The vertical advantage: Why brands should embrace vertical storytelling

This post is sponsored by Viddsee.

The digital landscape is ever-changing, and vertical storytelling now stands at the forefront of this evolution, transforming the way brands engage diverse audiences. While platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube have popularised this trend, the shift extends beyond these platforms, emphasising a more interactive experience for tech-savvy audiences, especially Gen Z and Millennial individuals.

The traditional mode of content consumption is giving way to a more dynamic and interactive experience. Younger generations crave interactions that extend beyond mere viewing, compelling brands to innovate their strategies. This shift to interactive storytelling provides a prime opportunity to capture audience attention amidst the abundance of media content.

The key to an effective digital storytelling strategy lies in the accuracy of representing both the narrative and the targeted audience with content now available in diverse formats such as variety and talk shows.

To engage Gen-Z and the Millennials, content must be casual, authentic, and fit the “mobile-first” preferences of digital natives. Additionally, platforms are producing bite-sized, easily consumable content for on-the-go audiences, in line with the trend towards shorter and more focused digital interactions.

So, how can brands prioritise their interests while adapting to changing audience behaviour? Viddsee believes it has the solution to effectively deliver brand messaging.

Unlocking the potential of vertical storytelling for brands

Known for its expertise in developing short-form content, Viddsee has had over three billion views and has a more than 5,000-strong creator community. With a deep understanding of digital audiences, the platform guides brands to develop dynamic, impactful narrative content for vertical storytelling for brands to connect and engage with the mobile generation.

Viddsee’s multifaceted content, which includes narratives, documentaries, and social series across numerous genres, allows brands to explore deeper issues relevant to their target audience, sparking conversations and pushing boundaries.

The expansion of content beyond traditional constraints helps to maintain audience interest, as narratives can be adapted into engaging social series, documentaries can evolve into powerful campaigns, and all genres can become a platform for in-depth exploration.

Tapping into the momentum of vertical storytelling, Viddsee launched Nuggets By Viddsee, a bite-sized infotainment channel that specialises in vertical storytelling, where it develops content on issues that matter most to youths. In under a year, it has achieved over 17 million views and 12,000 followers, with a generation of audiences aged 18 to 24 comprising a third of the overall audience.

The platform’s use of visual language produces interactive experiences with formats such as street interviews and variety shows. A series such as “How I Know?” reached a younger demographic and gained over 1.8 million views by quizzing youths about Singapore’s culture and heritage.

Another successful series “Untold Singapore” attracted an impressive viewership by sharing fun and relatable facts about Singapore, and gained over 400,000 views in its first season. The second season reached more than 1.5 million, with 1.4 million TikTok views, reinforcing Viddsee’s success in connecting with young audiences.

Viddsee also collaborated with the National Council Against Drug Abuse Singapore in the “What’s Your Fix?” campaign to stimulate contemporary narratives on living a drug-free life. The campaign consisted of 21 vertically formatted TikTok episodes that detailed the life of “Juliana”, a polytechnic student battling life adversities and drug abuse.

These videos elicited an authentic sense of urgency, prompting viewers to question Juliana’s reality. Culminating with a short film, the campaign revealed Juliana’s resolve to live drug-free.

Through vertical storytelling and strategic campaign marketing, the campaign was successful in captivating its audience with noteworthy results – garnering 12.5 million views, 16 million impressions, and captivating engagement from two million participants.

It also won eight trophies at the recent MARKies and Marketing Excellence awards, including gold for Excellence in Performance Marketing and TV/Advertising.

Rather than addressing social issues directly, brands should embrace the characteristics and preferences of their target audience. To create stories that will resonate with their target audience, brands should consider their traits of curiosity and open-mindedness through research and data to form the persona of their characters to stay relevant and authentic to their audiences.

Co-creation: The new age of influence

What sets Viddsee apart is its empathetic and collaborative approach in working with its network of creators, serving as a bridge to connect brands to storytellers who best convey their messages. This collaboration elevates each narrative, making it more than just a post, and enhancing it into a thought-out campaign.

Recognising that every brand and creator embodies a unique set of strengths, storytelling style, and audience appeal, Viddsee carefully curates and matches the right creators with the right brand.

Viddsee understands the creator’s background, style, audience, and voice, and the brand’s objectives, target demographics, narratives, and vision. This synergy cultivates an environment for unique storytelling aligned with brand values, fostering authentic narratives that resonate with the audience.

The outcome is not just content, but narratives that spur discussions, evoke emotions, and reinforce brand ideals, underscoring Viddsee’s ability to blend compelling storytelling with potent brand communication.

As the digital era evolves, platforms such as Viddsee will align with the changing patterns in information consumption. In a world dominated by on-demand entertainment, vertical storytelling offers an accessible strategy for brands to captivate their audience.

By collaborating closely with storytellers, platforms such as Viddsee weave brand messages into compelling narratives, benefiting all participants and enhancing the overall digital storytelling experience.

Vertical storytelling is setting the pace online, and platforms such as Viddsee are harmonising with it. It is essential for brands to adapt to this vertical landscape to better position themselves within the evolving digital narrative.

This article was written by Ho Jia Jian, CEO of Viddsee.