuts to two women watching from the sidelines. The first one exclaims: “What’s his secret?” with the second one answering: “He’s on salmon.”

Says Matt Vince, head of sales and marketing at Tassal: “Tassal has proudly produced delicious and nutritious Tasmanian salmon for Aussies for over 30 years. Our research with Kantar2 revealed that Australians see Tassal as one of the most powerful proprietary brands in the fresh protein category in Australia. It boasts very strong demand power when measured against 15 key category competitors. So, it made sense to extend this brand love across all proteins in our group. We’re thrilled that all our Australian grown species, including our vibrant Australian Tiger prawns and new delicious West Australian Ocean fresh Barramundi from Cone Bay, Western Australia, will be part of the Tassal range. We can’t wait to see a sea of blue in retailers, and are thankful to our agency village for the work to bring the brands to life across our integrated campaigns.”

Says Justin Ruben, ECD at Havas Host: “When someone is on Tassal salmon you can definitely see a difference in their performance, and we wanted to bring this to life. Working alongside Havas Media, the strategic approach for Tassal’s media planning was to launch the new brand positioning at scale and with impact. The campaigns across salmon, and more broadly across prawns and barramundi also, will drive brand consideration in key meal inspiration moments across social, earned media, contextual digital display and a key digital partnership, as well as influencer engagement and showcasing of occasions as we move into a summer of seafood consumption.”

Brand ambassadors will also bring the campaign to life, with celebrity chef and restaurateur Guy Turland, and well known dietitian Susie Burrell continuing to work alongside the brand as ambassadors, as it extends the reach across all species. Guy Turland expressed his excitement, saying “the introduction of Barramundi to Tassal’s line-up of quality Australian seafood is nothing short of spectacular. As a protein, Barramundi’s versatility in the kitchen is exceptional, and it has the power to transform any dish into a gourmet masterpiece. When paired with the classics like prawns and salmon, Barramundi completes the trifecta of seafood offerings by Tassal. I’m proud to be part of such a big evolution for the Tassal brand.”

Creative Agency: Host/Havas
ECD: Justin Ruben
Creative: Pete Sherrah
Group Account Director: Charlotte Dewhurst
Account Director: Maisie La Costa
Account Manager: Isabel Bergin
Head of Strategy: Alyce Gillis
Strategist: Gennie Siegel
Creative: Ash Myburgh
Designer: Domenic Bartolo
Senior Integrated Producer: Anthony Martin

FILM
Production Company: Guilty
Director: Edwin Mcgill
E.P.: Jason Byrne
Production Coordinator: Jack Davies

STILLS
Stills Production: Louis & Co
Photographer: Mat Baker
E.P.: Louis Molines
Producer: Luke De La Santa
Retouching: Electric Art

Media Agency: Havas Media
Client Services Director: Kate Francis
Account Manager: Begona Loredo
Digital Integration Director: Ashley Grey
Acting Head of Strategy: Michelle Miroforidis

PR Agency: Communicado
Head of PR: Fiona Mullen
Group Account Director: Chloe Jeffers
Account Director: Emily Scales
Senior Account Executive: Shiona Raj

Research Agency: Kantar
Director: Hoa Mai

Design Agency: APR Creative
Managing Director: Tessa Pacitti
Director: Raewyn Metcalfe
Account Manager: Chloe Bullock