MAD Up North: Round-up

We’ve just got back from the MAD Up North Festival, a two-day marketing event in Manchester that aimed high but didn’t quite deliver. That said, there were definitely some standout moments.

Rory Sutherland of Ogilvy and John Roberts, founder of AO, opened the festival with big energy. They joked about being the “biggest frauds in marketing” since neither has a degree, but it proved a great point — hands-on experience can sometimes count for more than academic qualifications.

We also found out John might just be the UK’s biggest teddy bear buyer, given how many AO gives away, and the reason behind it was pretty entertaining 👀

Frauds or not, they dropped some brilliant insights:

🔹 Long-Term Vision: Don’t measure success just by this quarter’s results. As Jeff Bezos puts it, today’s wins are the result of work from three years ago. Cut your marketing spend and the damage may only show much later.

🔹 Culture Drives Client Experience: If morale is low in your team, it will show in your customer experience. You can’t hide it for long.

🔹 Confidence in the Crazy: Sometimes the boldest ideas are the best ones. Just make sure you know why you believe in them before going all in.

After that strong start, things unfortunately went downhill. At times it felt like we were queuing just to get into another queue. It was a letdown in parts, but credit where it’s due — pulling together a big marketing festival in the North is no easy task.

Bold attempts don’t always land, and that’s okay. The first shot often stumbles, but we’re hopeful for a comeback, whether that’s a stronger second edition or even some fresh competition from Northern names like Prolific North 👀

On the brighter side, our very own Andy Robins made the most of the free bar and meet-and-greets. His non-stop networking proved that even if the event misses the mark, you can still walk away with valuable connections.

In the end, anything that shines a light on the North’s creative talent gets our support. Here’s hoping the next MAD Up North brings more magic and a bit less disappointment. We’ll be there to back it and to champion the region’s growing role in the industry.