BBC North reaches out to region’s creativity
Friday, September 11th, 2009 by Jon Clements
The BBC’s move to Salford’s Media City will “reinvent the BBC for the north” and be an opportunity for regional, creative businesses to work hand-in-hand with the organisation.
This was the unequivocal message from two of the most senior members of the corporation’s Marketing, Communications and Audiences Organisation (MC&A) at BBC Manchester last night.
Sharon Baylay, BBC executive board member with responsibility for MC&A said: “Brands attract brands and we will be building Manchester and Salford as destinations for the creative industries, especially the digital and online sector which are so integrated with what the BBC is doing moving forward.”
The MC&A’s Jacky Brandreth, director of brand and planning, added: “The vision for the BBC is connecting better with audiences across the north and having creative talent living and breathing in the region.”
It was, undoubtedly, a promising sign for the audience of north west agencies and media companies that the BBC is taking its relationship with local business seriously enough to field such senior executives for a face-to-face Q&A session.
And among the 30 staff MC&A North will employ in the region, more than 20 of those will be newly-created positions.
The BBC’s Media City operation will host children’s programming, entertainment, FiveLive, BBC Sport, alongside regional and local programmes, among others. Even the Match of the Day studio will be in spitting distance of Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium.
Brandreth said: “This is about opening up the conversation and creating an ongoing dialogue with people and organisations here.”
