Brand goes on stage: 783 million market for branded entertainment (+7%)
The Obe-Rti study with Ipsos Doxa takes a snapshot of a fast-growing sector, where TV and digital compete for leadership in a segment worth 7% of advertising investments
Key points
Branded entertainment - the art of interweaving the story of a brand with entertainment - is going fast: in 2024, investments in Italy reached 732 million euros, an increase of 8.5% compared to the previous year. A leap that brings this form of communication to represent 7% of total advertising expenditure, and even 20% for those brands that now consider it a strategic lever and not a creative experiment. The prospects for 2025 are even brighter: 783 million euros, equal to a further +7%.
The figure comes from the analysis "State of the Branded Entertainment Market 2024/2025", signed by Obe - Osservatorio Branded Entertainment in partnership with Rti and with the collaboration of Ipsos Doxa. The message is clear: branded entertainment is no longer a field of experimentation, but a mature field of action, capable of generating value and trust.
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The (failed) digital overtaking and the power of TV
The media ranking shows an interesting balance: television, between broadcasters, streamcasters and pay TV, remains the leader with 36% of investments, but social and digital platforms closely follow, rising to 33%. The boundary is thinning, and with it the languages are redefining themselves: on the small screen brand integration still dominates (75% against 25% of original productions), while in the digital world the opposite happens. Here the brand does not insert itself into the narrative of others, but creates its own.
Nodes
In this picture of substantial growth, there is no shortage of critical junctures. 58% of operators admit that they would invest more if they had larger budgets; 20% look only at the short term, sacrificing the construction of a coherent narrative identity; 39% call for better tools to measure the effectiveness of operations.
It is a growth with some shadows, that of a market still in search of its full maturity. But the potential is ready to explode: "Branded entertainment is a lever capable of generating real value for brands," emphasised Anna Vitiello, Obe's scientific director, presenting the results of the Observatory in recent days. It goes beyond awareness: it works on familiarity and trust, the most challenging Kpi to activate.
Brand connect
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