Singapore — V47 Entertainment, through its specialist brand and culture agency VIRTUE Asia, has partnered with COL Group to help brands tap into the growing popularity of microdrama and vertical entertainment across Southeast Asia.
Established in late 2025, V47 Entertainment was created to help brands participate more directly in entertainment ecosystems that consumers actively choose to engage with.
The partnership will enable marketers to create, sponsor and distribute brand-funded entertainment designed specifically for mobile-first audiences, giving brands new ways to connect with consumers through story-led content rather than traditional advertising.
Through the collaboration, VIRTUE Asia and COL Group will develop a range of opportunities including original branded microdramas, sponsorships of existing vertical entertainment properties, and creator-led activations tailored to the viewing habits of audiences across the region.
The move comes as microdrama and short-form storytelling continue to gain momentum globally, particularly in Asia where the region’s top five microdrama apps attracted a combined 150 million monthly active users in February last year, according to an Omdia report.
For brands, these formats offer new opportunities to engage audiences through narrative-driven content that can generate stronger engagement, higher attention, and more shareable moments compared to traditional digital advertising, reflecting a broader shift towards entertainment-led marketing strategies where brands become part of the content experience rather than interrupting it.
“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 South East Asia,” said Lesley John, CEO at VIRTUE Asia.
“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,” shared David Webster, Chairman of Vault47 Group and V47 Entertainment.
The collaboration combines VIRTUE Asia’s expertise in culture, brand strategy, and entertainment with COL Group’s experience in developing and scaling microdrama content, particularly through its global platform FlareFlow, which reaches millions of users worldwide with mobile-first narrative entertainment.
Timothy Oh, Flareflow Chief Marketing Officer and General Manager of COL Group, said: “South East Asia is a strategically important market for us, and V47 and VIRTUE Asia bring the brand and commercial capabilities we believe will help unlock its full potential.”
“We see this partnership as a powerful vehicle to drive our Vertical 2.0 strategy by bringing next-generation, premium brand-funded stories to audiences in the region in a way that respects both the creative craft and the massive commercial opportunity,” added Oh.
Initially, the partnership will focus on key ASEAN markets including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam, with the first brand campaigns and creative collaborations expected to be announced in the coming months.
As consumer attention continues to shift towards short-form and mobile-first content, the partnership positions both companies to help brands explore new storytelling opportunities within one of the fastest-growing entertainment categories in the region.
