Manchester Pop Up Activation: Skipton Building Society.
iMP Experiential designed and built an interactive pop up in the format of a freestanding Skipton-blue front door in Spinningfields, Manchester.
Manchester pop-up: Skipton Building Society.
As Featured In: FMBE Field Marketing Magazine
Client: Skipton Building Society
Campaign: “Track Record” mortgage
Campaign Type: Consumer banking brand experience
Location: Spinningfields, Manchester city centre
Key Objective: To generate hype for Skipton Building Society’s pioneering Track Record mortgage to turn long-term renters into first-time buyers with an interactive experiential campaign
Brief for the Manchester pop up.
Skipton Building Society wanted to raise awareness for their groundbreaking “Track Record” mortgage product, designed to help renters transition into homeownership. To spark national conversation and directly engage with prospective First-Time Buyers (FTBs), the brief was to create a high-impact PR and experiential pop up in a high-footfall location with the target audience. The activation needed to combine engaging public participation with media commentary, featured celebrity talent, and press-worthy visual moments.
Designing the interactive pop up experience.
iMP Experiential brought the campaign to life by designing, fabricating and delivering a custom interactive pop up installation right in the heart of Spinningfields Square, Manchester.
Key pop up activation elements:
- The Locked Blue Door: A standalone, fully branded Skipton-blue front door (complete with a “No. 3” house detail) set under a high-spec pop up shelter. Opening the door revealed a grand prize message: “Congratulations! You’ve just won £3,000!”
- The Key Lucky Dip: A custom clear acrylic key box mounted on a Skipton-branded plinth containing 85 keys (84 dud keys and 1 winning keys) giving passersby the chance to test their luck.
- Celebrity Host & Content Capture: Hosted alongside The Traitors winner Harry Clark, who interviewed prospective buyers in line about their journeys onto the property ladder, captured voxpops, and conducted media interviews throughout the day.
- Immersive Styling: Queue management was styled with branded VIP posts, cyan ropes, plants, and staged moving boxes featuring messaging like “Did You Know If You Rent You May Be Able To Buy?” to spark conversation.
Executing on-site logistics.
iMP managed the end-to-end logistics and production on-site:
- Overnight load-in: Managed early morning vehicle access and permit logistics at Spinningfields Square, Manchester
- Build & quality check: Erected the gazebo, key plinths, interactive door mechanism, and queue containment system ahead of production checks
- Public activation & big winner moment: As participants queued up to pick a key and try the lock, the winning moment was captured with a burst of cyan blue confetti, creating immediate press photo and video assets
- Prize fulfillment: The £3,000 top prize was gifted into a Skipton easy-access savings account to directly support the winner’s house deposit goals, alongside secondary instantly redeemable prizes
Pop up results & campaign impact.
- High Engagement: Generated direct interaction with 693 First-Time Buyers in a prime Manchester business/ lifestyle district
- PR & Media Assets: Delivered photography, video content, and broadcast-ready PR soundbites featuring celebrity talent and real consumers
- Brand Positioning: Successfully brought a complex financial product to life through a memorable and visually striking pop up experience
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We (iMP Experiential) designed and built the physical pop up. This included the door, the doorframe, the bolts, keys, paint, plinths… everything! This was all designed in house and built on site in our workshop in Leeds. We then transported all the kit to Manchester and installed it.
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The activation aimed to raise consumer awareness for Skipton Building Society’s “Track Record” mortgage product by directly engaging renters and prospective first-time buyers in a high-footfall location through an interactive PR event.
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The event took place at Spinningfields Square in Manchester city centre, a prime location selected for its heavy daily pedestrian traffic of young professionals and prospective homebuyers.
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Passersby participated in a key lucky dip from a branded display plinth. Winning keys unlocked a standalone Skipton front door, revealing a grand prize of £3,000 deposited into a Skipton savings account towards a house deposit.
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iMP managed the full end-to-end event production, including permit logistics, build and fabrication of the bespoke door structure, equipment setup, queue management and on-site operational coordination.
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CLIENT TESTIMONIALS
David and team at iMP are the real deal - kind, personable, dependable, professional, and offer a craftsmanship that rivals any agency I've encountered in my career. We will absolutely be using iMP again for any future UK activations (if they will have us) and highly recommend for any companies seeking an incredible experience - ESPECIALLY if you're a US-based team like us, and need an expert on location.
Brand Director
Life360
Had a wonderful experience working with David and the whole iMP team for an event this summer! David went above and beyond to help wherever possible and the branded ice cream van turned out beautifully. Hope to work with iMP again soon!
Brand Manager
ETTG
We worked with iMP for our event stand and staffing of the Ideal Home Show. David and the team were fantastic, our stand was incredible and we had so many compliments on it. The staff were great, they are really high energy and engaged our consumers at the stand. I would highly recommend if you are looking to run any sampling or experiential events for your brand.
Brand Manager
Snuggledown
Hiring iMP for an event I was leading on for a new client was a great decision. They turned around a high quality sampling event and promo vehicle with a very short turnaround time, and their staff on the day were incredibly enthusiastic and professional. They made the process easy and the client very happy, we'll definitely be working with them again.
Brand Director
Lee Kum Kee
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