Banijay Entertainment, EssenceMediacom and JustSo are set to take center stage at Content London as leading players in the rapidly evolving branded entertainment landscape. Against a backdrop of fragmenting audiences, ad avoidance and growing demand for premium, purpose-driven storytelling, the three companies will come together to unpack how brands, producers and agencies can collaborate more effectively on next-generation content. From data-informed creative strategies to long-form formats that blur the lines between entertainment and advertising, their session will explore the new commercial and editorial models reshaping how brand-backed stories are financed, produced and distributed worldwide.
Unlocking next generation branded entertainment strategies with Banijay Entertainment EssenceMediacom and JustSo at Content London
As global brands race to capture attention in an on-demand landscape, the alliance between Banijay Entertainment, EssenceMediacom and JustSo at Content London signals a shift from conventional sponsorship to story-first, data-enriched collaborations. Delegates will explore how premium IP, media intelligence and crafted storytelling can be fused into seamless formats that travel across platforms and territories. The focus is on designing content ecosystems where brands are not bolted on as advertisers,but embedded as narrative partners,leveraging audience insights,fan communities and screen-agnostic viewing behaviours.
Across the session, the trio will outline emerging blueprints for scalable, multi-market activations that balance creative risk with measurable outcomes. Expect discussion around:
- IP-led brand worlds that expand existing formats into social, gaming and experiential touchpoints.
- Data-informed progress where audience signals shape character arcs, themes and brand roles.
- Ethical integration frameworks to protect editorial integrity while delivering commercial impact.
- New success metrics that go beyond impressions to track cultural resonance and fan engagement.
| Partner | Core Strength | Brand Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Banijay Entertainment | Global formats & storytelling craft | Access to proven, scalable IP |
| EssenceMediacom | Audience data & media strategy | Precision targeting & measurement |
| JustSo | Brand-led content production | Authentic narrative integration |
How data driven storytelling and audience insights are reshaping premium brand funded content
Premium brands are no longer satisfied with broad demographics and vanity metrics; they want storylines engineered from real behavior. By fusing platform analytics, search intent and social listening, marketers can now map the emotional triggers, formats and character archetypes that truly resonate with distinct communities. This intelligence is feeding directly into writers’ rooms and development workshops, where narrative arcs, pacing and even casting decisions are pressure-tested against audience insight dashboards before a single frame is shot. The result is content that feels cinematic yet deeply personal, delivering the kind of high-affinity engagement that traditional interruptive advertising cannot match.
At the same time, performance data from streaming platforms, AVOD services and social ecosystems is being fed back into campaign design in near real time, allowing brand-funded series to behave more like agile publishing operations than fixed TV buys. Creative partners are building modular story worlds that can flex across touchpoints while staying loyal to a central brand truth. Key shifts include:
- From impressions to immersion – measuring time spent, completion rates and rewatch behaviour.
- From assumptions to signals – using search, comments and shares to refine narrative focus.
- From single-platform to ecosystem – designing stories that travel naturally between TV, CTV and social.
- From sponsorship to co-authorship – brands shaping story bibles alongside producers and showrunners.
| Insight Type | Creative Impact | Brand Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| View-through data | Optimised episode length | Higher completion rates |
| Sentiment analysis | Refined character arcs | Stronger emotional lift |
| Interest clusters | Richer world-building | Extended franchise potential |
Building sustainable partnerships between global producers agencies and brands for scalable IP
As brands search for franchise-level ideas rather than one-off campaigns, the most resilient alliances are being forged long before a brief is written. Global producers, media agencies and creative studios are starting to co-design ecosystems where story, data and distribution are locked together from day one. That shift replaces the traditional waterfall of “brand → agency → production” with collaborative rooms in which audience insight, rights strategy and format thinking are negotiated in parallel. In those rooms, each partner protects its own commercial reality while agreeing shared rules on ownership, renewals and territorial roll-out, creating IP that can travel across markets, platforms and years-not just quarters.
- Producers bring format engineering, talent access and long-term franchise thinking.
- Agencies contribute audience data,media leverage and performance accountability.
- Brands add purpose, funding and a universe of activation touchpoints.
| Partnership Pillar | What It Enables |
|---|---|
| Shared IP roadmap | Multi-season, multi-market extensions |
| Transparent data access | Adaptive storylines and smarter renewals |
| Aligned success metrics | Balanced brand lift, ratings and revenue |
| Rights & revenue frameworks | Clarity on licensing, spin-offs and back-end |
Actionable frameworks for commissioners and marketers to future proof their branded entertainment slates
To build pipelines that survive shifting algorithms, audience migration and brand safety storms, commissioners and marketers need clear guardrails, not one-off stunts. A useful approach is to marry brand ambition, audience need and format durability in a simple decision matrix that tests every new idea. By stress‑testing projects against criteria such as cultural relevance, IP potential and multi‑platform scalability, teams can quickly spot whether a concept is a fleeting content drop or a repeatable entertainment asset. Pair this with agile deal structures – including shared IP models and performance-based bonuses – to keep broadcasters, streamers and brand partners investing in long‑term worlds rather than short-lived campaigns.
| Lens | Key Question | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Audience | Would viewers watch this without knowing the brand? | Prioritise story, cast and access over messaging. |
| Brand | Does it ladder to a long-term brand platform? | Link each episode to a clear, enduring narrative. |
| Format | Can the idea live across TV, social and live? | Design modular segments for multiple touchpoints. |
- Create living bibles – treat brand-funded shows like premium IP with evolving format docs, casting rules and spin-off pathways.
- Build cross-discipline rooms – seat strategists, creatives, data leads and media planners together from day one to pre‑solve distribution and measurement.
- Lock in measurement upfront – agree a balanced scorecard that blends attention metrics, brand lift and commerce signals to avoid chasing vanity views.
- Prototype in public – pilot short-form or podcast iterations first, using real audience feedback to refine the long‑form commission.
Concluding Remarks
As the lines between content, commerce and culture continue to blur, the discussion in London will be more than a snapshot of current practice; it will be a barometer for where branded storytelling is headed next.With Banijay Entertainment, EssenceMediacom and JustSo bringing complementary perspectives from production, media and creative, the session promises to illuminate how brands can move beyond interruption and into genuine entertainment value.For marketers, producers and platforms alike, the stakes are clear: audiences are demanding richer experiences, and the brands that learn to participate rather than intrude will set the pace. Content London’s focus on next‑generation branded entertainment underlines a simple reality-this is no longer a niche experiment but a central battleground for attention, trust and long‑term relevance in the global media landscape.
