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The Breakdown
Trend · Brands are becoming entertainment studios
Why brands are turning into TV studios and record labels
In one week: KFC launched a game show, e.l.f. released an album, and Cakes set up its own media company. Here's what's driving the shift from ads to entertainment.
3 min readOur analysis and study notes, not news reporting
The TL;DR (too long; didn't read)
- Attention is harder to buy, so brands are making things people choose.
- Owned formats build a relationship; ads rent a moment.
- The risk is making content nobody asked for.
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The attention squeeze
People skip, scroll and block ads. Entertainment is the thing they seek out. Brands want to be on the ‘chosen’ side of that line.
Read the original reporting
- KFC Superfans Prove Their Devotion to Chicken in 30-Minute Game Show ↗
Adweek · 30 Sept 2026
- E.l.f. jams to second music album under entertainment marketing arm ↗
Marketing Dive · 28 Sept 2026
- Beauty brand Cakes wants to turn its TikTok virality into an owned media strategy ↗
Digiday · 30 Sept 2026