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.

No alternative text description for this image

Niall Cleaver

Documenting the journey of crafting a timeless coffee cup brand | CEO & Founder of Cupsly

My story isn’t about a polished entrepreneur. My journey hasn’t been traditional. I left school without an English qualification, uncertain of what the future held. 

That failure shaped me, it forced me to think differently, fall into business, and ultimately embrace creativity, resilience, and the belief that change is possible, even when doubted. Fast forward to today, I’m growing and scaling businesses while sharing the real lessons that come from it.

Founder

Are you struggling to grow an engaging community for your business or personal brand.

Stop right there, I think I have you covered ⬇️

This is me (Niall), I'm a 22-year-old who is fascinated by growing communities in the online space. Actual communities that have meaning and purpose. 

The services we provide at Social Library 

➡️ Personal Branding (LinkedIn)

➡️ Guidance & support consulting


Drop me a message to discuss your social media strategy, review how well your current socials/posts are doing, and research how we can build your community and gain you more followers and leads.

or you can email us @

hello@sociallibrary.co.uk

For years... I thought starting small wasn’t even an option.

This year, I want to start small. You need to read this.

Everyone is so scared to start small and I was one of those people. I used to overthink about creating something big instead of worrying about starting small.

Turns out, starting small is how you build big.

It’s how you take the first step forward.
It’s how you stop overanalysing.
It’s how you actually start.

It almost feels wrong when you say it out loud.

But every successful founder and business you see today didn’t get where they are by massive moves. They got there by starting small and then scaling.

So if you’re starting a business, building a hobby, or whatever it may be… stop worrying about “scaling big” and focus on the small step that gets you going.

Growing @thistlescientific and sharing the lessons while I do

Building vs scaling a business. What's the difference?

A few years ago, I learned one of the most valuable lesson in business. I left school with qualifications that made it hard for me to get any sort of job.

Luckily, my family ran a business. I jumped in and started learning. And here’s what I learned: There’s a huge difference between building and scaling.

Building a business:

Proving the idea
Short-term survival
Doing everything yourself
Energy, speed & scrappiness

Scaling a business:

Letting go of control
Long-term decisions
Patience, systems & people
Making sure it works without you.
Alignment throughout the whole company.

Building feels exciting. Scaling feels uncomfortable. Both are essential. I didn’t realise how different they both were until I lived them.

But the one thing that never changes between both? 
The hard work that comes with it.

I just spent 2 hours yesterday in one of the best meetings of my life!!!

What about? How do we build further on our foundation?

Yesterday was a special day, do you know where you get the team together and you leave feeling excited for what's to come? That's what happened.

It's been a pretty wild couple of months for Thistle, but it always comes back to the same thing. How can we deepen the connection we can have with researchers?

The personal touch.
The real support they deserve.
The professionalism and trust they have in us.

This year, we’re looking at how we double down on that.

We’ve set some big objectives, and the whole team is ready for them. If yesterday was anything to go by, this next phase is going to be an exciting one.

We can't wait to share more on this very soon.

We’re excited to announce our new collaboration.

I'm genuinely proud of the impact we're creating in research at Thistle Scientific. It started with one clear objective to make research the best it can be, not only to impact our lives, but also to impact the lives of generations to come.

Last week was a big reminder of this as we announced our collaboration with arcorisbio AG, which will help accelerate the industrialisation and commercialisation of their breakthrough MUSE® platform.

A collaboration that will help keep the world safe.

One of the best mistakes I learned pretty quickly in business.

Thinking strategy comes first in business. But it doesn’t… 

Understanding who you’re building for is.

I’m nowhere near successful yet. But I’ve been lucky to spend time around people who definitely are. And one topic comes up over and over again: 

Strategy.

How did you come up with your strategy?
Why has your strategy been effective?
When do you adapt your strategy?

The answer usually sounds complicated.
But, it keeps coming back to one word: audience.

Before you can plan anything, you have to understand them. What do they care about? When do they need to hear from you? How do they feel when they see you show up?

This is where a lot of founders go wrong. No strategy is 100% correct. It’s custom‑made based on how well you understand the information your audience is giving you.

So copying what works in another company or industry rarely works. You’re playing a different game, with different people, at a different stage.

Strategy is an understanding game.

I used to panic hearing the word strategy in business.

It sounded complicated... but it wasn’t.

I would hear the word and be like that sounds proper technical. I'd just nod like I understood exactly what it meant, when I didn't but now I get it and it's simple.

It's just a plan.

What are the objectives?
What action will you take to hit them?
Which data tells you it's working or it isn't?

We love to make words sound more complicated than they are. 

It's easy to overcomplicate things when you hear all of the advice online but it's simpler than you think. If something isn't working don't wait, go and find the reason why.

Try something. Learn. Adapt. Evolve. Repeat.
Just enjoy the process of figuring out.

That's what business is!

When I was younger, I hesitated on the idea of working for my family business.

Today, I’m 3 years in, working alongside nearly 50 incredible people.

It’s crazy how life works. Some days you’re completely against something before you’ve even tried it…then you try it and realise it was exactly what you were meant to do.

I always had this doubt in the back of my head:
That I had to prove myself somewhere else first.

That’s why:

- I started posting on LinkedIn.
- I kept looking for “my own thing”.
- I started learning more about business.

Now it feels like all of that happened so I could come back better and help continue to grow a business I genuinely care about. But this growth has hardly been me. It’s been the team I get to work with every single day.

A few things this has taught me:

- Don’t write something off until you’ve actually tried it.
- You can prove yourself elsewhere, but always bring the knowledge back

So don't resist an opportunity just because it didn't fit your picture in that specific moment of your life. It might be worth taking a closer look.

Stop listening to too much advice.

Read that again... throughout my journey, I've fallen for many distractions. Stuff that didn't feel right personally, and so many of us are going through this.

There's advice here, there and everywhere.

And it's very hard to know which is the right or wrong advice, and you know what you'll never really know. The only way to find out is to...

Listen to your gut and try.

In a world full of advice after advice, trust yourself first. 
There's no right or wrong way to do anything.

If it works, it works!

P.S. Have a little day in the life vid

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Niall Cleaver

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The Battle

Oana Leonte 💬

Niall Cleaver

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