The news: Ad agency M&C Saatchi North America has established a dedicated Entertainment Marketing practice, expanding its Sport & Entertainment offering in a bid to help brands develop more effective campaigns that connect with consumers.

The practice will assist in identifying opportunities and negotiating deals for talent and entertainment partnerships, brand and product integrations, and branded content. The agency noted that it has unified previously siloed capabilities into a single regional operating model.

Why this matters: Consumers are spending more time with sports and entertainment, and advertisers are following. Entertainment partnerships, product integrations, and creator content offer brands ways to reach consumers without depending solely on advertising that people may ignore.

For UK-based M+C Saatchi, the new practice offers a way to better compete with rivals. Agencies including Publicis Groupe, Dentsu, and Havas have operations that combine sponsorships, talent, creators, branded content, and media.

• Publicis in April agreed to buy 160over90, a sports and culture agency, to augment a broader Publicis Sports offering that includes sponsorships, media, creators, and experiences.
• Dentsu expanded its Sports & Entertainment offering globally last year, extending capabilities such as anime and sports analytics into additional markets.
• Havas in June bought a majority stake in Archrival, a US youth culture and experiential activation agency, to expand its Havas Play services across sports, film, music, events, and branded content.