On a day when most of Madison Avenue is focused on the TV front, TikTok launched its brand mission this morning. This is an innovative (and disruptive) way for brands to crowdsource authentic (and creative) content from the TikTok community.
Branded Mission enables creators to interact directly with brands to create (and monetize) their content for marketing campaigns.
The launch demonstrates TikTok’s willingness to offer digital marketers new ways to reach Gen Z and Millennial audiences — with or without an advertising agency (AOR) — while enabling creators to monetize their creativity on TikTok .
In turn, it eliminates the need to go through one of the thousands of agencies and companies that offer influencer marketing services.
Talk about cutting out the middleman! So, what are the possible implications of TikTok’s digital disintermediation?
Well, usually, the devil is in the details.
Details of TikTok’s brand mission
TikTok has more than 1 billion monthly active users worldwide. TikTok tops list of most downloaded apps in first three months of 2022beats Instagram and Facebook.
For digital marketers, a brand mission enables brands to invite creators to contribute to campaigns—provided they can create content on TikTok that resonates with their brand and community. For example, a brand can:
- Involve the community in branding activities.
- Empower creators to tell the most relevant brand stories in an authentic way.
- Discover the diverse ecosystem of creators who are the main drivers of TikTok culture.
For creators, the brand mission gives the broader creator ecosystem the opportunity to be selected by digital marketers to create branded content. E.g,
- All creators over 18 with over 1,000 followers will be eligible to participate in Brand Missions, providing more opportunities to make money on TikTok.
- Creators whose videos are selected as ads by brands will receive more traffic and will also benefit from TikTok’s ad revenue share program, which launched two weeks ago in IAB New Frontier.
Now, why do people watch TikTok videos?
While many traditional marketers still see it as a platform for Gen Z dance challenges, TikTok says people are starting to be inspired by a broad and diverse community and discover new brands, products and ideas.
Creators who seem to be on the pulse of the latest trends and seem to represent a new generation of storytellers are pushing the boundaries of entertainment and defining culture.
So if storytelling is actually what brings communities together on TikTok, it has the potential to create a valuable opportunity for brands and creators to work together to create engaging content. TikTok believes that the participatory nature of the platform creates a whole new way for brands to engage with creators and connect with the diverse communities around TikTok.
We’ll see if they’re correct.
That’s why TikTok has a brand mission. It’s a flanking attack on ad agencies who think Connected Television (CTV) has become a place for people to relax and enjoy their favorite content. And, according to Nielsen, more than 50% of ad-supported streaming viewing time happens on YouTube CTV for people 18 and older.
TikTok doesn’t have a CTV option, so they double down on inspiring brand and creator collaborations. To see how they positioned the Branded Mission, watch the overview they uploaded to Vimeo.
https://vimeo.com/710825205/ef32587c67
According to TikTok:
“Branded Mission is an industry-first advertising solution that enables advertisers to crowdsource authentic content from creators on TikTok, turn top-performing videos into ads, and drive brand affinity through media impressions.”
In other words, it’s a new way for brands and creators to collaborate on branded content.
Now, the new matchmaking service has the potential to help brands discover emerging creators broadly on TikTok — if they’re interested in doing it. Some brands will test the waters – while others will wait and see. So it’s hard to predict whether Branded Mission will take off as quickly as TikTok itself.
Discover the power and creativity of co-creation
Until this week, the brands that had the most success on TikTok have been those who took the time to watch and listen to the TikTok community before engaging with a particular creator.
Branded Mission has the potential to bring more brands closer to the community on TikTok if — and only if — they are willing to empower uncensored creators to contribute to the campaign.
I expect that the Challenger brand will most likely fit this profile. And I expect most market leaders and niche brands will wait and see what happens next. I also expect a similar phenomenon to happen on the creator side of the matchmaking process.
Creators most likely to look at the challenger brand’s brand mission page to see if it represents an opportunity to monetize their next video will be a nano-influencer (1,000 to 10,000 followers) or a micro-influencer (10,000 to 100,000 followers). And I expect most macro influencers (100,000 to 1 million followers) and super or celebrity influencers (over 1 million followers) will wait and see what happens next.
This can make the early stages of a brand mission as awkward as a middle school dance. However, it can also produce some surprising results. Who knows, things might snowball quickly.
Branded Mission is currently in beta testing and is only available to brands and marketers in a dozen markets around the world. However, TikTok expects Branded Mission to roll out in other markets starting in late 2022.
Featured Image: VidEst/Shutterstock
