Brands don’t win because they post more content.
They win because they own something no one else can copy.

That “something” is IP — stories, characters, worlds, systems, and cultural assets that compound into long-term value.

Intellectual Property (IP) is becoming the core strategic asset behind modern brand entertainment and cultural ecosystems.

For over 20 years, I worked inside some of the world’s most influential entertainment and consumer brands — Disney, Warner Bros., Nickelodeon, PUMA — shaping global franchises, managing multimillion-euro IP portfolios, and learning how brands evolve when they move beyond campaigns and into entertainment, culture, and ownership.

Today, as the founder of unmtchd., I work at the intersection of brand, entertainment, and IP — designing IP-led, entertainment-driven ecosystems as long-term strategic assets.

My work sits at the intersection of three pillars:

→ IP & Brand Strategy
Identifying and structuring what makes a brand truly unmatched — its unique assets, meaning, narrative, and signature.

→ Brand Entertainment & Ecosystem Design
Turning IP into characters, formats, products, content, partnerships, communities, and scalable revenue streams that live far beyond social platforms.

→ Cultural Positioning & Future Readiness
Helping brands evolve intentionally so they remain relevant, differentiated, and culturally meaningful in a fast-shifting world.

The outcome?
Brands that don’t just participate in culture — they build it.
Distinct by design. Scalable through IP. Built to last beyond the algorithm.

If you’re a brand leader or founder exploring how to move from content to IP, from campaigns to owned worlds, let’s connect.

Oana Leonte 💬

I need to be honest… 
I have mixed feelings about this.

I’ve worked for PUMA for 10 years.

I know the brand well — 
its internal tensions, its unreal creative firepower, and the gap between what PUMA is and what it could be.

That’s why I was hoping for a different buyer.

Because this move isn’t just about money.
And it’s not just about distribution.

It’s about what kind of future you create for a brand when you truly understand IP.

PUMA doesn’t lack awareness.

It doesn’t lack product.
It doesn’t lack athletes, moments, or cultural relevance.

And it certainly doesn’t lack legacy. 

What it has always struggled with is clarity around its core IP:

what must stay sacred
vs. what can hype, license, evolve, and compound.

Because PUMA is not just a sportswear company.

It’s a brand ecosystem that spans:
– sport
– fashion
– performance
– music
– heritage
– street culture

Handled well, that’s an incredible IP engine.
Handled poorly, it becomes one of many.

I say this with lots of care and love for the brand.

PUMA’s potential was never about being a “winner”.

It was about going back to its essence.

More intentional about the space it owns.
More disciplined about what it builds.
More confident about what it stands for. 

This is why these moments matter so much for a legacy brand like that. 

Who owns the brand determines:
– how IP is protected
– how meaning compounds
– how legacy survives leadership changes

I want PUMA to win.
Deeply.

But I also know this:
brands like PUMA don’t need “operators”.

They need IP architects.

Curious to hear other perspectives,
especially from people who’ve lived inside legacy brands and felt this tension firsthand.

Oana  Leonte

IP is the new influence → Brand Entertainment & IP Monetization Strategy → Founder of unmtchd. • Ex-Disney, Warner Bros., Nickelodeon, PUMA • Speaker

Simon Jacquemus just named his grandma the official face of the brand.

And it says more about brand meaning than a thousand celebrity campaigns.

To be clear, 

this isn’t a PR stunt.
It’s not “authenticity” as a tactic.
It's not "let's make an emotional campaign".

It’s simply brand coherence, 
and consolidating his brand IP.

Simon isn't borrowing meaning.
He formalised what was already there.

In the announcement image which you can see here, Liline Jacquemus is carrying The Valerie Bag, a bag inspired by her daughter. Simon’s mother.

The product isn’t just a product.
It’s a vessel of memory.
Of family.
Of continuity.

You can’t fake this kind of meaning.
You can’t replicate it with influencers.
You can’t outspend it.

For years, his grandmother has been part of the Jacquemus universe:

the south of France,
family tables,
sun-bleached memories,
Simon's childhood folded into fashion.

By naming her officially, Jacquemus did something very few brands dare to do:
→ turned emotional truth into owned brand equity.

No influencer could replicate this.
No campaign budget could manufacture it.
Because this only works when the story is real and repeatable.

Because this is what real brand IP looks like:
– emotional truth
– encoded into product
– scaled without dilution

Jacquemus isn’t selling just good fashion.
He understands that what fashion needs is meaning.

And that’s why it works.

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High Magick X Systems | I see & remove blocks you don't know exist, but feel - without Zoom, phone calls or being in the same room | Change Mentor for Executives & Founders who want to live with more depth & die happy

Most of the decisions you regret weren’t “bad decisions”.

They were built on values you never defined properly.

It’s why you stay in roles, relationships and versions of you that look fine on paper but wrong in your body.

You didn't just end up there - you unknowingly decided your way into them.

Because each choice you make sits on top of values that collapse the moment people, money or pressure push back.

In The Obsidian Vault, we cut through all of it so your tough decisions feel simple to make:

We'll break down: 
- What’s really happening.
- What you’re actually loyal to and why it matters.
- What it will cost to keep things as they are.

That’s how you stop making decisions you regret and build a life you don't.

You'll see clearly, decide cleanly, and live closer to what you truly value with each choice you make.

𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫
 -You’re smart, capable & deeply responsible, but privately exhausted
 -You’re dragging unfinished conversations, roles or relationships behind you
 -You’re standing in a life that looks fine on paper & wrong in your body
 -You’re value driven, but feel a constant gap between what you stand for vs what you tolerate.

More insights, healing or content won’t change that. This is the lever:

Language, structure and perspective that makes it harder to lie to yourself.

𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐈 𝐚𝐦
I’ve walked parallel paths since I was 19, when I quit uni to build a 25 year career with the likes of Goldman Sachs, UBS, HSBC, Barclays and others.

I set up my first business alongside my first job, went on to build two jewellery brands, a business transformation consultancy, and a private practice working with 600+ founders and executives through High Magick.

All while navigating Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (c-PTSD)

Tough calls come with that territory, and often arrive all at once. But that wasn’t new to me.

Aged eight, I became a carer for my disabled aunt. It was violent and turbulent.

I had a front row seat to what happens when loved ones refuse to make obvious decisions, what it costs them, and me.

It taught me something most miss:

Your best decisions are made when you can be a bystander in your own life at the right moment - then move swiftly.

That’s tough for most people.

Master it, and you solve problems before they can even exist - just like I, and 600+ executives and founders have.

Through real-life (anonymised) examples from their sessions and my own life, I explain how.

When you need to stop making decisions you regret and build a life you don't, welcome.

https://theobsidianvault.substack.com/about

Sonal Bhaskaran

What being a carer in a violent home at 8 taught me about decision-making at 45:

Clarity requires separation.

The closer you are to a situation, the more deliberate that separation must be.

We view separatiom as ‘cold’.

I know many people have thought that of me with personal decisions I've made.

But it isn't.

It’s objective curiosity.

Curiosity creates understanding.

Understanding creates distance.

Without distance, most adults react and call it ‘intuition’. 

But if you can observe chaos without entering it, you control the next move.

That distance creates clarity.

Clarity gives you choice.

And when you have choice?

You gain the kind of personal power you've needed all along.

Writer @The Obsidian Vault | Letters for smart people who are tired of making decisions they regret - and want to build a life they don’t.

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The Battle

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