Over a Million Views is the Norm? The Power of Vertical Short Dramas That Can "Intentionally Go Viral"

You didn't mean to, but you found yourself stopping what you were doing and watching until the very end.
Have you ever had that experience while watching videos on your phone?

On vertical video platforms like TikTok, a narrative content genre called "short dramas" is gaining popularity. This trend isn't limited to TikTok; similar patterns are seen on Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, with creators posting such works rapidly increasing. In contrast to the coined term "WEBTOON" (webtoon) for vertical manga formats, this new genre is called "WEBREEN" (webreen / WEB+SCREEN), establishing itself as a distinct category.

Short dramas can "go viral" depending on the know-how, attracting increasing attention from companies seeking to deliver brand messages to consumers in a new way.

This article explores

• the background behind short dramas gaining attention as a marketing tactic
• Why vertical short dramas can intentionally create viral buzz
• and real-world examples of companies utilizing short dramas for marketing

will be explained by Yuichi Emura, Business Producer at SEPTENI CO.,LTD (part of the Dentsu Group) who works on short drama projects, and Keiki Nakaya, Executive Officer at GOKKO, a short drama production company.

<Table of Contents>

▼Why "Short Dramas" Are Gaining Attention as a Marketing Technique! What's Behind This Trend?

▼Why Vertical Short Dramas Can Create "Targeted Virality"

▼Cases of Corporate Marketing Utilization Are Rapidly Increasing

▼7 Million Views! A Short Drama by a Wedding Venue Chain Expressing the Appeal of Holding a Wedding Ceremony

Short dramas are gaining attention as a marketing technique! What's behind this trend?

Vertical short dramas on social media first gained popularity in China.

This wave has gradually reached Japan, gaining significant user support in 2023. The comparison image below shows search hit counts for the viral "#cat memes" and "#short dramas" on TikTok, revealing they are completely on par. While "cat memes" became popular rapidly, making their impact clear, "short dramas" have established themselves as a genre over the past two years. It's fair to say this content category is still in its prime growth phase.

The popularity of short dramas stems from two key factors: "pace" and "information density."

The term "time efficiency" is becoming commonplace. Young users, accustomed to watching at double speed, multitasking while watching, or skipping through content, tend to avoid longer videos or those with a slower pace. They perceive it as a waste of time and don't want to feel like they're missing out.

On the other hand, emotionally engaging stories like movies and TV dramas have enjoyed universal popularity since ancient times. We believe this stems from humanity's innate desire for "stories." Amidst information overload and the emphasis on time efficiency, short dramas have found their niche as an "outlet" for people who find it harder to connect with such "stories."

Furthermore, in our discussions with companies about content utilization, we frequently encounter strong interest in short dramas as a marketing tool.

Beyond young people turning away from TV, digital media now also includes "ad-skipping" features. As this trend accelerates, short dramas are seen as compelling because they can be works users actively choose to watch. Moreover, the videos themselves can generate buzz, attracting high view counts at low cost.

Why can vertical short dramas be "intentionally made to go viral"?

We'll explain the key points that enable vertical short dramas to "deliberately create buzz," focusing on the following three aspects.

1. TikTok (and other vertical short-form platforms) rely heavily on "For You" feeds
   
   Hearing "go viral" might evoke impressions of "unrealistic demands" or "gambling elements." On social media platforms like YouTube or Instagram, views are primarily gained based on the fanbase already acquired by the channel—subscribers or followers. This made it difficult for corporate accounts with relatively small fanbases to achieve viral success.
   
   TikTok, however, recommends new content continuously based on your viewing history, essentially saying, "You'll probably like this." Furthermore, since the majority of video views actually come from these "recommendations," there's a foundation where a single video can suddenly and rapidly go viral—even without having built up a fanbase beforehand.
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2. The power to keep viewers watching (preventing skips) is a key factor
   
   TikTok's distribution algorithm is remarkably simple. While "algorithm hacks" in digital marketing often focus on operational tactics, on TikTok, the key to making organic videos go viral lies in creative hacks.
   
   Specifically, a key principle is preventing skips at the beginning while also eliminating drop-off points later on, maximizing full-view completion.
   
   To boost retention and increase full-viewers, it's crucial to pinpoint key moments—like the first 2 seconds, 5 seconds, and 15 seconds—and ensure each delivers narrative progression to keep viewers engaged. We define these as the attention-grabbing "hook," the viewer-retaining "grip," and the drop-off-reducing "push," consciously incorporating them into every concept and production.
   
   For example, opening with a scene of a couple arguing (where the boyfriend gets slapped) to grab the viewer's attention is a technique rarely seen in conventional dramas but frequently used in TikTok short dramas. Think of it like starting a song with the chorus instead of the intro.
   
   
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3. Maximizing Engagement Through Theme Selection, Scripting, and Direction

   
   Another major principle for hacking the algorithm and increasing visibility in the recommended feed is maximizing user engagement, such as likes and comments.

   Several elements contribute here, but concrete strategies include selecting relatable themes that make more people think "That's so true!" and creating points that make viewers want to comment with witty remarks.

   For example, a theme like "Things I Said to My Parents During My Teenage Years" taps into universal experiences that make everyone want to comment. Additionally, deliberately misleading viewers with false leads or prompting speculation about why a character acted a certain way are effective techniques that make viewers want to comment.

By leveraging TikTok's unique characteristics to maintain high viewer retention and engagement, you can achieve a situation where content "goes viral by design."

Examples of corporate marketing applications are rapidly increasing

We've explained the background of vertical short dramas' popularity and why they can be intentionally made to go viral. However, what's particularly noteworthy for marketing applications is their compatibility with corporate PR, unlike traditional viral content.

Fundamentally, vertical short dramas can organically attract massive viewership without paid advertising, offering excellent cost-effectiveness for marketing outcomes like reach and attitude change.

Furthermore, unlike "TikTok-esque content from a few years ago" such as dance videos, "trying out something" videos, or shocking footage, short dramas offer several advantages: the freedom to tailor relatable elements to the target audience, the ability to maximize viewing time due to their relatively longer duration, and the ease of creating unique content per video, avoiding monotony.

While cool dance videos are extremely effective at grabbing attention, they rarely provide the relatable story that resonates with most viewers. Furthermore, since marketing activities inherently require continuity, the ability to continuously produce and distribute dramas—each tailored to specific target insights, key messaging points, or desired post-viewing impressions—makes them highly compatible with corporate PR.

Finally, here are actual examples of companies achieving results by utilizing short dramas.

7 Million Views! A Wedding Venue Chain's Short Drama Expressing the Appeal of Holding a Wedding Ceremony

In a collaboration between a wedding venue chain operating multiple locations, the vertical short drama specialist group "Gokko Club" affiliated with GOKKO, and SEPTENI CO.,LTD, three short dramas were produced. The overarching goal was to convey the emotion and appeal of weddings, ultimately connecting back to the company's PR.

The result was a tremendous success in terms of reach: within just three weeks of posting, the three videos collectively surpassed 5 million views. They have now exceeded 7 million cumulative views, with view counts steadily increasing even long after posting.

This project is a trilogy, with each video serving a distinct primary purpose.

The first video was created to emotionally depict the appeal of weddings and attract a wide audience. The second video richly showcased the venue's concept and facilities. The third video structured its narrative around the bride and groom's process of deciding on a venue through interactions with a wedding planner. This design ensured a strong connection back to promoting the company's appeal from a broader perspective.

A notable achievement of this case study was not only its broad reach but also its ability to generate a very strong attitude change effect among viewers.

According to a post-campaign survey, comparing those exposed to both the TV commercial and short drama aired during the same period with those exposed only to the TV commercial, significant improvements were observed in awareness, favorability, and usage intent. Similarly, substantial results were achieved across various other attitude change metrics.

<Survey Results Summary>

As seen thus far, vertical short dramas can reliably generate buzz and achieve high reach when scripts and direction are meticulously designed with clear objectives.

Since users voluntarily choose to watch videos appearing in their recommended feeds, completion rates are high, making this content capable of becoming "corporate content that gets solid viewership on social media."

However, simply pushing advertising messages upfront will result in no views. First and foremost, the video itself must be "entertaining." Therefore, the crucial challenge lies in balancing how to integrate brand messaging points onto the "entertaining and buzz-worthy elements" explained thus far.

By teaming up, SEPTENI CO.,LTD and Gokko Club provide such well-balanced content to each company.

The short drama we produced for Japan Airlines with this team surpassed 10 million views within about a month of release. Next time, we'll delve into the details of this case study.

This series will continue to delve into vertical short dramas, collaborations with companies and brands, and examples of their use in marketing. Stay tuned!

[Interested in utilizing short dramas? Click here]
Email: septeni-movie-project@septeni.co.jp Contact: Emura

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