Swimming upstream with a creative approach
The world of fish farms and fish feed products is unknown territory to many people. For us too, it wasn’t any different, until Darling Ingredients partnered up with us. As an international producer of ingredients for fish feed, they wanted to strengthen their position in the market and be seen as an authority. But how do you approach this type of question in a niche where everyone knows each other? Simple: you start by looking for the difference that sets you apart in the market. Totally our cup of tea!
It starts with a genuine understanding of the market
Darling Ingredients manufactures ingredients coming from by-products of the food industry. Think of the red blood cells from pigs and cattle, and nutrients from ground chicken feathers or from Black Soldier Flies. Sustainable? Certainly. Smart? Even more so. The use of animal by-products ensures that fish no longer need to be fed with feed using the remains of other fish. Besides, land animals have smart substances in their bodies that are very useful for fish. For example, hemoglobin (those red blood cells we just talked about) works perfectly in the treatment of eye diseases in salmon. And that's just the beginning. Anyway, before we get lost in all the great applications (because there are lots of them, believe us!), let's talk about the repositioning process we developed for Darling Ingredients.
From strategy to a solid concept
Fish-feed is fascinating. That was our conclusion when we’d fully immersed ourselves in the market, the whole marketing chain and the target groups. Before we could convert our insights into a concept and associated visual elaboration, we discussed the essence of the brand, with ‘smart solutions’ being a recurring theme, and mapped out the key drivers. This gave us a clear picture of how Darling Ingredients makes a difference in the market. This became the basis for all the steps within the customer journey. It was also the starting signal for converting all that gathered information into a unique concept in which Darling Ingredients' 'Smart Aquafeed Ingredient Solutions' were perfectly positioned. In short, it was time for concepting.
By really diving into your market, the marketing chain and your target groups, you can discover how to create the difference that makes the difference. This is your unique superpower within a specific niche or industry.
The solution lies beneath the surface
All 'solutions' Darling Ingredients offers come from the land, but work under water. That’s where the fish live that are bred for the food industry. Therefore, the power of Darling Ingredients literally lies beneath the surface. And so, the concept (‘hook’) was born.
A dive into the deep with breathtaking design
To do justice to the concept, it was important to also dive into the design. We created a series of images depicting the eight most important fish species in their natural habitat, right below the water's surface. Each visual was modified according to the depth at which the particular species lives. This series of images served as the basis for all resources.
In addition to images of the fish below the water surface, we also created a graphic shape or wire frame for each fish. This was a way of visualizing how Darling Ingredients looks at these animals: they search with computer-precision for ingredients that help prevent the most common problems with each fish species. We also developed this graphic representation for the land animals that form the basis of the final ingredient. That way, all elements formed a whole to make one coherent story, all of which was captured in an extensive brand book.
The power of navigating underwater
The insights from the concepting & design phase were also included in the construction of the completely new website. We started with a UX process in which we mapped the flow of the site, as a basis for the design, which seamlessly matched the concept. The result? A website that makes it easy for the target group to navigate.
Content creation on multiple levels
After the concept and the (UX)design were set, it was time to create all the content to support it. We didn’t only take care of the image, but also of all authoritative, complex copy. After all, we’ve become experts now when it comes to ingredients for fish feed.
With Marketing Automation you can constantly create new contact moments and push professional, valuable content towards your target group.
To connect the target group more strongly to the brand and to be able to quickly transfer (possible) leads to sales, we drew up a Marketing Automation flow. We worked closely with the partner who did the technical work on the Marketing Automation system. Everything to increase effectiveness.
