The Manchester Screen Revolutionises Outdoor Advertising with Expanded Creative Platform
David Beckham x The Manchester Screen
The Manchester Screen has dramatically enhanced its creative offerings, positioning itself at the cutting edge of outdoor advertising as brands seek to move beyond traditional billboards. This landmark in Manchester now provides one of the UK’s most extensive out-of-home advertising environments, combining a full-motion digital screen with over 10,000 square metres of activation space, alongside large-format banner wraps, rooftop activations, bespoke structures, and projection capabilities.
Over the past year, significant investment has enabled The Manchester Screen to broaden its formats and creative possibilities. This expansion aligns with a broader shift in the outdoor advertising sector, where campaigns are increasingly designed as immersive experiences rather than isolated advertisements.
Katie Smith, Managing Director of The Manchester Screen, highlighted this transformation: “The role of outdoor advertising has changed dramatically, and this is reflected in the UK’s OOH revenue reaching a record £1.43bn in 2025 with further growth predicted this year. Significantly, it’s being driven by digital and advertisers increasingly combining multiple outdoor formats and campaigns that dominate an entire location to create social content and immersive experiences rather than a single billboard.”
She added, “Reach will always matter, but today brands are looking for campaigns that people actively engage with. A large amount of research now shows us that the moments consumers remember and therefore create brand loyalty are the ones where they experience the brand, they create an occasion to remember.”
Throughout the last twelve months, The Manchester Screen has introduced full-motion capabilities, expanded its physical activation areas, and developed a diverse range of creative formats. These allow advertisers to merge digital content with large-scale physical installations, offering unprecedented creative freedom.
“We’ve invested in creating a canvas that gives brands a far greater creative freedom,” Smith explained. “Instead of being confined to one advertising format, they can now transform an entire location to tell a much bigger story. That’s exactly what sits behind our ‘Beyond the Billboard’ philosophy and our promise to create without limits; giving people the freedom to imagine campaigns that simply wouldn’t have been possible before. We believe outdoor advertising is no longer just about visibility – it’s about creating moments that earn attention, generate conversation and leave a lasting impression.”
The expansion has been further supported by the appointment of Business Director Ben Poulter, whose expertise in outdoor media planning and buying has helped brands and agencies maximise the site’s creative and awareness potential.
Poulter remarked, “The conversations we’re having with agencies today are very different to those we were having just a few years ago. Creative ambition has increased significantly. Brands are thinking much earlier about how outdoor media fits into wider campaigns, from PR and social media through to experiential activity. They’re asking how they can own a space rather than simply advertise within it.”
He continued, “The most successful campaigns today don’t stop when someone drives past them. They’re designed to create content, encourage sharing and become part of a much wider marketing campaign.”
With brands pursuing increasingly ambitious projects, The Manchester Screen anticipates continued growth in demand for integrated outdoor experiences as advertisers seek innovative ways to stand out in a crowded media environment.
