The community-driven city brand
The community-driven city brand and trusted symbol of civic pride adopted by Mancunian people – advertising Manchester while championing culture and a better future for the city
About us
I Love MCR is an independent media and advertising company and community foundation, based in the heart of Manchester.
I Love Manchester (I Love MCR in short) is a slogan and a brand that is the basis of a city-wide advertising campaign promoting civic pride.
An internationally iconic city brand and trusted symbol of civic pride adopted by Mancunians, championing community, culture and a better future for the city region.
Out of chaos came creativity. I Love MCR was launched as a defiant reaction to the mindless riots in 2011 in an effort to unite people from across Greater Manchester. The campaign gained unprecedented organic reach on social media and was proudly emblazoned on the city streets and buildings as a statement for solidarity and resilience.
Inspiring community-led cleanups, the “I Love Manchester” campaign was a social movement armed with an antidote to antisocial news that positively resonated with residents and visitors alike.
It wasn’t long before the purpose-driven brand became a media and advertising company with a focus on community, sustainability and social responsibility, supporting wider community groups and projects.
The ubiquitous I Love MCR brand is an accessible sign of civic pride and has become a trusted voice for Manchester.
Today, over a decade later, our globally recognised brand continues to advertise Manchester as the best place to live, work, play and do business while fearlessly and optimistically championing a better future for the wider city region. Together with our partners, we boost business, support community groups and projects, raise funds for charity, help build economic prosperity, and enhance the public image of our city.
What do we do?
I Love Manchester is a community-driven city brand and a trusted symbol of civic pride.
Our mission is to promote life in Greater Manchester all while building economic prosperity and making a difference to the lives and prospects of people across the city region. We use our prolific platform to tell meaningful stories and raise awareness of community groups, projects, charities and not-for-profit organisations – and the good humans behind it all – while helping to raise awareness and funds for community activity.
I Love Manchester positively documents life in Greater Manchester using a variety of media to help residents and tourists alike discover the city’s supersonic stories.
As a purpose-driven brand, I Love MCR is a vehicle for mobilising real Mancunians with meaningful content that connects community groups and promotes projects. We create daily content to inform, influence and inspire people to stand together through thick and thin.
Whilst bringing stories to life using social media and digital marketing, and outdoor media, we promote businesses and raise awareness of great causes that benefit people and communities within Greater Manchester.
We are busy advertising Manchester as a desirable destination to visit, live, work and do business. Meanwhile, we supporting local charities and communities.
We like to get behind people who try to make things happen. We help boost the local economy, raise money for great causes, all while painting a unique picture of the city region.
Want to advertise in Manchester? You’ve come to the right place.
Our heart’s in the right place. Manchester.
To celebrate Manchester and champion its people while broadcasting our brand values.
To stand together through thick and thin. To unite Greater Manchester as a wider community of ten metropolitan boroughs of a city region.
To boost the local economy, promote community projects and raise both awareness and funds for great causes.
To advertise Manchester as the best place in the UK to live, work and do business.
To spread the dynamic image of Manchester to the world.
I Love MCR is a source of joy. National press is full of manipulative negative news that spreads viral misery. We like to share the good news and Manchester has plenty of it. Our positive publication receives an average of 14 million views per year by posting feel-good Manchester news and human interest stories.
For the love of Manchester, we share inspiring stories of local people, community projects, and charity. And we also promote lifestyle, food and drink, culture, business and property.
We like to think our positive posts help put Manchester on the world stage and boost the local economy.
Using a combination of digital and media, we advertise and market Manchester businesses by targeting different demographics and interests in a huge captive audience. From editorial and email marketing to video and digital billboards, we connect the right people.
The I Love MCR brand is all about uniting people with the same positive values coming together no matter their background. But our values aren’t just our shared beliefs; they are the mindsets we embrace, the choices we make, and the actions we take.
We take pride in the city region in which we live and want to make our environment a better place to live and work.
Our community has demonstrated the ability to successfully adapt to stressors and “bounce back” from extremely difficult experiences in the face of adversity.
We love people. We embrace a group of people with a similar characteristic in common, the condition of sharing social values and practising common ownership.
The practice or policy of including people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalised, such as those who have physical or mental disabilities and members of minority groups.
We aim to unite the wider community of Greater Manchester with a sense of belonging.
We optimistically champion a better future for the city region of Greater Manchester and perpetually react positively to events.
The I Love Manchester Foundation raises vital funds to help improve the lives and prospects of people across Greater Manchester. Assets and revenue from the I Love MCR advertising and marketing department are used to run I Love MCR Foundation, which means that more money goes directly to great causes as opposed to the running of a usual charity.
What’s more, 100% of profit from the I Love MCR Shop is donated to the charity foundation. The fund is shared across a diverse array of Greater Manchester based community groups and causes as and when it’s needed the most. Learn more >>
Declare your love for Manchester and show the world what the city stands for with our I Love Manchester merchandise, Manchester gifts and souvenirs available from the online Manchester shop. Natural materials, renewable energy and products made the right way. What’s more, at least 20% of sales proceeds are donated to our charity foundation. Get the mug and the t-shirt.
We are part of a positive change, doing things differently to help make Greater Manchester a plastic-free environment.
As an organisation based in Greater Manchester, I Love MCR will help to stamp out the use of avoidable single-use plastics. We have considered the environment when reviewing our practices, and made more sustainable choices about the products we offer, and the ways we deliver our services.
Our office is completely print-free and we create no waste at all, actually. Every product on our online shop is made with love in a sustainable supply chain using organic and recycleable materials, powered by renewable energy, and delivered in plastic-free packaging.
Together we can make a change. You too, as a business or an individual, can sign the pledge and help us to make plastic-free Greater Manchester one of the greenest city regions in Europe.
Located in the north-west of England, Manchester is the economic hub of the north with a population of over half a million proud people who reside in the city centre, and more than 2.8 million people live across the ten boroughs of Greater Manchester.
It’s been said, ‘what Manchester does today, the rest of the world does tomorrow’. The world’s truly modern city paved the way with a wealth of world-first innovations.
Manchester was the heart of the Industrial Revolution, a city that makes history and shapes the future.
The place where mankind first split the atom. The invention of the first modern computer; The first free public library in the country. The first totally artificial waterway. The first city with gas street lighting. The world’s first proper railway. The city of the suffragettes. The birthplace of graphene, the world’s thinnest material.
Manchester is a vibrant world-class city. Rich in social and cultural history, and a rich mix of old and new. Unlike other metropolises, Manchester is a resilient city that adapts to changing circumstances. An ever-morphing constellation of stories, personalities and moving parts that embraces everyone with open arms. This warm reception informs daily life and a unique sense of civic pride. It’s expressed through the endearing custom of greeting strangers in the street and how coffee shops feel like laid back community lounges.
Manchester is a global city. As the city’s fortune swelled in the 19th century, so did its civic pride. Manchester’s elite saw the city as the new Venice and commissioned grand buildings and monuments, taking architectural inspiration from across the ages.
Manchester’s architectural crown and glory – and focus of its civic pride – is in its town hall. Built to rival the great buildings of London, this is an architectural gem that proclaimed, ‘this is Manchester, and we’ve arrived.’ Held in trust for Mancunians and the nation by the council, it’s the city’s favourite wedding venue and a stage set for TV & film. It even features on its own Royal Mail stamp.
Whether you were born here or drawn here, Manchester is a multicultural city that welcomes people from all over the world with amenities for people of all backgrounds. It’s one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities in the world, with more than 150 languages spoken.
But this city is more than just a destination. Manchester is home.
Apart from Manchester music and football, the key to the city’s success on the world stage is its togetherness.
Manchester has been named one of the top 10 cities to visit by Lonely Planet, the UK’s most liveable city by The Economist and one of the best places in the world to go by The New York Times.
Manchester may no longer be England’s industrial powerhouse, but it’s a city that’s never stopped dreaming. Across the city, daring new projects, innovations and ideas continue to capture the world’s attention.
Today, the city’s greatest asset is still its people. Manchester’s unique sense of civic pride and resilience – and its ability to stand together in solidarity.
Just count the cranes, and you’ll know that Manchester is developing all the time and shows no sign of slowing down. This is why it’s been predicted that the city’s population will rise by 56,000 before 2034.
Manchester has been ranked as one of the greenest cities in the UK thanks to the city’s commitment to recycling and investments in public transport and cycling routes.
A city to be admired and replicated – not just in the UK but worldwide.
A city with a glorious past and, perhaps, an even greater future.
Today, Manchester is in the middle of a cultural renaissance. So the only question is: what will Manchester do tomorrow?
That’s up to you.
Join the Manchester mobile movement.
The I Love MCR App is the beating heart of the city in the palm of your hand. Download an I Love Manchester lifestyle and discover all the best deals, experiences and events in Manchester.
Our heart’s in the right place. Manchester. Is yours?
Meet the busy bees behind I Love MCR. We’re as Manchester as it gets. Some were born here, some drawn here. A small band of like-minded individuals who share the same passion; love and affection for our city. Conversation starters, visual storytellers and social butterflies. We are cool, cultured and cosmopolitan – just like Manchester. We are an extended family who loves Manchester and we hope you do, too.
Hannah Payton, the 25-year-old Zumba trailblazer with Down’s Syndrome has shared her transformative journey from shielding during COVID-19 to becoming the UK’s first Zumba instructor, embodying resilience, joy, and inclusivity.
Nominations now open: time to nominate your most-loved Manchester people and projects for I Love MCR Awards
How Manchester will mark the sixth anniversary of the terror attack
An I Love MCR team is taking part in the 10K challenge, raising money to help people across Greater Manchester – this is why
Coldplay’s Chris Martin wore tribute Manchester bee jacket live on The Graham Norton Show
For Manchester, it was a decade of Metrolink, the mayor, Manchester City and finally – after a wait of more than 40 years – a Michelin star. But the last
Love Manchester? Prove it. Have your visit to the website make a difference in Greater Manchester…
The I Love MCR Foundation raises vital funds to help improve the lives and prospects of people across Greater Manchester – and we can’t do it without your help.
The official I Love MCR Shop not only spreads Manchester love across the world, but it also helps keeps the lights on so we can support the city region.
Taking on a challenge? Why not fundraise for our Foundation. We’ll even throw in some merchandise to wear, too. Raising funds for great causes is priceless.
Advertise online to reach millions of inspired people who are subscribed, engaged and use our channels on a daily basis.
Regional out-of-home media makes advertising on digital billboard screens across Greater Manchester affordable.
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