Campaigns.
Built to Keep
Going.
A campaign with us isn't one big day and then silence. It's planned across the build-up, the day and the days after, and ideally it comes back again next week.
Campaign Work
The Door
And The Room.
A great activation gets people through the door. Most brands stop there. They count the footfall, call it a win and move on. We also build what's on the other side: something regular and worth coming back to.
Before, During, After
People are invested in an event long before they arrive, and they talk about it for days after. Almost every brand only shows up for the middle bit. We plan for all three, because the two ends are where there's the least noise and the most goodwill.
That's the standard for everything below.
Working With Existing Communities
Join A Community.
Don't Rent One.
Manchester is full of communities that already work. Run clubs, Sunday league teams, rugby clubs, DJ collectives, cooking groups, faith and cultural groups, people who've met in the same cafe for years. Someone put in the time to build them, and the people in them trust each other.
You can't buy that trust. A brand that turns up and puts its logo on top of it gets ignored, or worse, resented. A brand that turns up, listens and makes the thing better gets welcomed in.
That's the part we help with. We know a lot of these groups, we know what they're short of, and we can tell a brand honestly whether it's a good fit. Sometimes it isn't, and we'll say so.
The test is simple. After the brand gets involved, is the community better off than before? If the answer isn't an easy yes, we haven't done it right.
How we do it
Listen first
Before any pitch, we spend time with the group. Go to a session, talk to the people who run it, find out what they care about and what they are tired of being asked for.
Ask what they need
Usually it is something practical. Pitch time, kit, a room, food after training, someone to handle the social media. The brand helps with that, not with what the brand wishes they needed.
Find the right fit
The brand has to make sense to the people in the room. A recovery drink at a run club does. A random product handed out because there is a budget does not.
Build it together
The group helps shape what happens. They know their people. We bring the organising, the brand brings the support, and nobody takes over.
Keep showing up
One appearance looks like a stunt. Turning up every week, through the good sessions and the rainy ones, is how a brand earns a place.
Learn and share it back
We listen to what people say and share what we learn with both sides, so the next session is better for the group and the brand understands its audience properly.
What the community gets
- Real support for what they already do, paid for properly or given in kind
- Lower costs for members, so more people can take part
- Help with the organising and the admin they never have time for
- Their name and their story kept front and centre
- A say in what happens, and the right to say no
What the brand gets
- A welcome into a group people already trust
- Regular, real contact with the people it wants to reach
- Honest feedback on products and ideas from people who use them
- Content that looks real, because it is
- A reputation for backing Manchester, not just advertising in it
What we won't do
We won't help a brand slap its logo on a group and call it a partnership. We won't rename someone else's community after a product, push sales at people who came to play, or use members in content without asking them. And we won't take money for a group without the group getting a fair share of it.
THE
SEASON.
A run of recurring sessions around one format, weekly or fortnightly, with your brand as the reason it happens. It could be cooking, sport, a games night or a music night.
Because the same people come back, you get something a one-off can't give you: a relationship, and proof of it in the numbers.
A set format on a set night, so people build it into their week.
Your product is part of the session itself, not handed out at the door.
Photo and video from real sessions with real people, yours to use.
Attendance, sign-ups and how many people came back. Opt-in and GDPR-compliant.
AROUND THE
BIG MOMENTS.
Manchester has a packed calendar of festivals, races and big weekends. Instead of being one more logo on the day, we find the useful moment around it: the prep in the run-up, a place to recover afterwards, the follow-up in the days after.
People remember the brand that helped them, not the one that shouted at them.
Something useful before the day, when people are already planning and talking in group chats.
A space or moment people choose to walk into, rather than a leaflet pushed at them.
The 48 hours after an event is when people talk about it most. We make sure you're part of that.
A named prize, a photo or a small object that sticks around for years, not minutes.
OWN THE
NEIGHBOURHOOD.
Regular events in one part of the city, run with the clubs, venues and people already there. Each area has its own crowd and its own feel, so the plan changes to fit.
We work with groups that already have trust in the area, instead of starting from zero.
A steady presence in the same spots, so people know where to find you.
Independent traders and makers alongside events, so there's a reason to arrive early and stay late.
ORIGINAL
IDEAS.
Sometimes you need an idea that's only yours. We write original campaign concepts for brands and charities, then produce and run them. It could be a one-off stunt, a public installation or a moment made for social.
You get the idea, the production, the day and a report at the end. Priced on the idea, delivered in weeks.
A concept written around your brand, your audience and what you want people to feel.
Venue, production, people and permissions, all handled.
Run properly, with content captured from start to finish.
What happened, who took part and what it led to, in plain numbers.
CONTENT
AND INSIGHT.
A room of real people who keep coming back is useful for more than presence. You can test a product, a flavour or a message in front of them and get a real answer in a week, not a quarter.
We can also run a group or club's social channels on an ongoing basis, turning what happens every week into content people actually want to see.
Try something new with your target audience before you commit a big budget.
Regular content and community management for a club, group or brand.
No studio shoot. Just real people doing the thing, which looks better anyway.
Something Else?
Your Brief.
Our Build.
None of these quite fit? That's fine. Tell us what you're trying to do and we'll work out the right shape for it.