School dinners nostalgia sets the news agenda

The Food Museum

| School Dinners exhibition launch

Brief

Secure earned media coverage and raise the profile of the Food Museum’s brand-new, one of a kind, School Dinners Exhibition, on a regional and national scale

What Pier did

Pier worked closely with the Food Museum team in the lead up to the official exhibition launch, carefully curating a VIP guest list of high-profile influencers and regional, national and trade journalists from across the UK. Coinciding with a hugely successful launch event, we secured a wide array of broadcast, print and online hits in some of the UK’s most prestigious media titles

Impact

Achieving a total potential reach of over 18m, stand-out coverage included news-agenda setting BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme and three hits on BBC Breakfast, alongside pieces in The Telegraph, Good Housekeeping Magazine, Waitrose Magazine and The Week Junior, along with blanket regional BBC broadcast coverage. In addition to over 100 pieces of earned media coverage, Pier lined up visits from family-friendly and foodie influencers across the UK, over the busy Easter period

Overview

The Food Museum tasked Pier with generating widespread awareness of their School Dinners exhibition, tapping into nostalgia as a key trend and strengthening the museum’s brand as a leading cultural venue in the UK.

Fuelled by strong media relations activity in the lead up to the launch itself, the exhibition became a catalyst for conversation across the country, inviting people to share their own unique school dinner memories – good and bad!

Alongside rich content created by family-friendly and foodie influencers from across the UK, Pier achieved more than 100 pieces of regional, national and trade coverage, resulting in an overall potential reach of 18m, and setting the news agenda on the day of the launch.

Story

Thought to be the first exhibition in the UK dedicated entirely to all things school meals, we were tasked with inviting visitors to step back in time, grab their lunch tray, and enjoy a spoonful of nostalgia.

With the peak of our media activity centring around the official exhibition launch day, Pier invited a selection of journalists and influencers to reminisce over vintage school dinner recipes, retro lunchboxes, celebrity campaigns and memorabilia that has shaped popular culture across the years, from all corners of the world.

Officially opened by Sharon Hodgson MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for School Food, the exhibition launch was attended by visitors from all over the UK, including Jeanette Orrey MBE, former school dinner lady, co-founder of Food for Life and inspiration to TV chef, Jamie Oliver. Guests were all treated to a two-course lunch, based on authentic school dinner recipes.

The day started strong, with a fantastic piece on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, followed by journalists from BBC Radio 4, Good Housekeeping Magazine, Waitrose Magazine, ITV Anglia and BBC Politics East, to name but a few, all in attendance at the launch event itself. Coverage continued to roll in during the days and weeks after the launch, with stand out pieces in The Telegraph, CBBC’s Newsround, The Week Junior and Virgin Radio, alongside various pieces in regional and trade publications from across the UK.

From the influence of school dinners on popular culture to high-profile celebrity campaigns and changes in government policies, the exhibition also explores lives of iconic dinner ladies that have shaped our school meals over the years. Pier’s PR efforts sparked conversations about school dinners across the UK, and beyond, inviting hundreds and thousands of people to share their own childhood memories.

Pier’s strategic approach and creative storytelling brought our vision to life, turning the School Dinners Exhibition into a national conversation that surpassed our expectation

Chloe Brett, Marketing Manager for The Food Museum