🤳 “The Group Chat” is the latest TikTok-native viral drama

At PWR House, we are excited to see content creators build formats that can inspire brand marketers.

Content creator Sydney Robinson posted a video on TikTok in March that immediately went viral, a 2-minute skit called “The Group Chat,” featuring a group of female characters all played by Sydney.

The Group Chat told a story about a set of girls arguing over their group chat, shot with absolutely low-budget production from what appears to be Sydney’s apartment.

But Sydney created an entire content format out of this — The Group Chat continued with several subsequent episodes and is now entering “Season 2.” Brands like Dominos and Netflix have already worked with Sydney via native videos she’s created with The Group Chat universe.

There’s an exciting opportunity for brands to tap into this latest generation of content creators who are native storytellers.

Unlike one version of influencer marketing that’s essentially paying people to make pretty posts, brands who work with someone like Sydney are paying for more native branded entertainment that drives actual engagement and desirability.

This taps into a fundamental content authenticity that is very different than simply paying people who have big followings or aesthetically pleasing accounts.

It also coincides with a media trend we’re already seeing with microdramas in both China and the US. As apps like ReelShort become more popular and TikTok encourages more serialized content, the brand ecosystem around microdramas will keep growing.

In China, brands not only finance or co-finance the production of microdramas, but they also sponsor the content and create closed loops to allow people to purchase products in-app.

While Sydney’s The Group Chat is an exciting example, I expect in the next year we’ll see more examples of brands financing their own TikTok-native miniseries that drive consideration and also allow people to buy products in-app.

At PWR House, we’re working with a few brands on these socially-native mini-shows. The brands who are early to this trend will reap massive rewards for their business. Reach out to us if you’re interested or let me know what you think in the comments below.