MIP LONDON, one of the industry’s most influential content markets, is set to debut its first-ever Brand Entertainment Summit, signaling a strategic push toward deeper collaboration between brand owners, content creators, and rights holders. Announced by Total Licensing, the new summit will bring together key decision-makers from across the global licensing, media, and entertainment sectors to explore how storytelling, brand IP, and multi-platform content can be more effectively aligned. Positioned at the intersection of traditional licensing and the rapidly evolving world of branded entertainment, the initiative underscores MIP LONDON’s ambition to redefine how franchises are built, extended, and monetized in a converging media landscape.
MIP London launches pioneering Brand Entertainment Summit to reshape the global content ecosystem
The inaugural Brand Entertainment Summit will bring together global studios, streamers, agencies and blue-chip advertisers to explore how brands can move beyond traditional spots into story-led partnerships that travel the world. Curated as a high-level think tank inside MIP London, the event will spotlight new commissioning models where co-created IP, data-driven audience insights and multi-platform rollouts underpin long-term value. Delegates will gain access to closed-door case studies,on-stage dealmaking sessions and curated networking designed to fast-track collaborations across TV,streaming,gaming,live events and social video.
- Who attends: senior brand marketers, CMOs, showrunners, producers and media investment leaders
- Key focus: integrating brands into premium scripted and unscripted formats from progress stage
- Opportunities: international co-financing, rights-sharing structures and innovative ROI metrics
| Summit Pillar | Core Insight | Outcome for Delegates |
|---|---|---|
| Brand-Funded Originals | From product placement to story ownership | Blueprints for co-creating exportable franchises |
| Measurement & Impact | New currencies for attention and affinity | Frameworks to justify premium content investment |
| Global Partnerships | Aligning broadcasters, platforms and advertisers | Scalable models for multi-market rollouts |
By positioning brand entertainment at the heart of the programming conversation, the summit aims to accelerate a shift from interruptive advertising to integrated, narrative-first alliances that respect audiences and unlock fresh financing for creators. With London’s status as a strategic hub for rights trading and media innovation, the gathering is set to function as a deal engine, where brands become long-term stakeholders in IP and content owners gain new capital, distribution leverage and marketing muscle for cross-border hits.
Industry leaders converge in London to decode new brand storytelling strategies and funding models
From powerhouse streamers and global FMCG brands to agile start-ups and next-gen agencies, the London gathering will function as a live laboratory for exploring how commercial partners can embed narratives at the heart of their campaigns. Delegates will dissect how brands are reshaping entertainment formats, with sessions mapping the trajectory from traditional sponsorships to story-first collaborations that travel across screens, platforms and territories. Curated panels will examine fresh commissioning models, co-production frameworks and IP-sharing agreements, while live case studies reveal the shifting balance of creative control between advertisers, producers and talent.
Throughout the summit, attendees will break down evolving revenue blueprints designed to keep pace with fragmented audiences and tightening marketing budgets. Expert workshops will spotlight:
- Hybrid funding stacks blending brand capital, broadcaster support and platform deals
- Audience-driven KPIs that move beyond impressions to measure engagement and cultural impact
- Data-informed storytelling that connects commerce with character arcs and narrative worlds
- Licensing pathways transforming episodic concepts into long-term brand ecosystems
| Session Focus | Key Takeaway |
|---|---|
| Brand-Funded Originals | How advertisers act as executive producers without diluting story |
| New Deal Structures | Blueprints for risk-sharing between brands and content studios |
| Global Scale-Up | Turning local branded hits into exportable entertainment IP |
Case studies spotlight successful brand partnerships with actionable lessons for content creators and rights holders
From animated icons teaming with gaming giants to heritage fashion labels weaving narratives through streaming series, the Summit’s curated case studies unpack how smart alliances turn passive viewers into active communities. Delegates will see how rights holders leverage their IP bibles, character arcs and fan data to design brand-safe narratives that still feel authentic to audiences, while marketers use these same story worlds to embed measurable KPIs-from uplift in brand recall to incremental retail sales. Expect breakdowns of real-world campaigns where the line between content and commerce blurs elegantly, showing how early creative involvement by sponsors avoids the pitfalls of clumsy product placement and keeps storytelling at the centre.
Each case study is engineered to translate into practical takeaways for both sides of the table. Creators will discover how to protect narrative integrity, negotiate smarter windowing and shape long-term franchise potential, while advertisers gain insight into which storytelling formats drive the highest engagement and safest alignment. Key focus points include:
- IP-first thinking – building campaigns around existing fan passion, not media plans.
- Shared success metrics – agreeing impact criteria before the first script draft.
- Multi-platform rollouts – extending stories seamlessly across TV, social, live and retail.
- Clear governance – defining creative approval workflows that keep projects on schedule.
| Partnership | Lesson | Win |
|---|---|---|
| Kids IP × Global Toy Brand | Co-create storylines around play patterns | Boost in repeat view time |
| Drama Series × Fashion Label | Use costume design as subtle brand canvas | Spikes in search and social tags |
| Esports League × Energy Drink | Integrate narrative arcs into live tournaments | Higher in-stream purchase intent |
Practical roadmap for brands broadcasters and agencies to activate measurable brand entertainment campaigns
Turning intent into impact begins with a shared playbook between brands, broadcasters and agencies. Start by aligning on business KPIs before talking formats: are you chasing uplift in brand consideration, first-party data, retail footfall or time spent with content? From there, map a content spine that can live across linear, AVOD, social and retail media, ensuring each episode or asset has a defined role in the funnel. Brands should bring deep audience insight and performance expectations; broadcasters contribute editorial authority and distribution; agencies translate both into coherent storytelling, measurement frameworks and media orchestration. Embed clear governance early – creative approvals, legal guardrails and data-sharing agreements – so innovation doesn’t stall at the first compliance hurdle.
To make brand entertainment accountable, measurement must be designed upfront, not retrofitted. Build a joint dashboard that blends attention metrics, brand lift and business outcomes, and agree what “success” looks like per market and per platform. Use test-and-learn pilots to validate formats, with rapid optimization on creative, placements and calls to action. The table below offers a concise view of how each stakeholder can plug into a measurable activation plan:
| Stakeholder | Core Role | Key KPIs |
|---|---|---|
| Brand | Define objectives & audience | Lift, sales, CRM growth |
| Broadcaster | Curate formats & distribution | Reach, attention, completion |
| Agency | Strategy, integration & optimization | Efficiency, ROI, benchmarks |
- Co-create briefs that fuse brand goals with audience insight and editorial integrity.
- Pre-define data flows between partners to enable unified reporting dashboards.
- Run controlled tests on formats,talent and distribution mixes before scaling.
- Refresh creative mid-flight based on real-time attention and engagement signals.
- Close the loop with post-campaign studies feeding directly into the next content cycle.
Insights and Conclusions
As the lines between content and commerce continue to blur, MIP LONDON’s first Brand Entertainment Summit signals a strategic response to an industry in rapid transition. By bringing together broadcasters, streamers, brand leaders and IP owners under one roof, the event sets out to redefine how stories are funded, produced and experienced in a multi-platform world.Whether it ultimately reshapes best practice or simply accelerates existing trends, the Summit underscores a clear reality: brand-backed entertainment is no longer a fringe experiment, but a central pillar of tomorrow’s media economy.All eyes will now be on London to see how the conversation translates into concrete partnerships-and what that will mean for the next generation of global entertainment brands.
