Author: Kimeko McCoy

Search & Affiliate Marketing Strategist since 1993

Marketers have bought into microdramas — but a lack of ROI might make them irrelevant

Marketers have long since tried to make advertising something people actually want to watch — with varying shelf life results. (Remember Quibi, the mobile video streaming that shut down just six months after its April 2020 launch?) Well, now marketers are convinced they’ve found something in microdramas and microseries.

The bite-sized blockbusters have become big business in China and are now capturing American audiences. Crocs, Nuuly and P&G’s Native deodorant have each created their own branded, pint-sized productions.

Digiday spoke with four marketers who said it’s less about creating a business case around these snackable dramas and more about capturing shopper attention in a fragmented digital ecosystem.

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In the zero-click era, visibility alone is no longer enough for brands

Brand marketing is undergoing a profound shift, spurred by conversational chatbots and LLM-based interfaces reshaping the way people search for information and discover brands. In this new era, traditional digital visibility such as clicks, keyword rankings and website traffic is no longer sufficient on its own for brands to thrive.

As search behavior changes, brands are having to communicate more clearly, credibly and consistently across a wider range of channels and sources. Paid reach remains an important part of the mix, while organic visibility, editorial authority and trusted third-party mentions are gaining new relevance in AI-driven discovery. As consumers increasingly experiment with AI-supported search and recommendations, brands need to think about trust, reputation and word-of-mouth alongside traditional search visibility.

“Chatbots may shape what people discover, but word of mouth still shapes a brand’s reputation,” said Verena Gründel, host and director of brand and communications at DMEXCO. “The more trusted and consistently recommended a brand is across real conversations and public sources, the more likely it is to remain part of the consideration set.”

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