Microdrama, major dilemma: How far should brands go to tell a good story?

Microdramas are increasingly finding a place in brands’ content strategies. Done right, microdramas have the ability actively to hook consumers in, turning passive scroll into active engagement. However, with an increasingly discerning audience, creative executions can sometimes capture headlines for the wrong reasons. For example, a recent microdrama initiative by Grab Singapore caused consumers to question the safety of female passengers.

Speaking to senior marketers from the industry, MARKETING-INTERACTIVE asked: How can marketers give creatives enough room to make the story compelling without losing sight of the brand’s responsibility?

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Sharon Tan, head of marketing, Eu Yan Sang Singapore said even before choosing the format, brands need to be clear on what the initiative is supposed to drive and how it should land with consumers. 

“Before deciding on the format, brands need to be clear about the fundamentals: What story are we trying to tell? What kind of relevance are we hoping to build? How does the story fit with our brand DNA, and will it be meaningful to the audience we want to reach?” she said. The content, she added, needs to offer something to the audience, whether through entertainment, emotional connection, insight or a fresh perspective, while still having a credible connection to what the brand represents.

Tan pointed to Eu Yan Sang’s own microdrama series Bring It On | 马上来, which started with the pressures, insecurities and uncertainties faced by young adults. Rather than putting its products at the centre, the brand connected to the story through values of care, resilience, family and helping people move forward.

That audience-first approach is also evident in PropertyGuru’s The Moving Out Show, which was created to engage Gen Zs earlier in their housing journey. A PropertyGuru spokesperson said the brand first looked at the conversations already relevant to the audience, including independence, rental, affordability and moving out, before choosing microdrama as the format.

“Microdrama felt like a natural fit for how they consume content, while giving us room to explore those tensions in a way that still felt relevant to the brand,” the spokesperson said.

For Alex Chan, head of brand, communications and marketing, Geneco, the key is making sure the format serves the story rather than the other way around.

Brands should first be very clear on whether the format serves the brand story, or whether the brand is simply chasing a trend.

Microdramas are built around heightened emotions and tension, Chan noted, which can make sensational hooks tempting. But once a brand puts its name behind the content, the premise needs to be assessed through more than its entertainment value.

“It also has to be viewed through the lens of the brand’s role in people’s lives, the trust it has built, and the sensitivities that may already exist around its category,” he said.

Give creatives room, but know the boundaries

Working out the strategic role of the format is only one part of the equation. The other is deciding how much control brands should retain once the creative process begins.

According to Tan, the relationship between the brand and its creative partners needs to be based on a clear understanding of what the content is intended to achieve.

“There needs to be a truly meaningful discussion between the brand and its creative partners,” she said.

While the brand needs to define its intended audience response, commercial outcomes and deliverables, creative partners also need to understand the brand’s products, mission, values and objectives.

“Creative freedom is important, but creativity should also be meaningful and thoughtful. Both sides need to consider who the audience is, what they would appreciate, what might alienate or offend them, and whether the message could be interpreted differently from what was intended," she added. 

For Chan, the answer is to give creatives a strategic frame rather than a restrictive checklist. That means allowing creatives to build characters, conflict and emotional stakes, while establishing clear non-negotiables around what the brand stands for, what it should never imply and where the boundaries lie when the story intersects with customer trust or social sensitivities.

Meanwhile, Lynn Chong, head of marketing, Samsung Electronics Singapore, said marketers can simplify the balance between creative freedom and brand control by establishing the boundaries early.

Marketers should be clear upfront about the brand truth, audience targeting, non-negotiables and red lines, Chong said, while resisting the urge to control every line of dialogue or force every product benefit into the script.

“If the brand needs to keep interrupting the story to explain itself, it probably does not belong in the story,” she said.

The test, she added, is whether the resulting content feels like something that could genuinely come from the brand, rather than an advertisement with better production values.

“The best branded entertainment should feel like a great piece of content that could only have come from that brand, not an ad with better production values,” Chong said.

Don’t confuse drama with attention

That distinction becomes particularly important when brands try to make the content feel provocative. Chan said brands should not assume that generating a reaction is the same as creating entertainment. A provocative title or storyline can create conversation, but if it cuts too close to an area where customers already feel vulnerable or unheard, the attention can shift from the story to judgement of the brand. As he puts it: 

The goal should be to earn attention through a compelling narrative, not simply to trigger a reaction.

Similarly, Chong warned against making the brand too dominant within the story.

“People choose entertainment for stories that engage – they are invested in the plot, characters, and relate to the emotions, tension or humour, and not because they want more ads,” she said.

Instead, the brand needs to be comfortable playing a supporting role and earning its relevance naturally. For Tan, this comes down to respecting the audience’s intelligence. In an environment where audiences are increasingly resistant to exaggeration, hard-selling and overclaims, branded entertainment should not feel like an elaborate route towards a product pitch.

“The story must be able to engage on its own, while the brand’s role within it remains credible, relevant and strategically intentional,” she said.

Ultimately, the strongest test may be whether the content works even when the advertising mechanics are stripped away. 

"For me, the test is very simple: would someone still want to watch this if you removed the logo from the content? If the answer is no, we have probably made an ad, not entertainment," said Chong. "Of course, this is all easier said than done and I recognise this will be continued journey as the industry evolves."

Chan similarly argues that the audience should come away remembering the story while feeling that the brand had a credible reason to be part of it.

“Ultimately, and it is always an uphill task to achieve, branded entertainment works best when the audience remembers the story and feels the brand had a credible reason to be in it,” he said.

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