Freshfield scoops CIPR PRide award for ‘cracking’ regeneration PR campaign

Freshfield has won a top PR industry award for a campaign which put Preston’s regeneration story in the national and international spotlight – with help from a pair of animated Hollywood icons.

We’ve been named a Silver Winner in the Best Use of Media Relations Category at the annual CIPR PRide North West Awards for our work with Preston City Council and Preston Partnership.

We worked alongside both organisations and their regeneration partners to communicate the first projects of the city’s £21m Town Deal, which included the launch of a bronze bench sculpture to honour Preston-born Academy Award winner and creator of Wallace and Gromit, Nick Park.

The campaign culminated in Nick Park officially unveiling the sculpture in Preston – an event watched by an audience of over four million people on BBC’s The One Show and which hit the headlines in countries around the world, including the US and India.

“We’re thrilled our work to gain national and international profile for a major strand of Preston’s regeneration strategy has been recognised by our industry peers at the CIPR PRide awards,” comments Andrew Taylor, PR and Communications Director at Freshfield.

“It was an absolute pleasure to work on this campaign, working with the council, Preston Partnership, Aardman Animations and many other delivery partners. And, of course, a huge thanks to Wallace and Gromit whose superstar stature helped us get the world’s media to Preston and create real impact with the campaign.

“The projects in the wider Preston Town Deal will create huge social, economic and environmental impact for Preston, unlocking over £200m of regeneration activity, and we’re proud to have been involved in helping the council and its delivery partners to tell this story.”

Our work on this campaign generated over 107 pieces of media coverage relating to Preston’s Town Deal and its projects, gaining an estimated 3.9m online coverage views and 7.92 million ‘opportunities to see’ on television.

You can read more about this campaign and others in our Work section on our website.