Situation

The Maine Marketing Lobster Collaborative wanted to differentiate the  Maine new shell lobster and highlight the Maine lobster men and women who were catching the seasonal delicacy.

Campaign Solution

Given that chefs and many food services providers are the ones making purchasing decisions about lobster, it was important to educate the food service community, but most importantly educate top chefs in key markets throughout the United States. That’s how Maine After Midnight was created. These series of events involved finding a well-known host chef in key U.S. cities such as New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. and working with the chef to create five Maine lobster dishes that had local flair to serve to the 100 to 200 chefs, food service professionals and media during the highly sophisticated events. 

Maine lobstermen traveled to these events and interacted with the chef and media community to educate them about their sustainable fishing practices and swapped lobster recipes. A taste test of Maine New Shell lobster vs. hard shell lobster was the centerpiece of every event.  Media and influencers covered the event in every city, and orders of Maine New Shell lobster increased throughout the country thanks to this campaign.