Manchester unveils Christmas marketing campaign

Manchester has unveiled a comprehensive Christmas marketing campaign.

It includes 48 sheet posters, press and radio advertising, a specially designed  city centre map, and, a TV commercial currently being aired on ITV 1  and Channel M.

Commissioned  by Cityco, the organisation responsible for managing the city centre, in  partnership with Manchester City Council, Marketing Manchester and the Greater  Manchester Passenger Transport Executive, the campaign focuses on the depth and  diversity of the retail and leisure offer, using a collection of items gathered  from Manchester stores, with the strap line 'See what Manchester's made of'.

The concept was created by Manchester based creative agency, Dinosaur, who designed the poster and press campaign. It was then transformed into a TV commercial by Amaze advertising agency, produced by Loose Moose Productions and shot at the Hot Animation studios in Altrincham, Cheshire, home of Bob the Builder for 10 years.  Let by HIT Entertainment, this is a centre of excellence for stop-frame animation.

The animated film is directed by Manchester based Oscar and BAFTA nominated animator, Barry Purves, and is designed to highlight the impressive range of shops, leisure and entertainment venues in the city centre to ensure Manchester remains the number one choice for Christmas for anyone living up to an hour  away.

World-renowned animator and the commercial's director, Barry Purves  has made over 50 commercials in his 35 year career, but this is the first he has  made for Manchester since co-directing the award-winning Manchester Evening News TV advertisement 20 years ago. Barry has not only worked on Bob the Builder but other TV animation classics including as Postman Pat,  Wind in the Willows and Rupert the Bear, as well as his own films and features  such as King Kong.

 Speaking at the launch of the commercial, Barry Purves said: "I was thrilled to be asked to do this.  I loved the concept straight away. It's a nice funky ad and it was great to do something hands on and play around with over 200 props with no special effects and very limited technology.  We've been allowed to go back to basics in animation terms, which is rare these days and this has allowed us to come up with something rather special.  Manchester was always a centre of animation and there are so many talented animators here that I hope this high profile commercial sparks a revival."

Wrapping up the recession-busting marketing campaign is Peter Saville, Manchester's Creative Director and Co-founder of Factory Records, who has designed a special limited edition gift wrap for the first time.

In keeping with the city's 'original modern' ethos, Saville's aim for the multi-coloured abstract design, was to subtly evoke the warmth and emotion of Christmas in a contemporary way.

Only five thousand tubes will be available, each containing two 1 metre x 70 cm sheets and they are on sale for £2.99 from the Tourist Information Centre in St Peter's Square, Manchester City Art Gallery's shop, the gift shop at Urbis, Visit Manchester's Christmas market stall in Albert Square and on-line at www.visitmanchester.com, and from Vinyl Exchange in the Northern Quarter. 

Manchester's Creative Director, Peter Saville, commenting on the paper said: "When I was approached to design a gift wrap for Manchester I thought it was a fantastic idea  and something I have never done before. Designing a successful wrapping paper is not easy but working together with colleague Howard Wakefield, who lent his technical expertise, we've come up with a great result."  

Kate Harrison, chief executive of City said: "This recession-busting campaign is exactly what's needed to keep us ahead of the game in these challenging times. The marketing initiative allows us to tackle the competition head on ensuring city centre businesses get the most out of the crucial Christmas period."