Prolific North’s flagship Northern Marketing Festival 2026 has officially got underway in Liverpool this morning, marking the start of a three-day tour across the North’s leading creative and marketing hubs.
Hosted today at the iconic Royal Liver Building, the festival brings together marketers, agencies, brands and creatives for a packed programme of insight, debate and networking, before heading to Leeds on Wednesday and Manchester on Thursday.
Opening the event, Prolific North managing director Alexandra Balazs welcomed delegates alongside Helen Cross, creative industries lead at the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, setting the tone for a day focused on collaboration, creativity and practical learning.
Cross highlighted the importance of stepping away from the day-to-day pressures of the industry to reflect and connect. In her welcome, she said: “Days like today really matter, because stepping away from the day to day gives us time to learn, challenge ourselves, make new connections and go back to our teams with fresh ideas we can actually use.”
She also underlined Liverpool’s growing influence as a creative powerhouse, pointing to its strengths across film, music and gaming, and the opportunities this creates for marketers.
“Liverpool is a hugely creative city with real strengths across film, music and video games – and that matters for marketers, because the best brand growth happens when creativity and innovation collide.”
The city’s screen sector continues to thrive, she said, with Liverpool now the UK’s most filmed city outside London, while its music heritage as a UNESCO City of Music continues to evolve through new formats and distribution models.
Cross also pointed to the region’s growing games cluster and its investment in emerging technologies, including AI and immersive experiences, as well as its commitment to responsible innovation.
“We’re focused on using AI responsibly… building partnerships that help businesses become more productive while also tackling real-world challenges,” she added.
Today’s Liverpool agenda reflects those themes, with sessions spanning affiliate marketing, brand strategy, podcast communities and packaging innovation, alongside panels exploring how marketers are navigating increasingly complex regulatory environments.
Highlights include a session from Uber Advertising, a panel featuring leaders from DF Capital, mydentist and Lewis Silkin, and a closing brand session with Unilever on reimagining packaging.
The festival is supported by strategic partner Embryo, whose senior affiliate manager Matt Dicks is among today’s speakers, tackling what he describes as one of the industry’s “most misunderstood channels”.
Returning for 2026, the Northern Marketing Festival continues to position itself as a key fixture in the region’s calendar, built around three core themes: the intersection of humans and machines, the rise of “slow marketing”, and the power of collaboration in a challenging economic climate.
With stops in Liverpool, Leeds and Manchester, the event aims to showcase the depth of talent and innovation across the North – and, as Cross noted, the growing importance of connected creative ecosystems in driving meaningful brand growth.
