[Column] Mike Hendrixen: Oasis, a masterclass in brand, branding, and PR

Imagine you're a band that's been broken up for sixteen years, following endless feuds, lawsuits, and calling each other rotten fish 'n chips. And then you decide to try again. Not quietly—but with over 40 massive shows, including five in your hometown of Manchester. What happens next is not an ordinary reunion—it's marketing and PR magic at its finest!

Because Oasis is no longer just a band. It's a brand. A cultural export that can claim an entire city... even a religion.

Manchester becomes Oasis City

I walked around the city this past week and couldn't believe my eyes. Everywhere you looked: Oasis billboards, buses plastered with stickers, huge murals, street musicians performing Don't Look Back in Anger as if sponsored by Visit Manchester. Three Adidas pop-up stores had lines over an hour long. Shut up and take my money! Adidas cashed in hard with Originals and special editions. Lidl sold tie-ins like a "Lidl by Lidl" parka. Aldi casually changed their name to "Aldeh" on social media and building facades—a nod to Liam's recent lisp.

And the best part... the audience is the medium. Bucket hats, tambourines, parkas. No expensive above-the-line campaign. Fans carry the story: literally and figuratively.

PR without a press release

That's what every agency and brand dreams of: a story fans want to tell themselves, without a sleek global campaign deck. Oasis is that story. Because they're 100% themselves: bold, unpredictable, and above all, larger than life. The media feast on it. The fans even more so.

Whether it's true they reunited for half a billion pounds, or just to show their kids every family feud can be resolved, it doesn't matter. It's a story too good not to believe.

Which band can pull this off in 2025?

There we were, pint in hand, looking at the field of singing, sweating fans, wondering: which band in 2025 can do this too?!

Not interchangeable rappers or TikTok pop stars. The Stones maybe—though Keith Richards is probably been dead for years, he just doesn't know it yet. Arctic Monkeys come close in Sheffield, where the city breathes their name like Manchester breathes Oasis. U2 in Dublin is nearly as sacred, complete with murals, Bono taxi tours, and a chapter in the city guide. Sam Fender is also carving out Newcastle as his own territory, with sold-out shows in St. James' Park.

But nowhere is it as pure, raw, carried by the people, authentic, and as integral to a city as Oasis in Manchester. This isn't a city that happens to like a band—it's a city that sees itself in that band and proudly wears it.

Lessons brands can learn

Many companies try to construct this with purpose slides (ugh!) and identity pyramids off the branding deck. But real cultural relevance happens only when people carry your brand themselves, sing it, breathe it. Oasis proves that branding and PR don't have to come from a strategic plan. Sometimes you just need to defy conventions, dream big—and even apologize. At one show, Liam said, "sorry that I've been a prick!" (what other brand actually apologizes?!) Then your audience does the rest.

Oh, and AI?

Funny detail: Oasis was one of the first bands with an AI album called Aisis. Entirely generated by a model that eerily mimicked Liam's voice. Clever, creepy—and kind of funny. But in Manchester, I was reminded why AI can never replace this.

No machine can simulate a stadium full of sweating people, the feeling of 80,000 voices belting out Champagne Supernova, or the lump in your throat when you look at your friends and think, f#ck, we're actually here. AI can fake music but not the magic. Not the story. Not the goosebumps.

I'm especially grateful I was there—not just as a fan, but as a PR nerd reminded of where real brand and PR success comes from: people, emotion, and a story bigger than any algorithm could ever imagine.

Mike Hendrixen is Founder and Marketing & PR Director of Vertigo 6