Is Adland Finally Ready to Look Beyond London?

For decades, too much of the UK advertising industry has operated under the tacit assumption that nothing happens outside of the M25. But as the creative output from cities like Manchester, Leeds, and Glasgow continues to soar, that London-centric worldview is looking increasingly outdated.

Enter MAD//North. Bringing the disruptive energy of London’s MAD//Fest to Manchester for its second year in 2026, the event aims to prove that the North isn’t just a regional outpost – it’s a powerhouse in its own right. With a theme of ‘Northern Soul’, the festival on February 25th and 26th promises to blend local authenticity with a global outlook, featuring heavyweights like Puma and Warburtons alongside cultural icons like comedian Maisie Adam, whom LBB’s Alex Reeves will be interviewing on stage.

Alex sat down with MAD//Fest co-founder Dan Brain to discuss why the time is right to break the London bubble, the risk of ‘cultural appropriation’ in the branding, and why the ‘King of Crumpets’ is the perfect keynote speaker.

LBB members can use the discount code 'LBB20OFF' to save 20% on tickets. All you have to do to redeem these tickets is register as normal, and when prompted, add the corresponding code.

LBB> When I’m interviewing Maisie at MAD//North I’ll have to address the elephant in the room: I’m not a Northerner and we’re talking about ‘Northern Soul’, and they’ve shipped a Southerner up from London. I can take it, but how has that dynamic been?

Dan> You’re not the only person to have ever had to do that. When I came up with the theme, I worried how it would be received. Taking a cultural movement, I didn’t want to be accused of cultural appropriation. But it was really well received.

The interesting thing about running this event is that within the North, within Scotland, outside of London, they really want to celebrate Northern voices, but they don’t want it to be parochial. They want great Northern work and great Northern brands on stage, but we don’t want it to be insular. We want to be outward-looking as well.

LBB> What’s the motivation for MAD//North?

Dan> MAD//Fest is synonymous with London, particularly East London, and it’s been a great place to scale the event. It’s a global leader in marketing, advertising, and creativity. But that doesn’t mean nothing happens outside the M25. You can increasingly see cities like Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, and Glasgow having huge output, particularly in areas like sports, retail, and fashion.

Event organisers have perhaps over-prioritised London at the expense of doing things elsewhere. The prevailing attitude has always been that it’s not worth it unless it’s London. Our ethos with MAD//North was to say: if you take Manchester and all the great cities across the North, you’ve got a huge market. You’ve got a huge hotbed of brands, great agencies, and specialisms. It’s an underserved market.

It felt like the right time to do something significant and large-scale – relevant in not just national but international terms. The reaction to year one was huge; it sold out, and we had great content and speakers. People want more.

The UK is smaller than the US, but you’ve got Ad Week in New York, Possible in Miami, and a huge reputation for creative advertising in Chicago and on the West Coast. It seems normal to Americans that not everything has to happen in New York. As a smaller country, we can say London’s great, but Manchester is a really good home for something with a slightly different beat.

LBB> You mentioned the theme of Northern Soul has been well received. What directions or reactions have you had that will be fascinating to interrogate at the event?

Dan> As a non-Northerner, my only claim is that my dad is from Eccles. But what I do get is a clear sense that people feel there is a distinctive Northern identity. You see that in culture, music, and advertising.

I don’t think this needs to be insular. A lot of the content is outward-looking – big brands like Puma, for example, who’ve set up shop in Manchester but are a major global player. If we work on the premise that advertising reflects culture, you can take a movement like Northern Soul – the imagery and the movement – and think about it through an advertising lens.

There is a Northern way of doing things. We’ve got brilliant brands, disruptive startups, and some of the coolest agencies about. How can we take that essence of being Northern and power it to new opportunities to get that work seen on an international scale?

There is a job to be done to say Manchester is a thriving city with a thriving economy and culture. We need to give a degree of parity and respect to Manchester and other cities. I’ve been amazed by agency groups like WPP and the independents who have said they are going to get behind this. In WPP’s instance, they’ve set up a campus in Manchester and invested in the city. The event is the perfect way to bring all that to life.

LBB> It’s exciting looking through your list of speakers. One who is perhaps an underrated star is Jonathan Warburton. He is an on-screen star who is a businessman from the North doing amazing marketing.

Dan> The King of Crumpets. It’s quirky, offbeat, and there’s a huge charisma there with Jonathan Warburton. That’s exactly the kind of MAD//Fest thing. It isn’t just the people you would expect. Here’s a quirky, iconic British brand prepared to do things in a different way. That’s the sweet spot for us. When you go to an event, you’re giving up your time and money to learn something new and open your mind to the fact that there’s more than one way to skin a cat.

LBB> Who are some of the other speakers that represent the other end of the spectrum?

Dan> You have this great theme, Northern Soul, and it means something different to everybody. From celebrity talent like Maisie Adam, putting creative voices on stage who reflect the cultural fabric of the North. Then brands like Puma are really interesting because they’ve made Manchester their HQ.

Then you have a tier of significant major advertisers based in different parts of the North. Yorkshire Tea is the best. That’s important. But their ads are just brilliant. I think you can really get a sense of where they’re from through their advertising.

We mix that with some MAD//Fest stalwarts, like Rory Sutherland and Vicky Maguire. You’ve got a beautiful melting pot of talent: big global brands who’ve set up home in the North, influential Northern brands, challenger brands, and the people who make MAD//Fest London tick.

LBB> Because it’s been a number of years developing, what does this particular conference mark in the long story of MAD//Fest?

Dan> An event builds community or acts as a focal point for a community. When Ian and I launched MAD//Fest in 2018, we’d worked on traditional shows and saw a different way of doing things. The industry wanted more creative experiences, better content, and a better audience.

It was a big punt set up on a shoestring, but we built a distinctive brand. We saw MAD//Fest have an unbelievable growth spurt, going from 2,000 to 15,000 attendees over seven or eight years. We’re confident in the appetite for this. It’s about human relationships, people coming together, doing business, and changing the way you think through brilliant content.

When we launched MAD//North, it was our most successful launch ever. It switched us on to the fact that there was this underserved community of brands and agencies who wanted something different, reflective of their own culture. Demand is high. We plan to scale this and grow it. It will become an integral part of the MAD//Fest story.

LBB members can use the discount code 'LBB20OFF' to save 20% on tickets. All you have to do to redeem these tickets is register as normal, and when prompted, add the corresponding code.