Brand Storytelling

What Brand Storytelling does

Brand Storytelling (BST) is a curated events and media platform operating in the brand-funded content space, founded in 2016 and headquartered in Dana Point, California. The company produces two flagship live events: the BrandStorytelling conference, held annually in Park City as a Sanctioned Event of the Sundance Film Festival and self-described as the largest brand-funded content event in North America; and Elevate, a companion summer retreat at Sundance Mountain Resort offering workshops, screenings, and intimate networking. On January 6, 2026, BST and Elevate were acquired by Aivanta Inc., an AI-first experiential media and technology holding company based in Brooklyn, New York, integrating the events platform into Aivanta's broader global events and content ecosystem.

BST operates an event-driven go-to-market model with an invitation-only, application-based attendance policy designed to preserve the quality of the community. Primary revenue is generated through enterprise event sponsorships, with current brand sponsors including PepsiCo, SiriusXM, Meta, Shutterstock, Televisa-Univision, Walt Disney, Amazon, YouTube, Warner Bros. Discovery, H&R Block, and Vizio. Secondary revenue streams include paid event registrations, past-attendee brand participation (Adobe, Chase, Coca-Cola, Delta, General Mills, Hilton, John Deere, The North Face, Southwest Airlines, Verizon, among others), and the Authentic newsletter, a weekly subscription publication launched in 2026 by parent Aivanta targeting senior leaders in brand marketing, creator platforms, talent, agencies, and investment. The company maintains a team of 1–10 employees and serves four primary segments: senior marketers and brand leaders, creators and filmmakers, agencies and creative studios, and media platforms and publishers.

The underlying technology is not proprietary in the software sense; BST is an events and content platform rather than a technology company. The parent Aivanta describes its architecture as "AI-first by architecture," embedding human-centric AI to accelerate decision-making, deepen personalization, and expand operational efficiency, but BST's product surface remains live event programming, editorial articles, Q&A interviews, and newsletters rather than AI products. No patents, proprietary models, or technology IP specific to Brand Storytelling are disclosed, and no API or SDK exists; the company's defensibility rests on community curation, the Sundance affiliation, and sponsor relationships rather than on technology assets.

Name

Brand Storytelling

Legal name

Aivanta Inc.

Website

https://brandstorytelling.tv

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Brand Storytelling operates the largest brand-funded content conference in North America as a Sanctioned Event of the Sundance Film Festival, alongside the Elevate retreat and a MIPCOM Cannes summit, serving senior brand marketers, creators, studios, and platforms via enterprise sponsorships, curated events, and editorial content. Acquired by Aivanta in January 2026.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Dana Point

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Event Sponsorships: Brand Storytelling generates primary revenue through flagship event sponsorships. Major brand sponsors include PepsiCo, SiriusXM, Meta, Shutterstock, Televisa-Univision, Walt Disney, Amazon, YouTube, Warner Bros. Discovery, H&R Block, and Vizio. The company offers sponsorship and partnership opportunities for brands seeking to engage senior leaders at curated gatherings.
2. Newsletter Subscriptions (Authentic): Aivanta launched the Authentic newsletter targeting senior leaders across brand marketing, creator platforms, talent, agencies, and investment. The publication focuses on the brand-creator economy, delivering weekly intelligence on deals, platforms, and industry dynamics. Available at liveauthentic.io.
3. Event Registrations: The company generates revenue through curated event attendance. Prospective members must apply for invitation to attend, suggesting paid registration or membership fees for access to BrandStorytelling and Elevate events.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Brand Storytelling operates curated, invitation-only flagship events that unite senior marketers, creators, studios, and platforms around brand-funded content. Its centerpieces are the BrandStorytelling (BST) annual conference held as a Sanctioned Event of the Sundance Film Festival in Park City and the Elevate retreat at Sundance Mountain Resort. The business monetizes through enterprise brand sponsorships, invited attendee participation, and the Authentic newsletter covering the brand-creator economy.

Product overview

BrandStorytelling (BST) is a conference and events company operating as part of Aivanta Inc. The company's portfolio centers on two flagship live events: BrandStorytelling, the annual flagship conference held as a Sanctioned Event of the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah—recognized as the largest brand-funded content event in North America—and Elevate, a companion summer retreat at Sundance Mountain Resort offering immersive workshops, screenings, and networking. Both events convene visionary marketers, filmmakers, creative studios, and creators to showcase the best in brand-funded content. As part of the Aivanta family, the company also publishes the Authentic newsletter for the brand-creator economy. The events highlight brand films, series, documentaries, creator content, podcasts, and micro-dramas through panels, screenings, fireside chats, and workshops.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• BrandStorytelling Conference (BST) The premier annual gathering dedicated to brand-funded content, held as a Sanctioned Event of the Sundance Film Festival. BrandStorytelling convenes senior marketers, creators, studios, and platforms each January in Park City, Utah to showcase and celebrate the best in brand films, series, documentaries, creator content, podcasts, and micro-dramas.
• Elevate Retreat A companion summer/fall gathering providing immersive learning, workshops, screenings, and connection around the evolution of storytelling, media, and brand-supported creativity. Held at Sundance Mountain Resort, Elevate offers a more intimate, retreat-style format with workshop-led sessions and collaborative discussions for brand storytellers and their partners.
• Authentic Newsletter A weekly newsletter from Aivanta focused on the brand-creator economy, providing intelligence on the state of the brand-creator space, deals getting done, and the latest on platforms where audiences consume content. Designed for senior leaders across brand marketing, creator platforms, talent, agencies, and investment.

Named customers19 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• AivantacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 January 2026Aivanta, an AI-first experiential media and technology holding company, acquired Brand Storytelling and Elevate in January 2026. Aivanta plans to integrate BST into a broader AI-powered global events and content ecosystem, extending the platform across new U.S. markets and international regions while deploying technology to modernize operations and expand programming.
• MIPCOM CannescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 October 2025BrandStorytelling partnered with MIPCOM Cannes, the largest global television and streaming content market. Through this collaboration, BST hosts summits designed to unite brands, digital content creators, and television executives, fostering innovative brand-led stories and providing opportunities for showcases, networking, and deal-making.
• Sundance Film FestivalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBrandStorytelling operates as a Sanctioned Event of the Sundance Film Festival, leveraging the prestige and creative community of the renowned independent film festival. This designation provides unique credibility and access to the Sundance creative ecosystem.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Cannes Lions: The premier global festival for the creative communications and brand marketing industries, held annually in Cannes. It is the closest large-scale analog to BrandStorytelling in bringing senior brand marketers together with agencies, platforms, and creators around branded creative work, and serves as the natural high-end reference point for international expansion.
• Advertising Week: Multi-city global conferences and content platform for the advertising, media, technology, and marketing industries. Comparable business model of monetizing through enterprise sponsorships and ticket revenue, targeting overlapping senior marketing and agency personas that Brand Storytelling courts.
• VidCon: Flagship conference and community for the online video and creator economy, bringing creators, platforms, brands, and fans together. Highly comparable to BrandStorytelling's creator-and-platform focus and its intersection with brand sponsorship deals, with significant audience-scale overlap.
• Digiday: B2B media brand covering the digital media, marketing, and advertising industries, with recurring conferences (e.g., Digiday Awards, Programmatic Marketing Summit) and a recurring editorial/newsletter product very similar in structure to BST + Authentic.
• Social Media Week: Global conference and content series covering social media marketing, influencer marketing, and creator partnerships. Overlapping senior-marker and agency audience with BST, focused on the same intersection of brand strategy and platform-led creative work.
• INBOUND (HubSpot): Large annual marketing and customer experience conference operated by HubSpot, convening brands, agencies, and creators around content and storytelling strategy. A scaled example of the sponsorship-and-registration-driven B2B marketing conference model that BST operates.
• Content Marketing World (Content Marketing Institute): Annual conference and community for content marketing professionals, run by the Content Marketing Institute. A direct peer in the B2B content/brand storytelling conference category, with similar enterprise-sponsor economics and audience.

Broad incumbents

• SXSW: Large-scale annual convergence of film, music, technology, and marketing in Austin. A broader incumbent in the creative/media events space that overlaps with BST's film-festival-anchored positioning at Sundance and its emphasis on brand storytelling and creator pipelines.
• Web Summit: Large-scale global tech and business conference with sister events for marketing/creators. A broad incumbent that hosts sessions overlapping BST's brand-and-creator conversations at much larger scale, useful as a comparable for monetization of premium enterprise sponsorships.

Emerging players

• The Drum: Global media brand covering marketing, advertising, and the creator economy, hosting live events (e.g., The Drum Live, awards) and producing newsletters. A more media-led peer that competes for the same senior-marker attention, with overlap in editorial/event formats.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCCHkhbMcQ_TbD5dSoQORNXw
• Facebookfacebook.com/brandstorytelling
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/brand-storytelling
• Instagraminstagram.com/brandstorytelling.tv

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Brand Storytelling