The Northern Marketing Festival continued its 2025 tour with a packed day in Leeds, drawing in a fresh wave of curious marketers from across the North for a programme rich in bold thinking, strategic transformation, and calculated risk-taking.
Held at Aspire, in the heart of Leeds city centre, the event kicked off with a compelling session from Steven Hadden and Mark Cullen of MadeBrave, who shared how the agency worked with transport giant FirstGroup to drive company-wide change through branding.
Originally titled Beware the Pig in Lipstick, their talk challenged the industry to stop viewing branding as surface-level polish and start seeing it as a lever for meaningful business transformation. Drawing from FirstGroup’s brand evolution, they argued that the most effective creative work stems from deep strategic alignment — not just slick visuals.
“There is an effectiveness problem in brand-land,” said self-confessed “brand geek” Mark Cullen. “But there’s no point putting lipstick on a pig. No amount of branding will fix a company that’s fundamentally broken behind the scenes.”
Instead, they urged marketers to bring branding back into the boardroom — into conversations about what a business is, not just how it looks. FirstGroup’s rebrand, they explained, was rooted in real, ongoing change within the company. Rather than paint a picture of idealised travel, the campaign embraced the everyday realities of bus journeys to build trust and credibility.
“We decided to launch a business transformation inside a rebrand — to give it credibility and bring to life all the change already underway,” Cullen said. As Hadden added: “Gloss fades, but transformation lasts. Stop thinking of brand as marketing. Start thinking of it as transformation.”
That spirit of experimentation continued in an intimate panel hosted by HUB, where marketing leads from La Redoute UK and 247 Blinds shared how playfulness has become central to their brand strategies. Sarah Link from La Redoute and Nina Ricks from 247 Blinds spoke to Rob Shaw of HUB about how testing bold ideas, taking calculated risks, and nurturing curiosity-led teams has redefined their marketing — and delivered impressive results.
READ MORE: Prolific North’s Northern Marketing Festival 2025 rolls into Leeds
The theme was taken even further by Jamie Peate and Holly Harper from McCann. Peate, McCann’s Global Head of Effectiveness and Retail Strategy, inspired the room to embrace the power of ‘unblocked thought’. Citing Picasso’s belief that it takes a lifetime to unlearn the rules, he encouraged marketers to rediscover their creativity beyond conventional constraints.
Using Aldi as a case study, he showed how McCann helped unlock £40m in incremental revenue and a 66% uplift in marketing ROI by tackling underperformance with pre-family shoppers through a playful, social-first approach.
Holly Harper, McCann’s Leeds-based Social Lead, followed with a compelling look at how the agency elevated Ladbrokes’ social performance despite tight compliance restrictions. “We became curators of controversy — and it worked for the brand,” she said. “You’ve got to show up differently and find your own distinctive pace to play in.”
Naomi Horan, Social & Influencer Manager at CLOUD NINE, then offered a refreshingly honest take on proving ROI in social media. With nearly a decade of experience across brand and agency roles, she explored how the shifting social landscape in 2025 is pushing marketers to think smarter, go deeper, and demonstrate meaningful value.
Before lunch, Jess Atkinson from Embryo took the stage to deliver Search Reimagined — a powerful rethink of organic search in a world shaped by AI and cultural shifts. She made the case for earning attention through relevance, not just rankings.
“Search is changing,” she said. “There’s a lot of buzz around that, but it’s been happening for years.” With consumers turning to platforms like TikTok, Reddit, ChatGPT, and Amazon, she argued that creative marketers must shift from chasing algorithms to connecting with audiences where they already are.
“It’s no longer enough to rank on Google,” she said. “Success requires a new playbook — one built on insight, creativity, and cultural fluency.”
Following the lunch break, Dan Pratt from Wolfenden reframed paid media not as a short-term lever, but as a vital tool for long-term brand building. Drawing on insights from WARC’s Multiplier Effect, he urged marketers to integrate paid from the outset — rather than bolt it on at the end.
One of the standout moments of the day was a fireside chat with Adam Zavalis, Vice President of Marketing at Asda. With a CV that includes senior roles at Aldi UK and Boots, Zavalis offered practical insights into demand generation, creative leadership, and Asda’s ongoing brand transformation.
“Going back to what Asda stands for — and our roots here in Yorkshire — is really important,” he said, highlighting how heritage can fuel brand distinctiveness.
In conversation with Prolific North Managing Director Alexandra Balazs, Zavalis discussed how Asda is reclaiming its ‘maverick spirit’ while focusing on market disruption and creative renewal. From revitalising its internal culture to launching bold campaigns, the supermarket is targeting areas like the back-to-school season with unique offerings such as George clothing and lunchbox essentials.
He also spoke candidly about operational improvements — from store availability to pricing — as key levers in regaining ground against fast-growing discount rivals like Aldi.
“Do something disruptive — and keep flying the flag for the North,” he urged, encouraging marketers to be brave, bold, and proudly rooted in their regional identity.
Later, Caroline Kaye and Robert Quigley from Sun Branding delivered a thought-provoking session titled Magic and Logic, showcasing how proprietary tech is being used to supercharge creative workflows. Their presentation demonstrated how branding and packaging design can benefit from technology without sacrificing imagination — showing how speed, scale, and creativity can go hand-in-hand.
As the day drew to a close, attendees gathered over drinks for a buzzing networking session — swapping ideas, building connections, and looking ahead to the festival’s final stop in Manchester tomorrow.
The Northern Marketing Festival 2025 is powered by headline sponsors SBS, Automated Analytics and Embryo, alongside regional partners Royal Liver Suite, Growth Platform and Poke Marketing, and a host of industry supporters including Hub, Pathway, ICG, Vision One, Canny Creative, Made Brave, Buy Media, Lucid Link, Print.com, Tal Agency, Wolfenden, Colony, McCann, Be Broadcast, Impression Digital, Sun Branding and Tall.
