A PUBLICITY campaign that helped turned around sales of watercress in the UK has scooped a top industry award.

The “Not Just a Bit on the Side” campaign featured glamour model Jo Guest adorned in watercress and was used to launch National Watercress Week.

It helped revitalise the industry and boost sales by £1.75 million, claimed Wendy Akers, who was responsible for the campaign, for which she won the Consumer Relationship category in the 2004 Institute of Public Relations Excellence Awards.

Funded by the UK‘s three biggest producers, Geest, Vitacress Salads and The Watercress Company, the campaign turned a 15% year on year sales decline into an 11% increase.

The IPR judges said that watercress was as interesting as watching paint dry and congratulated Ms Akers and her team for a “well-planned, superbly implemented” campaign.