South Korea’s top ad house company Cheil Worldwide Inc. will expand its media boundary to the production of original contents with its knack in advertising by partnering with Studio Dragon Corp., the drama-making wing of entertainment giant CJ ENM.

Cheil Worldwide announced Tuesday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Studio Dragon, the country’s top production house behind many mega-hit TV series, to jointly develop content and merchandise utilizing the drama producer’s intellectual properties (IP).

Cheil Worldwide said it will launch secondary content adapted from Studio Dragon’s popular TV shows, performances, exhibitions and games starting later this year. It will also produce web dramas and movies expanding on the drama studio’s original IPs.

The ad agency will take a step further from traditional ads through the business alliance. Instead of the blatant product placements, it will attempt to blend contents into marketing.

By Won Ho-sup and Lee Soo-min

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]