Prolific North Live 2024
Our annual flagship event unpicks the latest trends and insights in media, marketing, and digital.
The 2024 edition welcomed brand and agency marketers eager to connect, share ideas and learn practical strategies to get their marketing efforts to the next level. The 2025 date will be released soon so be sure to register your interest below!
THE NEXT BIG THING IN MARKETING
The pace of change in consumer behaviour and technology is always quick. We are bombarded with the next big idea or marketing solution every day, making it hard to cut through the noise and grow brand share.
Prolific North Live aims to demystify these challenges, equipping attendees with the tools and knowledge to take their brands into 2025 and beyond. Our latest event covered key topics like:
- Predictions in media, marketing, and digital
- Consumer trends: how people discover, buy, and interact with brands
- Marketing mavericks: how underdog brands can stand out
Our most recent event took place on Wednesday, 16 October 2024, at the Manchester Conference Centre.
The Prolific North Live 2024 Agenda
In a saturated market, underdog brands face a Goliath-sized challenge: competing against established leaders who dominate demand. This often leads to price wars, short-term tactics, and a neglect of brand building, further cementing the leader’s position. This talk is for marketing mavericks seeking to disrupt the status quo. We’ll delve into the strategies that allow underdog brands to stand out, steal market share, and ultimately topple giants.
We’ll explore:
- Market dynamics: Understanding the challenges and opportunities in mature markets
- Consumer psychology: Leveraging cognitive biases to influence consumer behaviour
- Market share focus: Why market share is the key metric for underdog success
- Growth frameworks: Actionable strategies to gain market share and category growth
- Brand positioning: How to differentiate and stand out in a competitive landscape
Presented by:
- James Bagan, Associate Director, Strategy at McCann Worldgroup
- Miles Williams, Strategy Director at McCann Worldgroup
At a time where brands are obsessed with all that is Gen Z, don’t forget that the biggest growth market is the over 65s. There were only 125 million over 65s on the planet in 1950, 3x that number in 2000 and likely to be as many as 2 billion by 2075. A massive growth opportunity if brands get it right.
Andy Johnson, Commercial Director at Sun Branding explores the brand and packaging challenges associated with this audience sector, debunks the stereotypical myths and more importantly shares the routes to creative and brand success through inclusive design.
Presented by:
Andy Johnson, Commercial Director at Sun Branding
Get ready as our panel of brand-side marketing experts unpack the retail trends that are top of mind for them right now. They’ll discuss why these trends matter, how they’re adapting their strategies in response, and what it means for the future of retail.
Our lineup includes:
- Moderator: Gareth Turner, Founder of Big Black Door & Former Head of Marketing at Weetabix
- Jayne Andrews, Marketing Director at Fentimans
- Ross Gylanders, E-commerce Lead at Sauce Shop
- Duncan Burns, Marketing Manager at Merry Hill Shopping Centre
- Charlotte Dewhurst, Director of Marketing at Matalan
11:45 - Coffee & Networking break (30 mins)
In a world fixated on jumping on latest trends, where brands are increasingly showing an unnerving habit of putting channel before content, have we forgotten the simple art of making and selling great creative work?
More customers than ever are actively paying NOT to see your advert, so join us to discover the lost art of making and selling brave work, learn how to avoid contributing to the sea of sameness we see from channel-first ideation, and ultimately help reverse the race to the bottom for creativity.
Not only will you come away from the session with tangible, actionable guidance to make better, more effective creative work… you definitely won’t be bored.
Presented by:
Jamie Axford, Creative Director, MadeBrave
13:15 - Lunch included with your ticket (1 hour 15 mins) then head over to track 2 for more content!
UK sales on TikTok rocketed by 477% in 2022 with £828bn in turnover, and it’s now the UK’s top shopping channel. Yet, many brands are still hesitant to embrace this juggernaut due to misconceptions about its audience and purpose.
This interactive, infotaining session the team from IF. will debunk the myths surrounding TikTok and reveal how brands can leverage it for explosive growth in 2025.
We’ll cover:
- Consumer Trends: How TikTok is shaping how people discover, buy, and interact with brands
- Predictions: Why TikTok’s influence will only grow, making it essential for brands
- Strategies: Tailored approaches to content creation, activation, and evaluation on TikTok
- Beyond Sales: How TikTok can be used for brand building, social commerce, and product fame
Presented by:
- Christian James, MD & Director of Planning at IF.
- Myke Hamilton, Director, Client Service at IF.
- Laura Selby, Director, Digital at IF.
In this talk, Tangerine will showcase how they build Superbrands by capturing and converting attention through culturally relevant, audience-first strategies. They will highlight their success in elevating clients like Specsavers into social media superbrands by focusing on three key areas: Powerful Narratives, Moments that Matter, and Communities.
Presented by:
- Nat Chatburn, Business Director at Tangerine
- Jonathan Welsh, Business Director at Tangerine
Social media is changing fast and staying ahead of the curve is no mean feat. That’s why we’ve gathered some of the sharpest brand-side social media pros to share the latest shifts impacting platforms and how they’re adapting their content strategies. Want to know where social is headed and how to stay in the game? You won’t want to miss this session!
Presented by:
- Moderator: Steve Kuncewicz, Partner, Head of Creative, Digital & Marketing at Glaisyers ETL
- Naomi Horan, Social Media & Influencer Manager at CLOUD NINE
- Conor Glavin, ex Head of Social at Au Vodka
- Catherine Jell, Head of Social at Nadine Merabi
11:45 - Coffee & Networking break (30 mins)
How do the world’s most iconic brands consistently live and breathe their identity? Engaging in positive brand experiences is more crucial than it’s ever been for audiences to really connect with brands. Andy will share how experience working with brands like LEGO showed the importance of embedding a brand’s core values into every interaction across an organisation – and how any brand can use this to ensure they stand out amongst the crowd.
Presented by:
Andy Beckwith, Creative Director at Tall
Advertising is entering its next iteration, with CTV opening up exciting new capabilities and opportunities for brands to connect with consumers. But that innovation, like the explosion of digital, can create challenges for marketers. In this session we’ll explore these challenges to help unwrap the new world and provide simple solutions for marketers to optimise creative for omnichannel advertising.
Presented by:
Natalie Coleman, Regional Group Account Director, Teads
13:15 - Lunch included with your ticket! (1 hour 15 mins)
Established brands have the spending power to grab brand attention. Where does that leave challenger brands and how can they compete?
This talk is for challenger brands that want to learn tactics and approaches to win in markets where you can’t outpace established brands on media spend but you can still cut through with creative and strategic approaches. Expect a combination of insight, theory and practical real life and a tonne of helpful and valuable takeaways!
Presented by:
Jo Jeffers, Head of Strategy at THG Studios
As we look toward 2025, the landscape of consumer behaviour is evolving faster than ever. This talk will examine key trends shaping the way people will discover, purchase, and engage with brands across all industries, with a focus on beauty and D2C in general. From AI-driven personalisation and the rise of social commerce to the growing importance of sustainability and immersive experiences like AR and VR, we’ll explore how these innovations will redefine the consumer journey.
We’ll explore how these innovations will redefine the consumer journey. We’ll discuss the changes in a consumer’s decision-making process, looking at how consumers use social networks as search engines, community-led context, and the power of EGC for brands.
Presented by:
- Amy Cully Steele, Head of Strategy at One Agency Media
- Alex Randles, Research & Insight Manager at One Agency Media
Drawing from a career split 50/50 between agency and client sides, this talk takes a hard look at the cost of chasing short-term wins and flashy metrics on through both sides of the lens. A reminder to distinguish between what’s truly valuable versus what merely looks good on a dashboard. It’s an anti-trend approach, reminding us that while marketing fads come and go, a solid strategy remains timeless.
Presented by:
Carl Hallam, Co-Founder of Vega
16:00 - Content concludes and networking (30 mins)
A MUST-ATTEND EVENT FOR MARKETERS
After a sell-out event in 2024, we are excited to bring Prolific North Live back to Manchester in 2025!
This is your chance to get involved and share your expertise with industry professionals. With flexible packages to suit your needs and a limited number of slots available, it’s the perfect opportunity to raise your profile and showcase your knowledge.
Plus, benefit from dedicated event coverage across all Prolific North channels.
Click below to learn more or reach out to the team at hello@prolificnorth.co.uk.
2024 Speakers
2024 Event Partners
Vega
Made by Brave
IF Agency
Glaisyers
Tangerine
