Pictured from left to right: Izamna Crail, head of marketing, fan engagement and events at NFL Mexico; Claudia Galindo, data and insights director at Warner Bros. Discovery; José Martínez, advertising sales director at Warner Bros. Discovery; and Said Gil, CEO of Dentsu Creative Mexico & LATAM
For more than a decade, the marketing industry pursued what seemed like a foolproof formula: produce more content to gain greater visibility. However, in an ecosystem saturated by platforms, algorithms, and artificial intelligence, that logic is beginning to show signs of exhaustion.
That was one of the key takeaways from the panel ‘Entertainment as Cultural Power,’ held during dentsu day 2026 and moderated by Said Gil, CEO of Dentsu Creative Mexico & LATAM, alongside Izamna Crail, head of marketing, fan engagement and events at NFL Mexico; Claudia Galindo, data and insights director at Warner Bros. Discovery; and José Martínez, advertising sales director at Warner Bros. Discovery.
The discussion highlighted a powerful idea: belonging is the most valuable asset for brands. The explosion of digital content has created a paradox. Never have so many stories been available, yet it has never been harder to connect meaningfully with audiences. In a world where people face constant information overload and develop increasingly sophisticated filters to determine what deserves their attention, the battle is no longer about appearing in the feed but about becoming relevant in people’s lives.
For Izamna Crail, the current challenge is not producing more content but building genuine relationships. “A brand must have authenticity in the way it communicates, respect for its audience, and, above all, a genuine connection in order to establish a conversation,” he said.
At a time when distrust of commercial messages continues to grow, authenticity is no longer a desirable attribute. It has become an essential requirement.
This perspective aligns with a deeper transformation that, according to Said Gil, is reshaping the rules of marketing. “For years, we believed marketing was about communication. Today, it is increasingly about culture. And the primary cultural engine of our era is entertainment,” he stated.
For the CEO of Dentsu Creative Mexico & LATAM, the brands that will remain relevant in the future are those capable of understanding how people consume, reinterpret, and share cultural content. In this context, entertainment is no longer a tactic. It has become a strategic growth platform.
Beyond entertaining, content is also taking on new social functions. José Martínez noted that we are living through a period marked by a growing sense of isolation, where stories can serve as emotional refuges and spaces for connection. “We need to offer people a refuge and a sense of belonging through the content we provide,” he explained.
While short-form content delivers instant gratification, richer narrative universes create bonds that endure over time. From Warner Bros. Discovery’s perspective, Claudia Galindo explained that audiences no longer seek only to consume a story. They want to be part of it. “Audiences are no longer looking for content itself; they are looking to belong to that content,” she said.
This evolution helps explain why franchises such as ‘Game of Thrones’, ‘Harry Potter’, ‘The Last of Us’, and even the NFL transcend their original formats and become cultural ecosystems that accompany people for years. It is no longer simply about watching a series, following a sport, or watching a film. It is about finding a community with which to identify.
This shift becomes especially evident when examining the role of fandoms today. What were once groups of enthusiasts now function as true social structures. Fans generate their own content, create shared codes, organise conversations, and build entire economies around their passions.
For brands, this requires a profound change in mindset. As José explained, the opportunity lies in organically joining communities that already exist. “When a brand becomes part of these kinds of stories and content that already have a strong fandom behind them, people lower their guard, making it easier for them to accept a message,” he said.
Izamna agreed that legitimacy cannot be imposed. “It is our job to provide the forum where these relationships and human connections can happen,” he noted.
In the NFL, she explained, a significant portion of the brand’s value comes from fans’ ability to appropriate and expand the culture surrounding the sport, from fashion and music to art and the traditions associated with every season.
The conversation also explored the growing influence of content creators. Far from being simple message amplifiers, creators now serve as cultural interpreters capable of connecting brands with specific communities. However, the panelists agreed that reach alone is no longer enough.
“Co-creating with fans and with these universes generates greater credibility for brands,” José said, referring to Warner Bros. Discovery’s collaborations around franchises such as ‘The Last of Us’.
In this model, the creator ceases to be merely a distribution channel and becomes an active participant in cultural development.
At the same time, in-person experiences are regaining unexpected importance. Concerts, events, activations, and immersive experiences have become spaces where communities bring to life the bonds that originated in digital environments.
Claudia believes the key lies in understanding the emotional nature of Mexican fans. “Mexican fandom is a little heart with legs. It connects extraordinarily well with content, teams, or whatever it loves, but it also shares and transforms it,” she said.
The NFL witnessed a powerful example of this phenomenon when it brought together hundreds of fans from different teams for an experience inspired by Día de Muertos. Beyond sports rivalries, the event demonstrated how people who seemingly belong to different groups can share a common passion capable of generating genuine connections.
“They all shared something in common,” Izamna recalled. “There was respect, love, and a beautiful bond. That’s when I realised that many times all we need to do is sit close to the fans and observe.”
Perhaps the panel’s most important conclusion was that many traditional metrics are losing their ability to explain the real value brands create. Obsessing overreach, impressions, or immediate results is no longer sufficient when the objective is to build communities capable of lasting over time.
From Warner Bros. Discovery, Claudia warned that brands must move beyond a short-term mindset. “Short-term measurements are not very effective. We need to think about building and nurturing long-term relationships with fans,” she said.
Closing the discussion, Said Gil summarised the transformation taking place across the industry. In a fragmented world saturated with stimuli, he explained, content has ceased to be the final product and has become the starting point of a much deeper relationship.
“Companies that understand this shift will stop competing on volume and scale and begin building something far more powerful: cultural relevance,” he concluded.
Because in the new entertainment economy, the scarcest resource is the ability to build communities that want to stay.