Brands aren’t just advertising anymore, they are entertaining: Prasoon Joshi

“Judging the Entertainment Lions at Cannes this year, one thing was clear: a seismic shift is not just underway, but here. Brands aren’t just advertising anymore — they are entertaining. And not in a superficial, polished way. They are entering culture through story, structure, rhythm, and relevance,” Joshi said

The Entertainment Lions — General, Gaming, Music, and Sport — reiterated that to win you must entertain audiences with unpredictable, culturally rooted storytelling. Brands are learning the platform’s language, instead of a scripted dialogue.

Joshi said the General Entertainment Lions celebrated branded content as a culture catalyst — content that transcends advertising and becomes cultural currency. Be it branded series, documentaries, fiction and non-fiction films.

These are productions designed to live in the entertainment ecosystem — TV, streaming platforms, social channels. Organically, these boxes got ticked:

Narrative immersion: Stories with arcs, characters, and revisitability.

Cultural bond: Rooted in place, purpose, or subculture.

Authenticity: Genuine voice and nuance over polish or celebrity endorsements.

Measurable outcomes: Metrics of business growth but with an X factor.

“In short, brands are adopting long-form storytelling with measurable business intent and Cannes is rewarding it,” he said, adding, “After all, it’s not ad channels but a cultural stage that blurs the lines between content spaces. Putting centre stage that the future of branded content is human stories within platform-native systems.”

Entertainment Lions for Music and Sport are buzzing with brand-artist co-creation, sonic branding, and narrative music videos that feel like mainstream releases. Sports entries emphasise stories of resilience, equity, and community rather than just athlete shout-outs or product placement.

The following are Joshi’s takeaways.

Format first, brand later: Work was format-native, not brand-led. Whether it was a 30-minute docuseries, an in-game activation, or a whole album—the medium shaped the message. It’s about mastering the media grammar. Platform grammar came before the brand tone.

Culture isn’t a context — it is the canvas: Cultural rituals weren’t just referenced, they were embedded. Brands that felt authentic didn’t adopt culture—they entered it with humility and participation.

Collaboration with creators, not just celebrities: The creative power today lies with filmmakers, gamers, poets, editors, and storytellers. Collaboration is survival. The best work this year came from hybrid teams comprising strategists, filmmakers, copywriters, and producers. It’s all about cross-team, cross-genre collaboration. Today’s creatives are hybrids — producer-directors, strategist-anthropologists, creator-editors.

Measure what matters, but don’t quantify soul: Campaign trackers are essential. Jurors needed to weigh in reach, ROI, and uplift. But let us not forget: the heart has its own metrics. A smile. A tear. Pause metrics matter, too, and let’s not underestimate the quiet responses after the screen goes blank. ROI Matters, but with Soul.

“In essence, it is essential to recognise that Brands are no longer mere observers of entertainment culture — they are now active participants. This requires a shift from announcement to narrative, from presence to participation,” Joshi said, adding, “As creative leaders, our challenge is to build ecosystems of meaning. Campaigns that people choose to engage with. That becomes part of their lives. That feels less like marketing — and more like memory.”

(Source: Campaign India)