The MPA, the independent voice of Manchester’s media and creative community, has announced its Chair of Judges for the MPA Inspiration Awards 2020.  Now in its 8th year the awards were created for the industry by the industry. Cindy Simmons Managing Director of the MPA said, “We are delighted to announce that Jane McMillan, Head of Marketing Communications at Warburtons, has agreed to be this year’s Chair of Judges for the MPA Inspiration Awards 2020”. Jane has worked at Warburtons since 2004 and was promoted to her current role in 2017. She has helped deliver campaigns featuring company Chairman Jonathan [...]

by Dan McNicholas, 4and20million co-founder You may have come across the Gartner Hype Cycle before now.  With one simple curve, it eloquently describes the phases of hype that accompany every new trend, gadget, big idea and lifestyle choice we experience.  From a spark of inspiration or trigger of change, our expectations quickly rise to inflated levels as we put all our faith in this new concept to be lifechanging (hello, lockdown sourdough bakers!).   But what goes up must come down, and from the lofty heights of the Peak of Inflated Expectations, we inevitably descend into the Trough of Disillusionment, [...]

Manchester-based integrated communications agency, One Brand Magic, and Mustard Research teamed up to host a virtual roundtable with senior KBB leaders to discuss how lockdown has affected their businesses and how brands and retailers should react to the crisis. The roundtable was held via Zoom on Wednesday 3rd June and aimed to uncover opinions and predictions for the future among senior executives from some of the industry’s biggest home interest brands, including Blum, Franke, Moduleo and Ideal Standard. Informed by research gathered from various sources, the discussion centred around the impact of Covid-19 and how the nationwide lockdown is likely [...]

by Dunstan Carter, business development manager, The Sharp Project Except for key workers, the majority of people across the UK have found themselves either furloughed or working from home over the last three months. The odd eerily accurate science fiction film aside, no-one could’ve predicted anything like this happening a year ago and it's turned most sectors upside down and given them a big, unwelcome shake. Before the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent lockdown, the creative sector in Manchester was booming and co-working hubs were popping up all over the city and thriving. The spirit of collaboration seemed buoyed by all [...]

by Andy Garner, MD, More Media Sales We’ve always had a fairly flexible set up here at More Media Sales.  Flexible working is something we’ve embraced from the beginning and so working from home was not particularly new to anyone.  The whole team working from home ... for getting on for 3 months ... well yes that is a bit different. There are obvious challenges that I’m sure we’ve all encountered – self motivation, working whilst home schooling, staying away from the fridge …! But we’ve somewhat surprisingly found a lot of good things about this new working set up. Aside from [...]

By Roxanne Vure, Associate Director, MediaCom Manchester The Covid-19 pandemic has brought dramatic changes to everybody’s lives. And not surprisingly, with global lockdowns and the resulting economic slowdown, there have been significant impacts on all companies. Consumer behaviours are having to constantly evolve and adapt to new guidelines and circumstances; as a result, attitudes towards brands are altering. Kantar research found that globally 78% of consumers believe brands should help them in their daily lives, and 75% say brands should inform people about what they’re doing. Consumers expect more from brands. More than ever they are under intense scrutiny, those [...]

From our ongoing member consultations, we know how hard everyone is working right now to keep things moving in the right direction for you, your teams and your clients. Whilst we are all encouraged by the fact that things are starting to open up, we also have to recognize as an association, that award entries are most likely not your priority right now. To give everyone more time to get their entries together, we have decided to move the MPA Awards celebratory dinner to 10th March 2021. Entries can still be prepared and submitted over the coming weeks / months [...]

By Anna Wilson, Head of Digital Development at Tangerine As the lockdown restrictions are lifting, eyes are turning from ‘hibernation’ or ‘maintenance’ activity to recovery planning. The truth of the matter is that not all businesses will be able to turn the lights back on and expect instant traffic or footfall during the recovery plan. Many will have to work to (re)engage their audiences online, communicate what their offer is going to look like now and to build up the awareness and goodwill that will lead to sales and leads in the future. The industry might have you believe that [...]