160,000 Viewers Per Episode... Why an E-commerce Company Produces Web Dramas

Timon Produces Web Drama to Expand Engagement with Active MZ Generation Users

‘Sweet Office’, ‘Suspicious Blind Date’, ‘To Mom and Dad’, ‘A Rom-Com Enthusiast’. These recently popular web dramas online share one thing in common: they were all created by the e-commerce company TMON. These dramas do not contain direct advertisements aimed at attracting users. Instead, TMON’s services are naturally integrated into the stories. This strategy aims to expand connections with the digitally savvy MZ generation (born from the early 1980s to the early 2000s).

According to TMON on the 10th, the average number of viewers per episode of the web dramas released on YouTube under the brand ‘TMON Play’ has reached about 160,000. In February, TMON released its first web drama, ‘Sweet Office’, consisting of four episodes, which garnered nearly 700,000 views and received positive responses. Since then, three more ‘TMON-style’ web dramas have been released, including the recent ‘A Rom-Com Enthusiast’. TMON is also preparing to release a new drama next month.

The content released on YouTube features episodes about 10 minutes long, produced on a low budget but not carelessly made. TMON has a dedicated internal team for planning and producing web dramas, recruiting professional production staff and competitive actors. For example, ‘Sweet Office’ starred model-turned-actor Son Hyun-woo, Park Si-young, the lead of the web drama ‘Real:Time:Love’, and Kim Jae-i, formerly of the girl group Fiestar. The director was Lee Soo-ji, who also directed web dramas such as ‘Office Watch’ and ‘Farther than Sadang, Closer than Uijeongbu’. The script and direction of last month’s ‘A Rom-Com Enthusiast’ were handled by director Yoon Cho-yeon, who has directed various commercials including for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics and Laneige.

Reflecting the trend of obtaining new information through content, TMON chose to subtly embed its services within the dramas rather than directly promoting them. Throughout the stories, viewers can find features of TMON’s time-limited sales such as ‘100 Second Attack’, ‘1212 Time’, ‘Time Attack’, and ‘TMON Black Deal’. The dramas also naturally incorporate major services like ‘TMON Day’ and ‘Free Shipping Day’, using the theme of the rapidly increasing e-commerce usage among middle-aged and older adults over 50 in the past year.

The reason TMON is putting so much effort into web dramas is that the MZ generation is emerging as an active user base. As of the third quarter last year, new sign-ups from teenagers increased nearly threefold on TMON, indicating that it is becoming a preferred consumption channel for younger age groups. Accordingly, TMON plans to strengthen communication with the 10s and 20s generation not only through its mobile app but also via its YouTube channel. In fact, since the release of the web dramas, viewing time among the 18-24 age group has increased about fivefold, demonstrating the effect of attracting the MZ generation. A TMON representative said, “We plan to present diverse content so that viewer favorability can translate into customer preference for the platform. We will continue to engage with potential customers through TMON Play content in the future.”