Holland’s ‘Pie Panel’ scoops top award

The Holland’s campaign fought off stiff competition from the likes of Cadbury’s and Sherbert Fountains to take the award. The idea for the ‘Pie Panel’ came last year when Holland’s wanted to improve the perception of its products. Bluestorm rose to the challenge with the idea to audition and recruit a ‘Pie Panel’ of amateur tasters to help test and develop the Holland’s range.

The campaign was an instant success and within hours Holland’s had received hundreds of applicants from across the country and even as far afield as New York, Oslo and Islamabad. One year on, the Pie Panel still meets regularly and has recently been instrumental in helping Holland’s develop and launch their new ‘Best Ever’ range.

The award judges noted that:

“Bluestorm’s ‘Blue Pie’ thinking captured international interest, using a simple idea to generate swathes of top quality PR for the Holland’s Pies brand. Regionalising markets of the ‘pie panel’ was a great success in terms of regional coverage generation. This was something that stood out, catching the eye of the national media, achieving its objectives and bringing direct business benefits.”

Julie Leydon, PR Director at Bluestorm said:

“This award provides industry recognition for what we already felt was a fantastic campaign which, most importantly, provided real benefits to our client, Holland’sPies. The real proof of this is that, over a year on, the campaign is still generating ongoing media interest, which is something I have never experienced in over 20 years of working in public relations.”

“This is the first year we’ve entered the PRide awards – I think next year we’ll go for a few more!”

Neil Court-Johnston, Managing Director of Holland’s Pies said:

“The Pie Panel was a campaign which captured the imagination of both the public and the media. It harnessed the passion people felt for the Holland’s brand and turned negative feedback into a positive story. Moreover, the campaign has been much more than a gimmick or a media stunt. It has provided Holland’s with a team of 15 people from across the North West who have become a valued part of our development team.”

Picture caption (l-r): Craig Lazenby (Bluestorm), Neil Court-Johnston (MD, Holland’s Pies), Julie Leydon (PR Director, Bluestorm), Sarah Roustoby, James Merrylees, Barnaby Patchett (All from Bluestorm), Stephen Marshall (Award sponsor, Gorkana)