Asia’s fast-growing vertical content sector is moving beyond short-form experimentation and into the franchise era, according to executives speaking at the APOS on Thursday.
During the session “Building the Vertical Stack in Asia,” industry leaders shared that the next stage of growth for vertical entertainment will be driven not only by subscriber acquisition, but by long-term intellectual property development, audience loyalty and expanded content ecosystems.
Timothy Oh, general manager and chief marketing officer of COL Group International, described the industry as entering a broader phase that extends well beyond microdramas.
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“Today we’re already seeing the development of vertical documentaries, vertical IPs and vertical franchises,” Oh said. The executive pointed to FlareFlow ‘s recently announced expansion of its partnership with Singapore-based production company Refinery Media, including the launch of “SupermodelMe: The Runway Kings,” an all-male edition of the long-running reality franchise reimagined for vertical viewing. The project follows the companies’ earlier rollout of one of the world’s first vertical reality adaptations of the “SupermodelMe” format.
According to Oh, the long-term goal is to create “cultural moments” around vertical content so as to keep audiences engaged beyond individual titles.
While the sector remains largely subscription-driven, he emphasized that sustainability has become a central priority as competition intensifies from platforms such as TikTok and Meta.
Beatrice Lee, CEO of ROCK Networks, echoed the importance of audience relationships, pointing that microdrama viewers demonstrate unusually high levels of engagement. “In the microdrama world, end users are highly engaged emotionally,” Lee said. “That’s what creates brand loyalty.”
For Karen Seah, founder and CEO of Refinery Media, the next frontier lies in unscripted storytelling. She shared that successful vertical content requires stories that are immediately understandable while delivering a fresh emotional hook in every episode to build intimacy with viewers.
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