Mini Dramas, Mini Games encourage new business models for TikTok

One of the fastest-emerging content trends in the region is the “mini-drama” or “micro-drama”—serialized, hyper-short-form narrative videos designed specifically for mobile viewing. While markets like Vietnam have leaned heavily into this format, the ecosystem in countries like the Philippines is still in its infancy, presenting a massive “first-mover” advantage for local creators.

Currently, major household brands like Unilever, Vaseline, and Colgate are actively seeking mini-drama partnerships because traditional, overt advertising is easily skipped by highly distracted users. Mini-dramas offer a deeply compelling, emotionally resonant storytelling format that keeps users hooked.

Mini dramas cater to our id

However, a talent gap remains. Traditional production powerhouses are struggling to transition from long-form television or cinema to short-form scripts. Speaking to Zhiwei Sok, General Manager for Global Business Solutions for Singapore & Philippines at the TikTok Apps Summit in Singapore, he said that there are some hurdles that need to be surpassed. The first is the chicken and egg paradigm of having production houses that are used to long-form video production make that paradigm shift to short form hooks. It sounds easy on paper but it requires a lot of retraining and a shift in ways of thinking about video entertainment. The second reason is pretty much a consequence of the first – that the goal of these videos are short bursts of emotional hooks rather than substance. And although brands have acknowledged TikTok’s dominance in the attention economy, there is still some hesitation to wanting to be associated with the id – people’s primal desires in the form of revenge porn or poverty porn, themes that are common in mini dramas.

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Mini games for a new wave of monetization

TikTok has also recently introduced Mini Games, turning the social network into a place to discover simple casual browser games that can be bookmarked to your home screen. If the App Store and Play Store were the primary means of discovering new games during the app era, TikTok’s attention share claims to capture audiences as early as 6:00 AM all the way till 1:00 AM, with peaks from 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM. Sok says that there is a huge potential for indie game developers to monetize, especially in the Philippines, because the market is still not saturated with games.

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Currently, Mini Games can be monetized with in-app purchases and video ads. Instead of app downloads, developers aim to convert by enticing players to add the games to the home screen. This new model is also cost-efficient for developers because all the games run on the browser via HTML5 which means that there’s no need for traditional app upkeep and less worries for fragmentation, where a developer needs to troubleshoot patches depending on your mobile phone brand and model.

Opportunities for first-movers in the Philippine

In the Philippines, there is a huge opportunity for indie developers and production houses to take advantage of TikTok’s screen time engagement. As the current number one in the engagement economy, TikTok has emerged as more than just a social network, having launched TikTok Shop and their own affiliate marketing program that has contributed to the Philippine gig economy. It seems like the next phase aims to help other industries pivot to these new formats. According to Sok, the ideal scenario is to be able to work with government to create training programs to help stakeholders maximize these opportunities in the digital economy.

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