Webtoon, the new design of content strategies?

Comic book publishing group Delcourt launched its own digital webtoons platform on January 25, 2021: Verytoon. This digital phenomenon of the 9th art is conquering France. Creative and entertaining, these comic stories coincide with the need for brands to create innovative and memorable content.

Webtoon, what is it?

The webtoon, contraction of “web” and “cartoon”, is a drawn story, of South Korean origin. Rival of the Japanese manga, it has the particularity to be read on screen and the story progresses by scrolling. Created discreetly in 2004, the comic book’s cousin is now a real success on the new digital platforms. Proof of the interest it arouses, Delcourt did not miss the opportunity to launch itself on the digital market to accompany this new readership, close to manga fans.

What differentiates them is the reading medium. Where Naruto or One Piece fans passionately buy books, webtoon fans impatiently discover the progress of the scenario by “scrolling” their smartphone or tablet. The phenomenon is in perpetual development with the appearance of dedicated platforms such as the “Webtoon” application. Developed by “Naver”, the South Korean Google, it has 60 million users worldwide including one million French users through the “Webtoon Live” version available in our country. The webtoon, whose main creations remain South Korean, is perfectly adapted to the format offered by smartphones and tablets with a vertical reading like on Instagram and Twitter, which is a good reason to find another objective.

Towards a new brand content?

While brands must more than ever adopt creative content, the webtoon has its place. Indeed, they must seize digital opportunities, especially to create engagement and better support their customers. This digital cartoon makes sense with the audience it attracts, the “digital natives”.

Moreover, webtoon platforms allow for a great deal of interactivity with readers, which favors the link between the sender and the reader. It is this proximity that allows the target to identify with what they have seen or read. This scrollable design could have more than one use. It can be the object of a storytelling and create a real universe but also take the form of an educational content by promoting the understanding of a message, a value disseminated by the brand or simply to create a link in a playful way. Let’s hear it!