M+C Saatchi North America has named Jen Bacchus to lead its newly launched Entertainment Marketing practice, TheWrap can exclusively reveal, expanding its Sports+Entertainment offering.
The Los Angeles-based Bacchus will report to Derek Goode, managing director of M+C Saatchi Sport+Entertainment. The new practice will handle talent negotiations and activations, entertainment partnerships, brand and product integration, and branded content, operating as part of the agency’s broader Sports+Entertainment team.
Bacchus joins M+C Saatchi after more than four years at WME, where she advised brands including Visa, Marriott, McDonald’s, T-Mobile and Eddie Bauer on talent, music and entertainment strategy. Her work there spanned celebrity partnerships, integrated campaigns, private performances, experiential activations, festival marketing and media integrations.
“Entertainment has become one of the most powerful drivers of cultural relevance for brands, creating opportunities to build lasting relationships with consumers,” Goode said. “Clients are looking for partners who can help them navigate everything from talent negotiations and entertainment partnerships to branded content and product integration as part of one connected strategy. Jen has spent her career helping brands unlock those opportunities, making her the ideal leader to establish this practice.”
Bacchus said the goal is to fold talent strategy, entertainment partnerships and branded content into a single practice rather than treating them as separate disciplines.
“The best entertainment partnerships influence culture rather than interrupting it,” she said. “By bringing together talent strategy, entertainment partnerships and branded content under one practice, we can help clients create work that audiences genuinely want to engage with, while delivering measurable business value.”
The move continues a period of expansion for M+C Saatchi North America, which over the past 18 months has consolidated into a single regional operating model and added leadership across strategy, creative, growth, consulting, health, sport, production and communications.
