---
title: The state of branded vertical drama: why we think the biggest opportunity is still ahead
description: We went looking for every branded vertical drama in the Western market and found about a dozen. Almost all of them were made in the last six months.
canonical_url: https://watchbuka.com/insights/state-of-branded-vertical-drama
published: 2026-08-13
last_updated: 2026-08-13
category: Market
publisher: Buka
license: CC BY 4.0
attribution: Buka - https://watchbuka.com
tags: branded content, market analysis, advertising, case studies
---

# The state of branded vertical drama: why we think the biggest opportunity is still ahead

**In short:** We expected to find hundreds of branded vertical dramas and found about a dozen: Native, Dr Pepper, Maybelline, JCPenney, MCoBeauty, Marc Jacobs, P&G with Albertsons, General Mills and Crocs twice over. Almost all of it happened in the last six months. The audience has already moved; the brands are only just catching up. That gap is the opportunity.

Spend any time reading marketing headlines and you’d be forgiven for thinking every brand has already jumped on the vertical drama bandwagon. The reality is very different.
Over the past few weeks we’ve been researching branded vertical dramas in detail, trying to answer what seemed like a simple question: Which brands have actually made them?
At first we expected to find hundreds of examples hidden away in agency portfolios and award databases. Surely everyone was experimenting with the format by now.
They weren’t.
What we discovered was something much more interesting.
## About a dozen brands have actually done it

There are plenty of articles talking about the potential of branded vertical drama, but when you start looking for actual productions, the list stays surprisingly short. Counting carefully, we can verify about a dozen genuine branded vertical drama series in the Western market. Native, Dr Pepper, Maybelline, JCPenney, MCoBeauty, Marc Jacobs, P&G with Albertsons, General Mills as the first brand to sponsor an existing series, and Crocs twice over. Against the scale of traditional advertising, a dozen is nothing at all.
And here’s the part that matters more than the number. Almost all of it happened in the last six months.
## The near misses are just as telling

Alongside those sit the near misses, which are just as telling. San Pellegrino’s Ciao! campaign put Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa in an eight-part comedy that won the brand its first Cannes Lion, and then released it as episodes on social. It’s very good work. But it was shot horizontal as a campaign film and cut into episodes afterwards, which is a different thing to writing a vertical series from the script up. That distinction is going to matter more, not less, as the category fills out.
That might sound disappointing.
We think it’s incredibly exciting.
## The audience is already here

The audience, after all, is already here.
Millions of people now spend hours watching vertical dramas on platforms like ReelShort and DramaBox. What began in China has evolved into a global entertainment format, with professionally produced series designed specifically for the way people naturally hold their phones. Episodes are short, stories move quickly and every instalment ends with a reason to keep watching.
The viewing behaviour has already changed.
The brands are only just catching up.
That’s an important distinction because it means this isn’t a case of trying to invent demand. Audiences have already decided they enjoy this kind of storytelling. The opportunity for brands is learning how to participate in it without turning it into another advertisement.
And that’s where things become really interesting.
## What separates a good one from an advert

The best branded vertical dramas don’t feel like commercials stretched across multiple episodes. They feel like stories that happen to include a brand.
There’s a subtle but important difference.
A traditional advertisement starts with the product and builds a message around it. A good vertical drama starts with characters, conflict and emotion. The product simply belongs in that world. It isn’t interrupting the story; it’s part of it.
That’s one of the reasons we think this format has so much potential.
Brands have spent years trying to become part of culture instead of interrupting it. They invested in branded documentaries, podcasts, YouTube series and influencer collaborations because audiences increasingly choose what they watch. Vertical drama feels like the next logical step in that evolution.
## A new production ecosystem

What’s also becoming clear is that an entirely new production ecosystem is beginning to emerge around the format.
Pixie and SuperOrdinary Studios are the names that come up first, but they are nowhere near alone. dentsu Entertainment, P&G Studios, TelevisaUnivision, Viral Nation, PineDrama, Hoorae and VeYou are all building in this space, and Peacock, Netflix, Fox and Disney are circling it. None of them are simply making longer commercials. They’re building production systems specifically for episodic, mobile-first storytelling. Writers’ rooms, recurring characters, cliffhangers, platform-native editing and even integrated social commerce are becoming part of the creative process.
That’s a very different way of thinking about advertising.
In many ways, these companies look less like agencies and more like television studios.
We don’t think that’s a coincidence.
Serial storytelling demands a different set of creative muscles. It requires thinking about audience retention instead of media frequency, character arcs instead of taglines, and what will bring viewers back tomorrow rather than what they’ll remember five minutes from now.
## How early it still is

Perhaps the biggest surprise for us has been just how early all of this still feels.
Even after digging through industry awards, agency portfolios and specialist production companies, the number of verified Western branded vertical dramas remains remarkably small. That doesn’t suggest the format has failed. Quite the opposite. It suggests we’re witnessing the beginning of a new category rather than the peak of an existing one.
History tells us that every new medium goes through this stage.
There was a time when branded podcasts were considered experimental. YouTube series were once viewed as niche. Streaming originals were dismissed before they became mainstream entertainment.
Vertical drama feels as though it’s standing at a similar point today.
## The case against

None of this is uncontested, and it would be dishonest to write about the category without saying so.
The same trade coverage that documents the growth carries some sharp scepticism. Matt O’Rourke, chief creative officer at Via, reckons brands are renting the format rather than working to any real plan. Ian Schafer at Ensemble goes further and warns that a production bubble may be forming, with too much content being made for too few people.
Both are fair. We’d argue both are reasons to do this properly rather than reasons to stay out of it.
Renting the format is exactly what happens when a brand treats a series as a campaign with more episodes in it. You end up with something the right shape that nobody chose to watch. The answer isn’t to avoid the format. It’s to build the story first and work out where the brand honestly belongs inside it.
The bubble point is the more serious one, and it’s really about supply. There is a lot of content chasing the same attention. But that’s an argument for making something worth watching, not for making nothing. Bubbles punish the undifferentiated. They have never punished the good.
## Start with a pilot

That doesn’t mean every brand should immediately commission a 50-episode series. In fact, we’d probably advise against it.
Like any emerging format, the smartest approach is to learn by doing. A carefully crafted pilot season of five or ten episodes can teach a brand far more about audience engagement than months of theoretical discussion ever could.
The companies experimenting today aren’t trying to perfect the format overnight. They’re building experience while the rules are still being written.
And perhaps that’s the most compelling reason to pay attention.
When a medium becomes established, everyone knows how to use it. By then, the biggest opportunities often belong to those who arrived early enough to help shape it.
We’re not suggesting branded vertical drama has reached that point yet.
We’re suggesting it’s getting close.
The audience already exists. The creative talent is emerging. Specialist studios are being built. The first successful campaigns have been released.
What’s still missing is widespread adoption by brands.
For those willing to experiment, that’s not a warning.
It might just be the opportunity.

## Frequently asked

### Which brands have made vertical dramas?

About a dozen verified series in the Western market: Native, Dr Pepper, Maybelline, JCPenney, MCoBeauty, Marc Jacobs, P&G with Albertsons, General Mills as the first brand to sponsor an existing series, and Crocs twice over. Almost all of it happened in the last six months.

### Was the Sanpellegrino CIAO! campaign a vertical drama?

Not quite. The eight-part comedy with Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa won the brand its first Cannes Lion and is very good work, but it was shot horizontal as a campaign film and cut into episodes afterwards. That is a different thing to writing a vertical series from the script up.

### Who is building production capacity for branded vertical drama?

Pixie and SuperOrdinary Studios come up first, but dentsu Entertainment, P&G Studios, TelevisaUnivision, Viral Nation, PineDrama, Hoorae and VeYou are all building in the space, with Peacock, Netflix, Fox and Disney circling it.

### Is there a case against branded vertical drama?

Yes, and it is worth taking seriously. Matt O'Rourke, chief creative officer at Via, reckons brands are renting the format rather than working to any real plan. Ian Schafer at Ensemble warns a production bubble may be forming, with too much content made for too few people. Both are fair, and both are arguments for doing it properly rather than staying out.

### Should a brand commission a 50-episode series first?

We would advise against it. A carefully crafted pilot season of five or ten episodes can teach a brand far more about audience engagement than months of theoretical discussion.

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