What will NBCU’s conscious uncoupling from Comcast mean for brands?

Marketers were hoping for a quiet week to recover from the hangovers and heat of Cannes Lions before the 4th of July weekend. Instead, they’re scrambling for information to better understand how the break-up of Comcast and NBCUniversal might affect them.

To quickly recap, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts announced Monday (June 29th) that the two businesses, which were merged following a 2009 deal, would separate as part of a tax-free spinoff. Comcast spun out its cable TV business Versant back in January.

Roberts said the newly unshackled NBCU, which will span NBC, several cable networks, Telemundo, Peacock and Sky, would function as a “unique, independent, focused company that will be home to some of the industry’s most valuable brands and assets across theme parks, film, television, streaming, sports and news.” Mike Cavanagh, the current co-chief exec of Comcast, is set to become CEO at NBCU.

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Creators aren’t just in marketing’s entertainment era. They’re driving it

Marketing is becoming entertainment. Creators are its stars. 

Cannes didn’t so much reveal that shift as rubber-stamp it. The ad industry’s annual gathering in the south of France felt unfamiliar in ways it hasn’t in years. 

UTA threw a dinner for creators, a slot once reserved for CMOs to play belle of the ball. OpenAI’s ads boss Dave Dugan made his way to the Influential villa, not to talk to brands, but to creators. Bose CMO Jim Mollica went as far as comparing them to creative agencies outright. They’re different ways of saying the same thing: the dinners, panels and influence that used to belong exclusively to CMOs are now split with creators.

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