ByteDance's short dramas go overseas for the first time: an overseas short drama team is established and the Melolo short drama APP is launched

ByteDance's first overseas attempt in the short drama field has attracted much attention. This article will detail the process of ByteDance's establishment of an overseas short drama team and the launch of the Melolo short drama app, and explore its development strategy and challenges in the overseas market.

ByteDance has established an overseas short drama business team and recruited multiple short drama overseas-related positions, such as overseas short drama user product manager, European and American copywriting planner, etc., with bases in Beijing, Shanghai, etc. In addition, ByteDance has also launched a short drama app called "Melolo" overseas, which is mainly free. This is also ByteDance's first short drama product to go overseas.

Regarding this short drama product, the relevant person in charge of Melolo told Tech Planet that Melolo is an overseas free short drama App that meets the needs of overseas users to watch dramas by providing free short drama resources. The product was launched in Indonesia, the Philippines and other markets in mid-November 2024, and is currently continuing to explore and verify the business.

Figure: Screenshot of Melolo official website

In fact, ByteDance has been involved in overseas short drama business for a long time. In November last year, according to Information, TikTok considered adding content similar to mini short dramas. Thanks to the great success of short dramas in China, TikTok obviously does not want to miss out and plans to start a replication mode in overseas markets in an effort to attract more users.

The overseas marketing of short dramas has always been regarded as a blue ocean with huge opportunities. According to the "2024 Short Drama Overseas Marketing White Paper", the average monthly number of overseas short drama users is expected to reach 200-300 million in the future, and the market size will reach 10 billion US dollars. Short dramas have been exported to markets such as Europe, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, becoming the latest highlight of the global entertainment industry.

Domestic online literature platforms such as Yuewen, China Literature, New Reading Times, and Dianzhong, as well as long video platforms such as Tencent Video, iQiyi, and Youku, have all entered the overseas short drama market.

Among them, the most representative platform is ReelShort launched by Maple Leaf Interactive, a subsidiary of Chinese Online. Chinese Online released its 2024 interim report, mentioning the latest performance of Maple Leaf Interactive, the parent company of the overseas short drama platform ReelShort: Maple Leaf Interactive's revenue in the first half of 2024 was 1.086 billion yuan, and its net profit in the same period reached 22.93 million yuan.

This time, ByteDance launched its first short drama product "Melolo" overseas, also taking a fancy to the huge market behind overseas short dramas. However, can ByteDance successfully replicate the popular model of Hongguo's free short dramas in China overseas?

1. ByteDance’s first attempt to export short dramas overseas

Tech Planet found that Melolo is a short drama app that mainly uses a free model. It is relatively easy to use in terms of product and operating experience.

In terms of product usage, Melolo includes three channels: "My List", "Discover" and "Personal Center". Among them, the Discovery Channel is used by users to find short drama content. For this purpose, the platform organizes three small columns: New Series, Recently Viewed, and Hot Trends, so that users can find suitable short dramas.

Figure: Melolo product interface

In the playback interface, the short dramas that users see are all in high-definition quality, and there will be built-in subtitles and automatic full-screen mode and other functions to enhance the viewing experience.

At present, in addition to the skits produced with partners, Melolo also has its own exclusive original content. In terms of the types of skits, Melolo includes a series of mainstream skits such as emotions, thrillers, suspense, and costumes, as well as skits about overbearing bosses that foreigners will be attracted to. Since it is currently aimed at users in Southeast Asia, the characters in the skits also conform to the aesthetics of local people.

Overall, Melolo is in line with the consistent style of ByteDance's overseas products. It has a low entry threshold, is easy to use, and the product is more localized.

Of course, ByteDance’s overseas expansion of its short drama business is not just about launching this short drama product. TikTok, a short video platform owned by ByteDance, is also considering adding content formats similar to mini short dramas.

In July last year, TikTok's global marketing digital platform TikTok for Business released the "2024 Short Drama Overseas Marketing White Paper". Since 2023, the time spent by global users watching short dramas has continued to grow, and the discussion of related topics has continued to heat up. In the future, the average monthly number of short drama users overseas is expected to reach 200-300 million. Accordingly, the market size is expected to reach tens of billions of US dollars.

The white paper also pointed out that in addition to dedicated short drama apps, platforms such as TikTok have increasingly become an important channel for users to watch short dramas. 93% of short drama users regard social media platforms as the main way to watch short dramas on a daily basis.

ByteDance's exploration of short dramas going overseas is not limited to the conventional product side. Tech Planet also learned that ByteDance is exploring multiple dimensions such as gamification and commercialization.

For example, in terms of the gamification of short plays, ByteDance clearly stated in the recruitment of European and American copywriters: the incumbent is required to conduct research and analysis based on short plays and games at home and abroad, and refine the elements of hits; refine the world view and structure, and design a complete set of concepts and characters for the world view; be able to independently write a complete story, adapt or re-create the story script according to the topic selection direction, and present it in a gamified form. It may eventually be similar to an interactive short play, that is, a short play format that combines the narrative of a short play with the elements of an interactive game, allowing the audience to influence the direction of the plot through choice.

Focusing on commercialization, ByteDance is building a systematic strategy for short drama material and strengthening paid short drama advertising material and channel strategy. In addition to making full use of the advantages of its own traffic pool such as TikTok, ByteDance will also look to the broader external world and expand cooperation with various high-quality platforms to ensure that advertising can accurately reach potential paying groups.

In addition, in the recruitment of international advertising service providers, ByteDance also introduced creative service providers with the potential to produce short dramas, in order to create a short drama commercialization strategy that is more in line with the tastes of the international market.

2. Replicate the domestic free short dramas on Hongguo and create new hits?

Analogous to the popularity of ByteDance’s free short drama Hongguo in China, can Melolo, which also replicates the free model, become ByteDance’s new hit?

From the perspective of opportunities, the overseas short drama market is still in the early stages of vigorous development. As mentioned above, the huge potential user base and the market size of tens of billions of dollars provide ByteDance with a wide range of room for development.

Moreover, the massive user base accumulated by ByteDance's TikTok around the world has paved a natural highway for many of ByteDance's overseas products, such as the community product Lemon8, which has grown into a global hit. If "Melolo" can also use its own TikTok's promotion, it will have the opportunity to reach a large number of target users faster and grow rapidly.

However, challenges should not be underestimated. The first is cultural differences. Users in different regions have vastly different aesthetics, values, and plot preferences. How to accurately grasp the cultural pulse of each region and create short drama content that is "globally appealing" is a difficult problem facing ByteDance.

Wang Kui, CFO and overseas director of Qimao Culture, once said that from the final verification of the business model, there are still many uncertainties. The core competitiveness of short dramas going overseas is to replicate some of China's excess short drama production capacity overseas. From content operation to production and research capabilities, to deep localization adaptation, and then to market launch, this is a set of systematic overseas operations, not just content. This requirement for the systematic combat capability of enterprises will inevitably bring more intense competition.

Secondly, the competitive pressure among competitors is also considerable, as domestic peers have already made in-depth investments in the overseas short drama market.

For example, ReelShort of Chinese Online has already established a firm foothold overseas. According to SensorTower data, ReelShort's total net turnover in Q3 2024 was US$63.43 million, a month-on-month increase of 52% and a year-on-year increase of 327%. The total net turnover from January to September 2024 was US$140 million, a year-on-year increase of 688%. Not only that, ReelShort's newly launched overseas short drama platform Sereal+ also lived up to expectations, with a net turnover of US$13.45 million in Q3 2024, a month-on-month increase of 153%; 2.21 million downloads, a month-on-month increase of 345%; and an average MAU of 710,000.

These are all barriers that ByteDance, a latecomer, needs to work hard to break through. Furthermore, the policies, regulations, and advertising rules of overseas markets are more complex and changeable than those in China. If you are not careful, you may face compliance challenges and affect the normal operation of your products.

3. ByteDance’s overseas entertainment ecosystem takes shape

Behind the overseas expansion of short dramas, ByteDance is gradually building an overseas entertainment ecosystem.

From short dramas to novels, comics, and content creation tools, ByteDance's footprint is spread across many countries and regions including Europe, America, Southeast Asia, and Japan. Its series of products such as Melolo, Fizzo, Fizzo Novel, My Topia, and Fizzo Toon are becoming a key force in promoting the formation of ByteDance's overseas entertainment ecosystem.

Figure 1: ByteDance’s overseas entertainment business layout

Among them, Fizzo is regarded as ByteDance's overseas version of China Literature. In addition to launching the novel reading product of the same name Fizzo, the above-mentioned products are actually promoted and planned by Fizzo.

Fizzo has a great influence in Southeast Asia. Fizzo, an app focusing on reading launched by ByteDance in 2021, has shown rapid development momentum since its launch. In just two years, it has successfully topped the authoritative Books Apps Ranking (reading app) rankings in Indonesia on both iOS and Android many times.

In order to further consolidate its share in the local entertainment market, Fizzo is also strengthening the localization of its products and content. In the early days, Fizzo invested a lot of resources in exploring and recruiting outstanding authors to join the Fizzo platform. Many authors from competitors were also attracted to Fizzo. In addition, the Fizzo team also regularly launches activities for new authors.

As short dramas gradually go global, ByteDance's overseas entertainment ecosystem, centered around Fizzo, has also entered a critical strengthening stage.

It is foreseeable that the various business sectors will start a close linkage mode. With its compact plot and strong visual impact, short dramas can attract traffic to novels, comics and other industries. Conversely, the rich story reserves of novels and the unique visual presentation of comics can feed back to the creation of short dramas, forming an interoperable cycle of content.

ByteDance is accelerating the construction of an overseas cultural and entertainment ecosystem. As for the final results, it still needs further testing by the market and time.