Shifting advertising spend could provide another boost to demand of nascent but fast-growing medium
Vertical video scripted series, better known as microdramas, could be set to boom as brands move advertising spend into the fast-growing medium.
Revenues from the genre reached $11bn in 2025 and will grow to $14bn by the end of the year, according to analyst firm Omdia, with $3bn generated outside China, the majority in the US.
Daily usage is surging elsewhere, however. Maria Rua Aguete, head of M&E and technology fellow at Omdia, told delegates at NEM Dubrovnik that its data shows one app - FlickReels - generating higher daily usage than Amazon Prime Video (22.39 minutes versus 21.47 minutes).
Rest of world spending on microdrama is also increasing although subscription costs of up to $25 a week are seen by some as an obstacle to broader growth.
Timothy Oh, general manager and chief marketing officer at COL Group International, added that brands are increasingly looking at the medium as they explore ways to gain better returns on spend.
“Brand-supported content is growing very quickly,” said Oh, whose company is behind apps including ReelShort, Sereal and FlareFlow.
Speaking at NEM Dubrovnik, Oh pointed to the global strength of telenovelas and soap operas, suggesting microdramas are now following a similar trajectory.
“Look at telenovelas, they started out as [pbrand-funded] content and now we are now seeing those brands coming in to make a success of microdramas as well.
“It is a very accessible medium and creates an ecosystem for brands to advertise, which then reduces the cost for viewers,” he added.
Oh said that COL Group has employed advertising copy writers as script writers to create snappy dialogue that fits with the medium’s minute-long episodes.
He added that the use of AI was also being explored particularly by partnering with celebrities to use their likenesses within show.
“Combining AI and celebrities who are not actors to bring them into microdramas is a fascinating area we’re exploring. The reality is that AI empowers everything to move faster and the viewers watching don’t mind.
“It is the responsibility of platforms to have rules and playbooks for AI, but for people consuming content, AI is just an engine.”
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