Now luxury brands are producing microdramas The most profitable new form of entertainment right now

Contemporary entertainment is changing and, along with it, not only advertising formats but also the platforms through which we are used to consuming content. Microdramas, also known as vertical dramas or short dramas, perfectly embody this transformation: not simply a format based on “minimum effort, maximum output,” but content specifically designed to be consumed vertically and in an extremely short amount of time, often within the span of just a few minutes.

It is a rapidly expanding market that, according to a report by Omdia, has already generated around $11 billion in global revenue in 2025. And whenever a tool emerges that is fast, effective, and capable of capturing collective attention, luxury never stands still. Among the first brands to embrace this trend is Marc Jacobs with THE SCENE BAG, a vertical mini-series starring Rachel Sennott, immersed in a frantic yet glamorous Manhattan alongside her new handbag. It is a project that does not feel like a commercial in the traditional sense, but rather a short narrative in which the product becomes a constant narrative presence.

It’s short, but it’s not a commercial

Unlike the television commercials we have been used to for decades, the microdrama is a fully fledged serial format: vertical, fragmented, and potentially endless within the logic of scrolling. Its origins come from China, where now-established platforms such as GoodShort by Brenda Cheong have become enormous digital libraries of romance and drama mini-series composed of episodes lasting around one minute each. Their strength does not necessarily lie in narrative quality, which is often intentionally low, featuring amateur acting and low-budget productions, but rather in their business model, which replicates the mechanics of mobile games and algorithmic addiction.

Every episode ends with a cliffhanger, pushing users toward compulsive and continuous consumption. In this case, quality is no longer the fundamental condition for success. Just think of TikTok, which launched Pine Drama as an app entirely dedicated to microdramas, or the startup GammaTime, which has raised millions of dollars from investors such as Kris Jenner and Kim Kardashian. What makes this genre even more scalable is the possibility of integrating it with artificial intelligence, which can easily recreate a new episode starting from an algorithm.

What does luxury have to do with it?

At first glance, the world of luxury would seem to have very little in common with a fast, fragmented, low-budget, and low-quality format. And yet, this is exactly where the mechanism reveals its potential. The success of microdramas depends on how closely they align with the contemporary lifestyle, shaped by increasingly rapid content, passive consumption, strong emotional impact, and the absolute centrality of the smartphone. Storytelling becomes more compact and immediate, while the audience shifts from attentive spectators to subjects immersed in continuous scrolling. And it is precisely within this context that THE SCENE BAG positions itself.

The original language of the microdrama is refined through the polished aesthetic of fashion, without losing the narrative structure that makes the format so effective. The handbag does not interrupt the story as it would in a traditional commercial, but remains constantly present, accompanying the character throughout the narrative. Its real strength, however, lies in the fact that this exposure feels almost imperceptible: within the passive flow of scrolling, the product stops feeling like advertising while still occupying a central position in the story. Moreover, the microdrama is an extremely convenient tool for brands, with lower production costs, longer exposure time, and a subtler cultural impact than traditional campaigns, while often being more engaging.

As the way advertising is created changes alongside the platforms through which we consume content, the real challenge for brands lies in maintaining authenticity. On the one hand, microdramas are compelling because of their unique characteristics and the speed with which they capture attention. On the other, audiences are now perfectly capable of recognizing when a brand is “trying too hard” to adopt a language that does not truly belong to it. In that case, the risk is twofold: failing to appear authentic while also failing to be genuinely entertaining. All that remains is to understand whether microdramas truly represent an evolution of advertising language or simply the latest collective hysteria pursued by luxury giants.