Founded by a woman by CEO Holly Moore in 2012, Manchester-based agency Make Events has grown into a successful event agency. Now, after more than a decade of evolution, the agency has unveiled a bold new brand that shows great progress in its journey.
New Era: Why did we need a brand?
After 13 years of business and global pandemic, the decision to rebrand comes from the need to adjust the event to its evolution, value, future ambitions and agency identity. The company did a post-Covid relocation, but never achieved the credibility of the 2016 brand refresh.
CEO Holly Moore felt that his existing identity didn’t reflect who he was or where he was going. Not only did the business overcome the challenges of Covid, it also expanded geographically, expanded its service delivery, and expanded changes that were not communicated visually or strategically.
Moore said: “By the end of 2024, I was tired of the brand. It looked old-fashioned and I started to step out who we became. The business was more geographically diverse, the clients were wider, and we needed the brand to reflect that all.”
Building from within: Team Leading Change
Make Events previously registered external agencies for brand relocation, but this time the team took the entire project within the company, putting collaboration and internal insights at the heart of the process. CEO Holly Moore explained: “It was important that no one knows about brands like our team, and that they felt part of the journey and made the voices that shape the decision.
One of the brand’s biggest challenges was simply finding time. It was important that we respect and respect the already packed schedule as our team is completely immersed in delivering events. Balancing daily client demand with the need for collaboration, feedback and sign-off of the brand was not easy, but the project was kept in-house, allowing the team to be flexible in the evenings and around other major initiatives. Despite being one of several big projects at the same time, the team found space to pause, reflect, and ultimately create something meaningful, making the end result even more rewarding.
Moore said: “Brands often look aesthetically pleasing, but we’ve gotten deeper. What is the future of business? What is our value? What is our vision? It helped us make decisions. People may see new colors or new logos.
Last October, the event was appointed chairman of Mike Kershaw, bringing decades of experience in the events industry and a proven track record in the scaling business. Kershaw has worked closely with its agents to shape its growth strategy. To gain an external perspective, the team looked into 120 stakeholders, including clients, former clients, freelancers and suppliers, before narrowing down to 25 in a one-on-one interview. Feedback was diverse and there were different responses across sectors, but repeated themes emerged. The brand was considered “fun” and the agency also provided high-level strategic events, which sparked reflection.
Internally, an anonymous team survey revealed that 66% support the brand’s ideas. This verifies the direction the agency is heading. “We confirmed that. We needed them to fall in love with it,” says Moore. The team was then invited to a creative workshop to build a mood board that explored how the new brand felt and how it stood out in a competitive market. From these sessions, a clear goal was born: “The World to Manchester.”
This process also included a complete review of the agency’s services and services. All products were reevaluated, all case studies were re-examined, all copies were rewritten, and internal teams were made clear what the brand represents and where it was headed to ensure consistency. Moore said: “Brands often look aesthetically pleasing, but we’ve gotten deeper. What is the future of business? What is our value? What is our vision? It helped us make decisions. People may see new colors or new logos. This is repeated above.
Kershaw said: “The brand was a game changer to create events. It brought concrete clarity, energy and a tangible sense of purpose with our clients internally in every conversation we have.”
“A new identity not only looks good, it makes you feel good. It captures who we are, how we show up, and the kind of creative, operational business we are building. Most importantly, it reflects our ambitions, reflecting the go-to of a brand that wants to provide world-class events and unforgettable brand experiences.
More than a transformation: the brand’s bold new identity
Brands touch on every aspect of event identity, from visual style to tone of voice and strategic positioning. At the heart of the refresh is a bold new logo and a contemporary monochrome color palette, featuring lilac accents that nod to the original lilac color palette. The brand language has also been updated to reflect a more confident, authentic voice that speaks directly to an evolved client base. In addition to visual and verbal updates, the website has been completely redesigned to showcase the agency’s expanded services offering and nationwide reach. Moore said: “We kept the final concept a secret from our team and had an internal brand release event. It was really special to see everyone share their brands across social media.”
The agency also invested in the office as part of rebranding the brand and re-adjusted the brand’s value.
The value of an inclusive brand is to “make magic happen,” and it came from people who say that when Moore left the office, magic is. Moore said: “We wanted to make it irrelevant where we were and where I was. It left the magic, whether we were in London or overseas. We really felt it was based on the type of behavior we wanted to see, from our current team and for the people we employ.
As the event enters this next chapter with a refreshed identity, clear purpose and team-driven vision, the brand is not just a statement of intent, rather than just a new look. With new energy and ambitions, the agency is firmly focused on delivering unforgettable experiences from Manchester to the world.
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