Case study
Global PR on a Shoestring: Establishing the Dresden Christmas Cake Festival
Dresden Christmas Cake Festival
Industry: Food
Period covered: 1994 - 1999
Published: 2023
Organization: Zastrow & Schandera Public Relations Dresden
Web: www.zzdd.de
Background
East Germany after reunification in 1990 is a fascinating story of hope and new beginnings — but also of frustration and personal upheaval. This experience is likely shared by many, if not all, countries of the former Eastern Bloc.
West German companies often saw East Germany as a new market for their products — but not as a place for new competitors.
My hometown, Dresden, is known for its baroque architecture and as the largest cluster for semiconductors and microelectronics in Europe. What is less known outside Germany is that Dresden hosts the oldest - and arguably the most beautiful - Christmas market in Europe and the world. It’s also the birthplace of Germany’s famous Christmas cake, the Stollen.
Challenge
After German reunification, Dresden bakers quickly realized that their new West German competitors could profit by using the Dresden Christmas cake brand. To stay competitive, Dresden bakers needed advertising — but where would the budget come from?
Nationwide, or even international, advertising campaigns were expensive. In the 1990s, branding was still all about TV, newspaper ads, billboards, and point-of-sale marketing.
After reunification, the East German economy lacked one thing above all: money.
Solution
To cut a long story short: Our PR agency, Zastrow and Schandera — co-founded by my business partnerHolger Zastrow and me while we were still at university — took over the launch, organization and roll-out, and international PR for a Stollen parade.
The Dresden bakers collectively produced a gigantic Christmas cake, which instantly made it into the Guinness Book of World Records.
To support the spectacle, surrounding events such as a festive parade through the historic old town were created. A success story was born. Since 1994, the festival has continued to grow — and strong international media coverage has been part of it from the very beginning.
Key impact:
- German-wide and international branding for the Dresdner Stollen, with an outstanding cost-benefit ratio
- Tourism destination branding for the City of Dresden
- Collaboration: Anchor event of the Dresden Bakery Association (Bäckerinnung)
On a side note:
In 1995, we managed to persuade the Dresden bakers to donate the proceeds from the sale of the giant Stollen to an orphanage in Sarajevo. Together with the Young Liberals of Saxony and the Liberalna Stranka BiH, we organized the convoy and personally delivered the donation to the then-besieged city — but that’s a story of its own.