Prolific North’s Northern Marketing Festival 2026 has officially opened in Liverpool, bringing together marketers from across the region for a day of insight – with standout sessions highlighting a fundamental shift in how brands are connecting with audiences.
Hosted at the Royal Liver Building, the first day of the three-city festival set the tone for a week that will continue in Leeds tomorrow before concluding in Manchester on Thursday.
Backed by strategic partner Embryo, the opening sessions challenged long-held assumptions around channels, consumer behaviour and the role of marketing itself in an increasingly fast-moving, platform-driven world.
From the collapse of the traditional funnel into real-time decision-making, to the growing influence of platforms and communities over brand choice, speakers repeatedly pointed to a landscape where consumers no longer move in neat, linear journeys – and where brands need to earn relevance in the moment rather than rely on awareness alone.
That shift played out in different ways across the day – whether through the rise of the “now economy”, the power of podcast communities, or the need to rethink long-standing assumptions about channels like affiliate marketing – before the agenda moved into deeper dives on each topic.
Affiliate marketing ‘misunderstood’, not ineffective
Opening the day, Prolific North MD Alexandra Balzas set a clear challenge for the audience urging marketers to leave with “a couple of new connections” and at least one “golden nugget” they could take back into their day-to-day work.
That framing carried into the first session from Embryo’s senior affiliate manager Matt Dicks, who set out to reframe what he described as “probably the most misunderstood channel” in marketing.
“Affiliate marketing is a performance-based channel… a partner is rewarded for the part they play driving a conversion or leads for the brand,” he said – but argued that definition only scratches the surface of how the channel now operates.
Matt pushed back strongly on the perception that affiliate is limited to vouchers and cashback, explaining that while those formats still exist, they are no longer dominant.
“Partners work across the whole purchase funnel,” he said, pointing to growing activity at the awareness and consideration stages through content publishers, influencers and comparison platforms.
He also tackled one of the channel’s most persistent criticisms – cannibalisation.
“The truth is that cannibalisation is a programme management problem… not an inherent feature of affiliates,” he said.
According to Matt, many of the issues attributed to affiliate marketing stem from outdated approaches, particularly over-reliance on last-click attribution and flat commission structures that fail to reflect real business goals.
“If your goal is to drive new customers, you shouldn’t be paying the same commission for existing ones,” he said.
He also challenged the idea that affiliate erodes margin, arguing that its performance-based structure makes it one of the lowest-risk channels available.
“You only pay when a conversion happens… the risk is shared.”
Instead, he positioned affiliate as a flexible, scalable channel that can reach audiences other platforms cannot.
“Affiliate partners reach audiences your other channels can’t,” he said.
Uber reframes marketing for the ‘now economy’
One of the standout sessions of the morning came from Uber Advertising, where regional team lead Bill Dennett set out a broader shift reshaping the industry.
Opening with an interactive crowd exercise around Uber ratings, Dennett used the moment to underline a deeper point about consumer behaviour.
“The app and the rating in your hand represent far more than just a ride or a delivery,” he said. “We are living through a structural shift in how people decide, not just how people buy.”
At the heart of that shift is what Uber describes as the “now economy” – where decision-making has collapsed into moments of immediate need.
“Most of us don’t start with ‘I fancy ordering from this brand’… we start with ‘I need food now’,” he explained.
Dennett argued that traditional marketing funnels are increasingly outdated in a world where discovery, evaluation and purchase happen simultaneously within platforms.
“The brands that win today aren’t just front of mind – they are present at that point of decision,” he said.
Using Uber’s real-time behavioural data – from journeys to food orders – he showed how brands can tap into intent at highly specific moments, from a commuter thinking about coffee to a traveller heading to the airport.
He said: “When brands map themselves to those daily occasions, you stop being a disruption… and you start to become a utility.”
Regulation demands confidence, not caution
A panel on regulated industries, hosted by Sara Donnelly of Beyond Echo PR, explored how marketers are balancing creativity with increasing scrutiny.
Across financial services, healthcare and legal sectors, panellists agreed that trust is no longer just a brand value but a core operational requirement.
Rebecca Moore of Lewis Silkin warned that the regulatory landscape has shifted significantly in the past year.
“Misleading advertising… can now lead to fines of up to 10% of global turnover,” she said, highlighting growing pressure around transparency, pricing and claims.
For Kellie Butterworth of mydentist, the shift is all about authenticity. “It’s not about shouting the loudest,” she said. “It’s about being the most authentic.”
Will Jones of DF Capital emphasised consistency: “It’s easy to do good things occasionally… it’s really difficult to maintain that high level consistently.”
Despite the constraints, Moore argued creativity still has space to thrive in regulated industries. “Regulation dictates what you can say, not how you say it,” she said.
Podcasts ‘not a tactic’ but a community
Another standout session came from Craig Hannan of The Anfield Wrap, who rather surprisingly challenged brands to rethink their approach to podcasting.
“I don’t think the world needs any more podcasts,” he said bluntly, arguing that brands should focus on tapping into existing communities rather than launching their own.
Hannan positioned podcasts not as a channel, but as a relationship built on trust and shared identity.
“The strength of podcasts is the communities themselves,” he said. “And the community is our number one marketer.”
Drawing on The Anfield Wrap’s journey from a free podcast to a global subscription platform, he highlighted how deep audience connection translates into commercial impact.
“People buy into people,” he said. “They make an emotional decision first and rationalise it afterwards.”
He pointed to research showing 84% of their audience are more likely to purchase from brands featured on the platform, and stressed the importance of long-term alignment over short-term campaigns.
He said: “You cannot see it as another advertising channel… there’s a social contract with a podcast community.”
That contract, he said, requires brands to show up consistently, add value and align with audience values – or risk being rejected outright.
Building talent pipelines for the future
Rounding off the morning, Liverpool Hope University’s Kimberley Dean turned the focus inward, exploring how businesses can build stronger talent pipelines through apprenticeships.
With nearly one million young people in the UK currently not in education, employment or training, she highlighted the role employers can play in addressing skills gaps while supporting growth.
“Apprenticeships are more than just development for one person…they can upskill an entire business,” she said.
AI removes production barriers – but not creativity
The afternoon opened with a deep dive into AI from Absolute’s Chris Hodgen and Simon Allman, who set out how the technology is already reshaping campaign production.
“AI is here, which is not a shock to anyone,” the session noted, but the key message was all about acceleration.
“What AI actually changes is creativity can move faster,” Chris said. “Production stops being the bottleneck.”
Drawing on a fully AI-generated campaign for housebuilder Dandara, the pair showed how brands can now create large-scale, multi-audience campaigns at a fraction of the cost of traditional TV production.
“Clients do tend to think you press a button, it just magically appears… but there’s a lot of work that goes into it,” Chris said.
They also pushed back on fears around creativity being diminished.
“Humans are still massive,” Chris said. “It’s not going to take away from the creative ideas.”
Instead, the pair argued AI is unlocking ideas that would previously have been too expensive to produce.
Liverpool agencies look outward, not inward
A panel session, Made in Liverpool. Seen Everywhere., brought together leaders from across the city’s agency scene to explore how regional businesses are competing on a national and global stage.
Nicola Docking of Poke pointed to the city’s entrepreneurial culture as a key differentiator. “I think Liverpool does really well,” she said. “It encourages people to start, to go, to do.”
Panellists stressed that geography is becoming less relevant, particularly post-Covid.
“You can work from anywhere… clients recognise that and are happy to seek viewpoints from outside London,” said Stephen Ardern of Continuous.
At the same time, agencies are under increasing pressure to deliver more with less. “People have less time, less resource and less money to do even more with it,” Ardern added.
The discussion also highlighted the importance of mindset over location.
“It’s not being self-limiting… we’ve always tried to have a national and international mindset,” said Docking.
Packaging as a critical brand lever
The final keynote turned attention to an often overlooked part of the marketing mix – packaging. Unilever’s head of packaging innovation and design Sarah Leech argued that physical touchpoints are becoming more important, not less, in a digital-first world.
“The physical touch point is where the brand promise is truly kept,” she said.
She described packaging as a continuous brand experience – from discovery through to use and even disposal.
“It’s not just about that initial experience… it’s everything from discovery through to using a product and end of life.”
With digital channels becoming increasingly saturated, she suggested packaging can act as media in its own right.
“In some cases where media spend is low, your pack is your campaign.”
Leech also pointed to a growing tension between sustainability, cost and user experience – one that brands must carefully balance.
“If you’re giving choices to consumers… they don’t want to make those compromises.”
Looking ahead, she highlighted the potential impact of AI on consumer decision-making itself.
“If you let AI make your decisions… it becomes much more logical,” she said, pointing to the rise of “agentic commerce”.
The festival now moves on to Leeds tomorrow before concluding in Manchester on Thursday, with more insights, debates and practical takeaways expected across the week. Stay tuned to Prolific North for full coverage from each city.
