Wattpad’s deal with South Korean conglomerate Naver finally closed on May 10, 2021.

Naver has inherited an impressive 90-million strong userbase from the acquisition of the Toronto-based storytelling app.

Wattpad, themselves, have also benefitted from the deal. Aside from retaining autonomy — CEO Allen Lau still runs the company — Wattpad is promising over 100 new jobs following the acquisition.

Now that Wattpad has set itself up for exponential growth, certain news channels are predicting Wattpad as future competitor to powerhouse entertainment company Disney.

The comparison, while ambitious, may be a little premature. According to The Globe and Mail, Wattpad’s annual revenue hovers around $40 million.

Compare that to your typical Marvel blockbuster tentpole that can make a cool billion in a few weeks, and it’s apparent Wattpad has big shoes to fill. They ain’t going to make that money shilling Disney fanfic.

That said, I’ve considered a few ways that Wattpad-Naver could position themselves as a legitimate next-gen competitor to the House of Mouse.

1. Offer More Global Competitions

With the acquisition, Wattpad is now considered a global company. This necessitates a different mindset with interacting with the company’s audience.

As I mentioned before, Wattpad boasts an impressive readership overseas, with a sizable chunk of its numbers coming from Asian countries, most notably the Philippines.

Therefore, it would serve Wattpad well to offer more branded competitions to readers around the world.

To wit: in order to promote Mental Health Awareness Month, Wattpad had teamed up with makeup brand Maybelline to hold a writing competition. The grand prize will be to turn the winning into a short video.

Wattpad should definitely embrace its identity as an international icon. In fact, it appears they are targeting different geographical markets; in lieu of the Maybelline contest, Tim Hortons has also thrown its hat in the ring, offering a Canadian contest in honour of its new Cold Brew beverage.

I believe Wattpad should offer an international contest, not unlike the one offered at RODE with its My RØDE Cast competition.

I think it would foster a better sense of camaraderie amongst like-minded individuals who take pleasure in the pastime of writing.

Despite the acquisition by Webtoon, the written word is still what Wattpad is best known for.

2. Double-down on Netflix

The Golden Globes are cancelled. The Oscars’ ratings are in the toilet. Gwyneth Paltrow has to eat bread.

Unless you were living under a rock the past few months, it’s apparent Hollywood is imploding into itself from its own irreverence.

That’s not to say things won’t rebound when the cinemas reopen. But now is the perfect opportunity for streaming services to take advantage of the evolving movie industry and disrupt things in the same way they disrupted the success of Blockbuster in the late 2000s.

Netflix has the right idea; The Kissing Booth was a Wattpad novel that became a successful film that premiered on the streaming service.

Since then, several Wattpad stories have made the leap from page to the screen: Light as a Feather on Hulu, Mortal Instruments: City of Bones on Amazon Prime, and even Webtoon’s Sweet Home has found a place on Netflix.

With the public’s perception of name-brand celebrities and Hollywood at an all-time low, Wattpad Studios would be wise to ramp up production and establish themselves as a purveyor of quality entertainment — an alternative to Disney Plus, perhaps?

3. Invest in Animation

I see this as Wattpad’s biggest avenue for success, and the main reason for why I’m excited about the acquisition.

Naver owns Webtoon, one of the largest sites on the web for webcomic content.

As I’ve mentioned previously, Webtoon has forayed into adapting IP from its own site to create popular K-dramas and movies.

But now that Wattpad and Webtoon are under the same roof, it would be a brilliant move for the latter the harness the resources of the former and delve into the untapped industry of animation.

Think about it: when the cinemas were closed, the only new releases that were still coming out were animated movies: Scooby-Doo, Trolls World Tour, Soul, Raya and the Last Dragon, The Mitchells vs. The Machine.

If Wattpad were to invest in animation, I’m sure it would be well-suited on Netflix, where users would gladly watch a new movie as part of their subscription fee instead of paying an extra $20–30 for the privilege to see the film on day one (looking at you, Disney Plus).

In fact, I’ve already got the perfect property for this hypothetical Wattpad Animation Studios: The Little Trashmaid.

This is an adorable comic originating on Webtoon about two boys who befriend a mermaid whose ecological environment is affected by pollution.

It’s charming without the Ferngully/Avatar levels of conservation heavy-handedness, and I think it would be the perfect property to adapt into a children’s television series.

If you’re listening Wattpad, take note: animation is the way to go.

Wattpad has a long way to go before walking in the same footsteps as Disney, but the company has positioned itself for real success. I’m excited to see what the future holds.

Who knows? If Wattpad continues on its upward trajectory, we may see an eventual expansion into the House of W just yet.