Lemonade Labs Debuts with Full-House ‘Brands Entertain Me!’ Event at The Soho Hotel

​Lemonade Collective officially launched Lemonade Labs last night with Brands Entertain Me!, bringing together a packed room of broadcasters, brands, agencies, streamers, filmmakers and creative troublemakers for a lively and thought-provoking evening exploring the future of branded entertainment.

Produced by Lemonade Presents at The Soho Hotel, the invitation-only event welcomed senior leaders from across entertainment, advertising and culture for an evening of big conversations, fresh connections and plenty of debate about the future of brand storytelling. The room brought together ECDs, heads of TV, brand strategists and creatives from companies including M&C Saatchi, Netflix, The Gate, Uncommon, BBC Creative, John Lewis, ITV and many more.

Moderated by Connor McRae, head of branded entertainment at Lemonade Labs, the panel featured Katherine Marlow from Channel 4, Claire Prince from Elvis London and Mark Rivers from Cold Glass Productions. Together, the panel explored how brands, filmmakers and platforms are increasingly coming together to create branded entertainment audiences actively choose to watch.

The evening focused specifically on the rapidly evolving world of unscripted branded entertainment, exploring how brands, broadcasters, streamers and production companies are building new pipelines for factual entertainment, documentaries, digital formats and creator-led series. The conversation also examined how a new generation of branded entertainment is moving beyond traditional sponsorship and product placement towards entertainment first ideas where brands are woven more meaningfully into the editorial. 

There was a genuine buzz throughout the evening as attendees exchanged ideas, challenged assumptions and explored what the next wave of entertainment might look like.

Key Insights From the ‘Brands Entertain Me’ Discussion:

• ​Branded entertainment is entertainment first - it succeeds when it behaves like something audiences choose to watch, not an extended ad.
• The creative process works backwards - starting with story, audience and format, with the brand integrated only once the entertainment idea stands on its own.
• Broadcasters and streamers can embrace brand involvement - brands are adopting a lighter, more audience‑led approach, moving away from heavy‑handed integrations.
• Success relies on brave clients - the brands winning here are those willing to experiment, think beyond traditional advertising and play the long game.
• A connector between brand and broadcast worlds is essential - branded entertainment demands a different creative muscle, deep commissioning knowledge and translators who speak both languages; this is the role development studios like Lemonade Labs was built to play.

The event marked the public launch of Lemonade Labs, the newest arm of Lemonade Collective alongside Lemonade Talent and cultural events platform Lemonade Presents. Together, the three interconnected divisions are designed to connect talent, culture and brands under one ecosystem.

Positioned at the intersection of advertising, entertainment and culture, Lemonade Labs was created to act as a bridge between adland and entertainment, bringing together brands, agencies, broadcasters, streamers and world class creative talent to develop entertainment that audiences actively choose to watch. With audiences craving more engaging, entertainment led storytelling than ever before, Lemonade Labs arrives at a moment of huge opportunity for both industries.

“We were incredibly proud of what the evening represented,” said Corin West, founder of Lemonade Collective. “At its core, Lemonade has always been about connecting people. Talent and opportunity. Brands and filmmakers. Culture and commerce. What started as Lemonade Reps has grown into something much bigger. Over the last few years we’ve watched advertising and entertainment draw ever closer, and we realised that if we wanted to create work audiences genuinely choose to spend time with, we needed a new model.

Lemonade Collective became that model, bringing together our talent roster, our cultural events and now Lemonade Labs under one roof. Lemonade Labs sits right in the middle of that shift, acting as a connector between adland and entertainment land at a time when the traditional workflow between those worlds is being completely rewritten.”

Connor McRae added, “It was so exciting to have the full ecosystem in one room - broadcasters, agencies, brands, streamers, and production companies are all trying to navigate this shift together. The appetite for entertainment-first thinking is clearly there and the conversation continues to gain momentum. Audiences want genuinely entertaining work and brands increasingly want to be part of creating it.

“There was a real energy in the room. You could feel people truly excited to finally have these conversations together. That crossover almost never happens in a meaningful way - it’s the entire reason Lemonade Labs exists, to connect these dots to get authentic brand-funded entertainment made.”

Claire Prince from Elvis London added, “Last night had a really positive atmosphere. We are no longer talking about entertainment as some untapped opportunity for brands. We were talking about real, live examples that prove this work can deliver from both an entertainment and brand perspective without compromise from either side.”

The inaugural edition of Brands Entertain Me! focused specifically on unscripted and factual entertainment, an area of particular expertise and passion for Connor McRae, whose background spans broadcaster, streamer and brand funded formats developed with partners including BBC, Channel 4, ITV, Sky, Amazon Prime Video and Netflix. Following the success of the launch event, Lemonade Labs is already developing a follow up edition focused on the growing opportunities within scripted branded entertainment.

The evening continued with drinks, networking and conversations long after the panel wrapped, reinforcing Lemonade Collective’s growing reputation for creating spaces that bring together creatives and decision makers in ways that spark real connection. The response from attendees reflected a clear appetite for more spaces where entertainment, advertising and production can collide more openly and collaboratively.

The event was supported by partners and sponsors including Caviar, Dirty Work, FORM, Hijinks, The Quarry and RSA.

Brands Entertain Me! forms part of the wider Lemonade Presents programme, which also includes The Female Lens, Queerness on Film and Gifted & Black.

For more information, visit: www.lemonadelabs.tv 

Photo credit: Eric Aydin-Barberini