ENTERTAINMENT IS WHERE RELEVANCE BEGINS
01
ENTERTAINMENT HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE MOST POWERFUL DRIVER OF CULTURAL CONVERSATIONS, IDENTITY, AND SHARED EXPERIENCES.
As audiences increasingly fragment across streaming platforms, social media, and gaming, entertainment remains the universal language that shapes how we connect and what we value.
For brands, the message is clear: to be relevant today, you must show up where culture lives. That means embedding within entertainment not as an outsider, but as a co-creator. As traditional entertainment models fracture under the pressure of economic strain, technological disruption, and shifting consumer behavior, brands now have the opportunity — and responsibility — to play a more meaningful role in content creation.
02
THIS NEW ERA IS DEFINED BY STRATEGIC COLLABORATION.
Studios are restructuring, streamers are pivoting to ad-supported models, and everyone is exploring new commercial approaches.
To succeed, brands must let go of rigid campaign thinking and embrace entertainment as a multi-faceted, long-term growth lever—one that goes beyond sponsorship to IP co-ownership, storytelling, and measurable ROI.
03
TECHNOLOGY IS ACCELERATING WHAT’S POSSIBLE — AND EXPANDING WHO GETS TO PARTICIPATE.
The Lionsgate-Runway partnership is a landmark example of how AI is becoming a serious force in the entertainment value chain. The deal grants Runway access to Lionsgate’s extensive IP catalogue, allowing it to train AI tools that can assist with everything from pre-visualization to content development workflows.
This collaboration is being closely watched as a potential blueprint for how studios might use AI to streamline production, cut costs, and even preview content before greenlighting major investments. For advertisers, it hints at a future where brands can test creative ideas in near real-time and participate earlier in the creative process. Still, amid all this innovation, the creative core must remain intact.
What’s exciting is the increased flexibility across the board.
Almost every platform and partner has a different model right now, which we guide our clients through, but everyone is leaning into innovation.
A successful entertainment project should touch every element of a brand’s ecosystem, placing it at the heart of everything.
CATHY BOXALL
dentsu’s Global Head of Entertainment
04
GEOGRAPHY AND INFRASTRUCTURE ARE BEING REDEFINED.
While Hollywood’s historic dominance is waning due to high costs and stiff global competition, technology like virtual production and cloud computing is removing barriers to entry. Production now follows the incentives — Spain, Colombia, the UK, and Georgia are fast becoming new power centers.
For brands, this means greater flexibility in where and how they can develop content that feels global, yet culturally specific. It also opens the door to cost-effective, high-quality storytelling without needing a traditional studio system.
05
IN THIS LANDSCAPE, BRANDS ARE NOT JUST FUNDERS — THEY’RE PUBLISHERS, PRODUCERS, AND IP STAKEHOLDERS.
The key is a shift in mindset: from media buyers to cultural participants. Marketers must navigate complex entertainment ecosystems with the same precision they apply to performance campaigns, aligning on creative strategy, talent, distribution, and metrics from day one.
The brands that will win are those who engage audiences on their terms — through stories they want to watch, in places they already are. This is not the end of entertainment marketing; it’s the beginning of its most exciting chapter yet.
I believe in human creativity, and feel that we'll see a return to creativity with or without new tech/AI.
It's an exciting time to be working at the intersection of IP and advertising and to see some really innovative thinking by and with our brand partners.”
GENEVA WASSERMAN
dentsu’s Global EVP of Film & TV Development
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