Companies including Under Armour, Starbucks, and Dick's Sporting Goods are creating original content instead of buying traditional ads, reversing decades of separation between brands and entertainment.
Major brands are launching their own content studios rather than relying on traditional advertising. This shift marks a return to the era when brands and entertainment were inseparable.
Traditional advertising has become less effective because audiences are fragmented across different apps and feeds rather than watching together. Brands are now building their own entertainment content to capture attention directly instead of renting it through conventional ads.
The video mentions that Procter & Gamble, Starbucks, Under Armour, and Dick's Sporting Goods all have studios. It also notes that Gap has a Chief Entertainment Officer and Dick's Sporting Goods released a documentary that premiered at South by Southwest.
In the 1950s, brands and entertainment were merged, with shows like the Texaco Star Theater and Gillette Cavalcade of Sports. After decades of separation between ads and stories, brands and entertainment are merging again in a full circle moment, with brands like Toyota and Lavazza creating original content rather than just sponsoring existing shows.
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