Branded Video Content Is The New TV
Sep 30, 2025
What if your favorite brand had its own TV show?
Branded video content isn’t just about what you watch, it’s about the worlds that hook you in. How they keep you begging for the next episode.
Let’s be real, how many times have you stopped mid-scroll to watch an ad and fallen into a rabbit hole of the brand’s content? That’s the magic of entertainment and narrative storytelling.
Discover why branded video content as a social series is dominating user engagement. Learn how episodic social series, bingeable formats, and storytelling turn casual scrollers into loyal fans.
WHY BRANDED VIDEO CONTENT IS THE NEW TV (AND YOUR FEED’S FAVORITE SHOW)
No one’s logging on socials just to watch another traditional ad. The audience craves entertainment. Social media is not as social as it was before. That is why branding video content like a TV show is the new strategy!
The time of boring branded content is over. Branded video content is the new TV, only with way more channels to scroll through. Brands are turning passive scrollers into loyal fans by:
- Mini-sodes: bingeable series in an episodic format optimized for scrolling.
- Character driven: characters worth investing time and dollars into.
- Shareable plots: narratives the viewers want to send in a group text.
- Immersion worlds: engaging brand voices you want to stop scrolling for.
Branded Video Content isn’t just a trend but a powerful marketing tool. Today, it accounts for 82% of all consumer internet traffic. HubSpot reports that 54% want more video content from their favorite brands.
5 BRANDED VIDEO CONTENT WORTH YOUR SCROLL
Bilt Rewards’ Roomies series: The rent rewards app proved how bingeable branded video content can be with Roomies. Think The Office, but with roommates facing adulthood. The show barely mentions Bilt’s app, yet connects with renters through relatable and funny stories that are impossible to scroll past.
Cyrus Ferguson, Bilt’s senior director of content, said their goal was simple: to build goodwill and awareness through storytelling. Instead of polished ads, they created a writer’s room to develop content like a real TV show. The twist? Episodes run only two minutes, not thirty.
By focusing on entertainment-first storytelling, Bilt made a show that feels natural on social media. It shows that audiences don’t want boneless product pitches; they need stories they can relate to.
Tower 28 and The Blush Lives of Sensitive Girls: Nailed branded video content with The Blush Lives of Sensitive Girls, a sketch comedy series that compares blush shopping to modern dating. The three-part social series resonated so much that it outperformed their traditional content.
Founder Amy Liu teamed up with comedian Olivia Sui, pulled in writer Ruby Marker from HBO’s The Sex Lives of College Girls, and gave audiences a reason to return to their page.
The concept draws from real experiences women face in beauty and dating. The marketing team packed in inside jokes and references that resonate with their audience. This approach built expectation, making viewers come back for more. They promote their product without feeling like a typical ad.
By partnering with Sui, Tower 28 offers opportunities both in-house and beyond. Sui also stars in the series alongside her fellow cast members from the comedy YouTube channel Smosh.
With YPulse reporting that 59% of young consumers want brands to make TV-style content as ads, Tower 28 is tapping into a growing trend. Tower 28 is building its own multiverse with sequels, spin-offs, games, pop-ups, and more. They are creating a landscape for fans to come back, scroll, and share.
InStyle Interns: Back by popular demand, InStyle’s hit social series The Intern garnered 1.3+ views with an average watch time of 22.6 seconds in its first season and was “renewed” for a 3rd. With humor, workplace drama, and relatable storylines, it makes it hard to look away.
Showrunner Jonathan Borge said it best: social isn’t just a channel, it’s a storytelling platform.
The InStyle team partnered with TikTok’s Micky Gordon (@mickycashflow) to bring the funny and relatable Gen Z energy to the viewers’ feed. By showcasing real faces behind a brand, companies create authentic connections with consumers. This partnership resonated well with Micky’s audience, making the content memorable and shareable. As well as providing the brand with 5M TikTok views on season 3 episode 1. The episode hit 3M views within 24 hours, with 99% of those viewers being non-followers and 59% under the age of 24.
The Intern doesn’t exist to send people back to the site. It’s built to live natively and to encourage followers to stay on the platform and keep watching.
Liquid Death: Not every brand sticks to the mockumentary style. Others experiment with parodies, nostalgia, and absurdist worlds. Liquid Death became popular due to its edgy branding and unique approach to marketing. Its content doesn’t only sell water; it makes the brand itself a character.
By mixing influencer cameos, surprising storylines, and merch drops, Liquid Death is turning its fandom into a cult following. Take a closer look. Their content makes the audience feel like insiders to a bigger joke. When your marketing is as entertaining as Liquid Death's, your audience will promote it for you.
Vera Bradley: Tapping into 90s nostalgia with millennial teen idol Devon Sawa, Vera Bradley created branded video content that felt like flipping through a Y2K fanfic. Instead of showcasing the product directly, their bags naturally weaved into the story’s narrative of winning over a celebrity crush. This clever storytelling made every clip feel like a jump in a time machine.
Their 15-second teaser hit 200k on TikTok. The “Most Perfect Couple” campaign gave viewers a reason to engage and replay. Leading into absurdity without screaming “ad,” the series became a cultural convo starter. Tapping into their curated audience makes the product sell itself.
HOOKED IN SECONDS: BRANDED VIDEO CONTENT THAT STICK
In a world where reach is fragmented, brands are no longer just advertisers, but entertainers. 86% of businesses use video in their marketing campaigns, and those who used video grew revenue 49% faster than those who did not. You don’t need a film budget to capture people’s attention.
As feeds overflow with sleek AI-generated ads and recycled memes, viewers are looking for authenticity in storytelling.
Is it funny? Surprising? A need to share? Episodic branded content is the secret weapon. Consistency isn’t only “nice to have,” but it feeds the algorithm. A clear theme gives every episode a purpose and makes the brand worth following. People buy from people, and consistent content allows audiences to build loyalty with the brand.
HOW YOUR OWN BRANDED VIDEO CONTENT SHOW CAN WORK FOR YOUR BRAND
These 5 examples of branded video content prove that episodic social series are the formula for a campaign that sticks. Each of these examples provides insight into the different ways brands can use storytelling in their branded video content.
- Attention may be scarce, but the content is unlimited. TV shows build loyalty through a lovable cast, recurring myths, and hidden layers that reward loyal fans. When viewers know what to expect from a show, they form a habit, and now you have created a fan.
- Narrative > Hard Sell: The best social series hide their ads in the story. Keep the plot simple to integrate your product or brand naturally. When viewers feel like something is happening, brands live rent-free in their heads.
- Capture the vibes: through branded video content, consumers can see their journey toward solving their problem. Whether this is in the form of a video that conveys your company’s story or through episodic canon events, the goal is to show the viewer what a relationship with you would look like.
When done right, a single experiential marketing move can drive massive engagement. This strategy isn’t just creative but one that plays with a high ROI.
IS YOUR BRAND READY FOR SOCIAL TV?
Entertainment-first brand building is your brand’s distinction on steroids. In this new era, brands are less concerned with selling in the moment and more focused on keeping audiences coming back for the next episode. Welcome to the era of Branded Video Content as Social TV.
The lines between entertainment and advertising have blurred. The question isn’t whether your brand should create video content, but how. Tower 28, Bilt, and InStyle have shown that when you create bingeable, character-driven worlds, casual scrollers become die-hard fans.
You’ve been greenlit, so ask yourself: is your brand worth watching? If not, it’s time to change that. Treat your next campaign like a show, not an ad. Build characters, plots, and worlds your audience wants to live in, and stories they want to share.
Social TV shows are the new entertainment. Original series as branded video content connect with people in formats they enjoy. By embedding products into storylines, brands can drive engagement without feeling like ads.
Every post, every story, every drop is a new episode. And your audience? They’re tuning in, front row, every episode.
âď¸ Written by Tara Sitzmann
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