Anything Agency appointed to design and build new website to launch MAD//Fest’s latest event: MAD//UpNorth
Creative digital agency Anything has been appointed to design and build a website for the new MAD//UpNorth (Marketing Advertising Disruption Festival). The dynamic London based festival attracts 12,000+ attendees with keynote speakers such as Eddie Izzard, Rory Sutherland and Hannah Fry and is now coming Up//North with a new festival held at Manchester’s Factory International 26-27 February 2025.
Anything has worked with MAD//Fest, held each summer at the Truman Brewery, Shoreditch, since its launch in 2018. Earlier this year the agency collaborated on a brand new digital design for the MAD//Fest website by moving its current Content Management System (CMS) over to headless solution Storyblok, to allow for flexibility and scalability. The vibrant new website aims to set MAD//Fest apart from the competition while offering a cutting edge technology stack focused on driving performance, security and flexibility.
The Anything team has designed and built a vibrant site for the Up//North festival, in keeping with its new northern identity.
Jono Brain, Technical Director and co-founder of Anything, said: “MAD//Fest is always such a brilliant event, everyone in the industry wants to be there because it is that good. We’ve seen the event go from 2,000 attendees to over 12,000 so it’s our job to support this growth. We love working with the MAD//Fest team and bringing their ideas to life and being part of the excitement and anticipation in the run up to the events. The new websites are a perfect example of what a headless CMS solution should be and we’re incredibly excited to be launching MAD//UpNorth.”
Ian Houghton, co-founder of MAD//Fest, commented: “At MAD//Fest, we want to challenge industry norms and create an environment with no corporate jargon where people can speak passionately about the marketing and advertising industry. Our new site has been fundamental in getting attendees excited about the event and I have no doubt that UpNorth will be a huge triumph as well.”
With the introduction of new modern technologies and a flexible headless CMS solution, Anything was able to add the new microsite rapidly for MAD//UpNorth with no trouble at all. It follows the exact same structure and block configurations, yet appears visually different with the new northern, vibey identity of the MAD//UpNorth Manchester event.
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Anything is a creative digital agency led by a team of industry experts who don’t believe in limits.
When recommending a creative solution to their client’s digital problems, Anything’s team of consultants purposefully avoid technical jargon. This open and honest approach has led to the agency’s long term relationships with some of the UK’s biggest brands.
With a dedication to future proofing client’s digital platforms with scalable technology, Anything will limit downtime effectively enabling businesses to expand internationally.
As the digital industry has evolved during the past 10 years so has Anything who integrate brand design, experiential, event builds, social media and any communication solution needed to make their client’s campaigns a success.
Led by Jono Brain and Mark Holt in Manchester, Anything’s client’s include, Quorn, Amtico International and Institute of Civil Engineers.
Launched in 2018, MAD//Fest London is the UK’s largest brand event. In 2024, MAD//Fest brought together 12,000+ senior brand/agency marketers, 550+ speakers, and over 120 commercial partners. The festival has attracted several industry awards, including ‘Event of the Year’ and ‘Trade Show of the Year’ at the UK Event Awards. Alongside MAD//Fest London, the business operates the successful MAD//Masters By Rory Sutherland hybrid course and has launched ‘MAD//UpNorth’, which will take place in Manchester on 26-27 Feb 2025. In June 2024, MAD//Fest was acquired by The Ingenuity Group. The deal will accelerate growth and play an instrumental role in the creation of a disruptive marketing connections group.
