VIRTUE Asia and COL Group make a play for branded microdramas

VIRTUE Asia has partnered with Chinese digital entertainment company COL Group to expand brand access to microdrama and short-form entertainment formats across Southeast Asia.

The collaboration, announced through V47 Entertainment, will see the companies develop, package and distribute brand-funded entertainment opportunities spanning microdramas, vertical video and mobile-first narrative content. The offering is aimed at helping marketers tap into changing consumer viewing habits across the region.

Under the partnership, brands will be able to explore formats including original brand-enabled microdramas, sponsorship opportunities within existing vertical entertainment properties, and creator-led activations designed specifically for mobile audiences.

Don't miss: China's micro-drama industry booms: How brands can script their own success

The move comes as microdramas continue to gain traction globally, particularly in Asia. According to Omdia, the region's top five microdrama applications collectively reached 150 million monthly active users in February 2025.

The format has emerged as a fast-growing category within short-form entertainment, offering brands an alternative to traditional digital advertising through story-led content experiences.

According to the agency, COL Group was among the pioneers of the microdrama format in China and has more than two decades of experience in content development, distribution and intellectual property management. Through its global platform FlareFlow, the company now reaches 33 million registered users across more than 200 countries and regions with its mobile-first narrative content.

By combining VIRTUE Asia's creative and cultural expertise with COL Group's content development and distribution capabilities, the partners aim to create new opportunities for brands seeking to engage audiences through entertainment-led storytelling.

The initiative will cover markets including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam. The companies said initial brand campaigns and creative collaborations will be unveiled in the coming months.

“Brand marketers across Southeast Asia are telling us the same thing, they want vertical formats and microdramas, but they need a partner who understands both the creative craft of the platform and the commercial reality of activating against it,” said Lesley John, CEO, VIRTUE Asia.

She added, “This partnership gives our clients direct access to one of the most exciting leaders in the category, backed by the regional brand and cultural expertise our team has been building for years. It is a meaningful step forward for the brand-funded entertainment opportunity in Southeast Asia.”

In tandem, David Webster, chairman of Vault47 Group and V47 Entertainment, said, “V47 was created around a simple belief that brands will increasingly need to move beyond advertising and participate directly in entertainment ecosystems audiences actively choose."

"Microdrama and vertical storytelling represent one of the fastest-moving shifts in entertainment consumption today, and the partnership with COL allows us to connect brands, creators, platforms and audiences in ways that simply weren’t possible before," he added. 

Timothy Oh, chief marketing officer of FlareFlow and general manager of COL Group, described Southeast Asia as a strategically important market for the company.

He said the partnership with V47 Entertainment and VIRTUE Asia combines the brand, creative and commercial capabilities needed to accelerate COL Group's "Vertical 2.0" strategy, while creating new opportunities to deliver premium brand-funded stories that balance creative quality with commercial impact.

The latest partnership builds on VIRTUE Asia's broader push into entertainment-led storytelling. Last year, the agency teamed up with Goldfinch International to launch V47 Entertainment, a branded entertainment studio focused on helping brands develop long-form cultural intellectual property across Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, and the Global South.

The studio was established to create brand-backed films, series, anthology formats, microdramas, digital universes and creator-led stories, combining VIRTUE Asia's cultural and creative expertise with Goldfinch's financing and production capabilities.

Related articles: 
COL appoints new SEA GM to drive global microdrama hub launch  
Hang Seng Bank promotes financial inclusion with micro-drama series      
Viddsee partners Risingjoy to bring Chinese micro drama content to SEA viewers