Out of Home advertising at the Manchester Marathon

Published on Tue Apr 29, 2025 by David J Colbran

Out and about on location for another busy day completing a commercial photography project. This time the end client was Adidas and as one of the main sponsors of the Manchester Marathon 2025, they needed coverage of their brand presence in and around the event.

This commission matched two areas that I have covered on numerous times in the past - OOH or Out of Home advertising and marathon photography. And it was fabulous to spend a day in the sun down the road in Manchester.

I've successfully completed dozens of professional photography commissions for the outdoor advertising industry. These have been both via an agent, with PR and marketing companies and directly to the advertisers themselves.

There are multiple OOH formats spanning everything from traditional 6-sheet posters to interactive digital screens. If these are digital they are sometimes called DOOH. And big brands will use a variety during a campaign. Adidas had the full range on show for one of their UK marquee events. My brief included a long list of sites - large vertical and horizontal digi screens that you often see at busy junctions or along the side of major roads. In addition there were city centre digital screens called D6s - these are pavement screens the size of the end of bus shelter. And of course Manchester Marathon specific temporary branding - race banners, entertainment areas and finish area media. They wanted 'to capture moments that make Adidas look like they dominate the space' avoiding other branding in the images.

And I have vast experience of working as a photographer at marathons and other endurance sports. I worked 12 years in a row for the worlds biggest sports photography business at the London Marathon. And at many other events across Europe, so knew it was going to be a long and physically challenging day. For those interested, I gathered my experience in this post Six Tips for Better Event Marathon Photography.

Following the location list, brief details and checking the marathon route map I forged a plan. My starting locations were to capture the larger digi screens that runners would actually go past. There weren't that many but I knew several on the main road from Old Trafford to the city centre (the Bridgewater Way A56 for road buffs) and proved to be great locations at the 3 mile mark. I then followed the route of the course, getting shots of branding on the way and ending up at an entertainment location, that had a branded truck and sound system. Next up was a cut across Hulme towards the finish area on Oxford Street. Even without a course pass I managed to capture a good selection of images and by the time I arrived it was busy with finishers, so perfect for dynamic photography with branding in the background. Finally it was back to the city centre for some large building wrap around banners at the Arndale Centre and near Piccadilly Gardens and then a load of the bus shelter sized D6s.

Congratulations to all the runners. Tough day, as it was unusually hot and sunny for Manchester in April and I got a bit of a red neck and sore feet from 30K steps lol. But a great day back on the course !

So if you are planning or promoting a large scale event and need photographic coverage of anything, from the branding to VIP red carpet arrivals I am your guy. While based in Liverpool, I am happy to travel. Give me a call on 07810321634 and lets see if I can help. I can also recommend a top quality video team for all your moving picture requirements.

Author: David J Colbran