MAD//FEST

Celebrity is scary 😱! It's expensive... but there are huge financial efficiencies to be gained by running the same work in every market around the world. Just Eat Takeaway.com are famed for their celeb-fronted campaigns, from Snoop Dogg to Katy Perry, Latto, and Christina Aguilera. So, how can you make your brand stand out? Perhaps join the Just Eat fun + create a distinctive sonic mnemonic that becomes as famous as McDonald’s “I’m Lovin’ It," in a tenth of the timeframe 🎶

Paul Wright, Head of International, Uber Advertising shares Uber’s insight into the way rideshare and delivery apps have revolutionised the way we travel, eat and meet our everyday needs. 

📣 Introducing our MAD//UpNorth theme! 📣 What Sets Us Apart 🚀 Something big is brewing UpNorth. A force in the global marketing and advertising industry to challenge the status quo is taking shape. A booming ecosystem, collaborative business culture + specialisms in areas such as retail, D2C, travel, sport, media/entertainment, content creation, tech + fashion are building strength, scale + expertise to put the north on a global stage. But as marketers battle to engage consumers, drive growth + adapt to emerging trends, what is it that sets us apart as individuals, businesses + as an industry? How can we be distinctive, daring + different? What are we going to do to win hearts, minds + trust in an increasingly messy marketing + consumer environment?

Music and sports continue to be the number one cultural spaces + it is essential we recognise the value of connecting with consumers on their terms and through their culture. Eric Melis, VP and Marketing of PepsiCo shares how they’ve tapped into those sweet spots of intersection, but never losing sight of finding smarter, newer, richer ways to do so 🚀

Amanda Jennings (AJ) is a legend of the industry. She rebranded the Dome to become the O2, led the marketing for London 2012 + the Olympic Games and is currently launching Manchester's Co-op Live. In this episode of the MAD//Pod, we find out how she only does bold, makes a difference in people's lives + how you go hard or go home.

MAD//Pod: Liquid Death VP Marketing - "I wanna give away a fighter jet" 🚀 From tasering the haters, to turning troll comments into songs + giving away a fighter jet, Liquid Death is the world’s noisiest, fearless and most disruptive brand. In our latest episode, Daniel Murphy shares their secrets on how they are making water cool + making marketing fun.

It’s finally September, the little smashers are back at school, and it’s time to ensure your business has a stellar golden quarter (and every other quarter for that matter)! At MAD//UpNorth, we give you access to a HUGE community of brands who are in the market for new solutions, tech + service providers. You’ll have the chance to speak to the north’s iconic brands operating in areas like retail, grocery, fashion, travel, entertainment, D2C + CPG.

John Sills, Managing Partner + Author at The Foundation - The Customer-Led Growth Consultancy, reveals the key takeaways from his recent book, The Human Experience 👇 🔥 Don’t just rely on data to understand your customers, because people won’t stay with you out of loyalty.  🔥 AI is important, but make sure it doesn’t take away from your point of differentiation.  🔥 Hone in on the human being side of the organisation + use it in collaboration with new technology.

The MAD//Pod has landed 🚀! The official MAD//Fest podcast, recorded in partnership with podcast production company, Fresh Air, at the UK’s biggest, boldest + most distinctive marketing, advertising + disruption festival in July. Listen where you get your podcasts (links in the comments.)

MAD//Fest is heading Up//North! We’re excited to be bringing together the iconic brands, disruptors, talented agencies, prestigious publishers, content creators + martech/adtech innovators for a vibey, distinctive meeting of the north’s marketing tribes at Manchester’s funky Factory International on 26-27 Feb 2025 🚀