Mediacorp turns stories into storefronts with shoppable microdrama

Mediacorp is taking its content-to-commerce ambitions into scripted entertainment using its first "shoppertainment" microdrama.  Titled LOVE Angels, the 20-episode series brings together Mediacorp's storytelling, talent, radio, television, social and commerce capabilities, with products written into the narrative and pathways built for audiences to move from watching to purchasing.

The idea has been roughly a year in the making, emerging as brands increasingly looked for content that could deliver performance alongside reach, Jacqui Lim, chief commercial officer at Mediacorp, told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE.

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"We saw a clear opportunity to meet that demand by bringing together two strengths Mediacorp had been building: short-form storytelling, and commerce through platforms such as The Wonder Shop," said Lim.

Once partners came on board, the project took around three months to move from onboarding through scripting and brand integration to production. According to Lim, the relatively short turnaround gives brands a nimble route into branded entertainment, while learnings from LOVE Angels will inform Mediacorp's future shoppertainment efforts.

Making the product part of the plot

Rather than creating a finished programme and finding places for brands to appear, Mediacorp started with the brands themselves.

"The starting point was to rethink product placement altogether. Instead of asking when or where a brand could appear in a story, we asked what role it could play in moving the story forward," Lim explained. 

Brand propositions were therefore considered from the scripting stage, allowing products to feature within the show's humour, relationships and plot developments rather than appearing as standalone placements.

Across eight integrated episodes, the series features six partners spanning energy, jewellery, health and personal care, home living and wellness: Tuas Power, Maxi-Cash, Haleon, Wipro Consumer Care, Hoe Kee Hardware and SODO Feng Shui Centre.

The integrations range from a wellness retreat that helps the show's agents regroup after a failed mission to gold jewellery that unlocks a shared memory and home fittings that lead the characters to another clue.

Working across such different categories was part of the creative challenge, explained Lim, adding that clients are involved in determining how their products and messages appear.

"The process is collaborative: clients naturally have key messages and brand considerations they want represented, while our creative teams must protect the entertainment value of the series," she said, adding: 

Ultimately, it is about finding that sweet spot where the product proposition comes through clearly without the audience feeling that the story has stopped for an advertisement.

From eyeballs to action

That balancing act extends beyond how brands appear on screen. Mediacorp is also positioning LOVE Angels as a full-funnel proposition, rather than judging its performance purely by how many people watch it.

According to Lim, Mediacorp measures the campaign through the two lenses of audience and action. Established metrics such as television ratings, radio listenership and social and digital analytics provide a picture of reach, while platform-specific behaviours indicate what audiences do after encountering the content.

These can include clicks on digital "Shop Now" buttons, QR-code scans from free-to-air television and WhatsApp responses from radio listeners.

"The customer journey differs by platform, but they share one goal: giving audiences a seamless path from content to our partners' preferred commerce destinations, and measuring not just how many people we reach, but how many we move to act," said Lim.

That means there is no single definition of success for participating brands. Some may prioritise reach and engagement, while others may look towards product discovery, traffic or conversion.

Lim said Mediacorp would not reduce the campaign's success to either views or last-click conversion. Instead, signals including engagement, clicks, QR-code scans, messages and live-commerce activity are intended to provide a broader view of performance across the customer journey.

The commerce destination can also differ by brand. While The Wonder Shop operates across TikTok Shop and Shopee, Mediacorp is taking an open approach to where consumers ultimately complete their purchases.

"For some partners, the most appropriate destination may be their own site; for others, it could be an e-commerce marketplace," said Lim. "Rather than prescribing one checkout destination for every brand, we design the path around each partner's existing ecommerce ecosystem."

Taking the story beyond the screen

The campaign begins before audiences encounter the microdrama itself, with a LOVE 972 audio drama introducing its characters and fictional world.

The story then moves across mewatch, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, with selected episodes also airing on Channel 8. QR codes embedded in the television broadcasts provide a direct route to commerce.

Audiences will also be able to interact with the cast through a LOVE 972 Facebook livestream hosted by Violet Fenying, while The Wonder Shop's TikTok livestream will serve as another live-commerce touchpoint.

Lim said The Wonder Shop was selected because of its existing live-commerce capabilities, which Mediacorp has been developing since 2022 through livestreams, demonstrations, explainers and social commerce featuring its personalities.

For LOVE Angels, she sees the entertainment and commerce components as serving distinct but complementary functions.

"The microdrama builds entertainment, context and product interest, while The Wonder Shop gives audiences a live environment to turn that interest into interaction and purchase," said Lim.

The approach puts into practice Mediacorp's "Ultimate Omnichannel Impact" framework, introduced at its 2026 tradeshow and built around five Cs: culture, content, connection, context and conversion.

It also builds on Mediacorp's broader push into short-form content. Since 2024, the company has developed more than 20 scripted titles across languages and genres, alongside micro-factuals and its first micro-variety series. According to Mediacorp, five of its microdramas have surpassed 10 million views, while its three-season On The Line franchise has generated more than 41 million views.

"That head start has given us a deep understanding of what keeps audiences watching: immediate hooks, fast-moving plots, emotional resonance and a reason to come back for the next episode," said Lim.

"LOVE Angels takes that experience to the next level. We are now applying the same playbook to branded entertainment, so a product can be woven into a humorous situation, a relationship, a gift between characters or even a plot twist rather than an interruption to the story," Lim said, adding:

This is where we see branded entertainment evolving - stronger storytelling, more purposeful brand integration and clearer pathways from attention to action.

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