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| Source: TikTok. Sim delivers his welcome address. |
According to the company, research has shown that Southeast Asia’s digital natives are among the most active on mobile, spending an average of almost four hours across devices. In Southeast Asia TikTok provides easy-to-use video capturing and editing tools directly from the smartphone, enabling the creation of a wide array of content that reflects the diversity of the region.
“We’re noticing a steady increase in the consumption of short-form video content in Singapore and across the region, especially among Gen Z, 98% of whom own a smartphone. Through [REC]reate, we aim to arm both creators and marketers with the insights and the know-how needed to connect with these valuable audiences,” said Lionel Sim, Senior Director, Global Marketing - Business Solutions, TikTok Ads.
Doreen Tan, User and Content Operations Manager, TikTok Singapore added, “We look forward to bringing to life the learnings from this conference as we launch more local partnerships and campaigns, making a significant investment towards the growth of Singapore’s creative economy.”
Sim said that TikTok is powered by machine learning technology and generates interactive challenges and trending topics. "The app also offers an effortless, compelling, and personalised viewing experience, and encourages creation through easy-to-use video capturing and editing tools, empowering everyone to be a creator directly from their smartphones. It empowers these creators to positively express themselves through their unique brand of content, giving rise to extremely interactive hashtag challenges and trending topics that anyone can participate in," he said.
"By letting users create their own content for a brand's campaign, hashtag challenges give users a sense of being part of the brand, turning them into authentic and powerful brand ambassadors. Overall, TikTok transcends boundaries, celebrates diversity and creativity, and has become the preferred platform for expression, especially among the Gen Z/mobile-savvy audience in Southeast Asia."
Asked about marketing on TikTok to engage Gen Z in Southeast Asia, Sim said: "This generation is all about succinctness, authenticity and the ability to express their individual truths – and TikTok is a platform that empowers all of that. Gen Z only has an attention span of 8 seconds which is why short-video content will only become more important. They prefer co-creating content with brands, which TikTok champions through its iconic hashtag challenges. On a different note, the influence of established celebrities is waning amongst this generation compared to the authenticity provided by micro-influencers (such as those on TikTok)."
According to Sim, people are on their mobile devices for 3.9 hours per day in Indonesia, 4.2 hours per day in Thailand and 3.6 hours per day in Southeast Asia (aggregated). "This is attributed to the rise of mobile connectivity in the region - 55% Internet penetration in SEA, 58% social media penetration and 141% mobile connectivity," he noted.
"The up-and-coming generation, Generation Z (16 – 24), are highly connected and ‘always-on’ with 98% owning a smartphone. They spend 10 hours online a day and 1/3 of Gen Z watch videos online at least 1 hour per day. What’s interesting is they consume 68 pieces of content a day and 90% of mobile time spent is via vertical usage."
TikTok works with brands to provide advertising solutions including developing challenges, video creation tips, content conceptualisation, Sim said. "TikTok also provide an intelligent marketing solution named TikTok Ads, a one-stop performance marketing platform that enables advertisers to reach a global user base across markets and diversified platform. TikTok Ads integrates a series of features throughout the cycle of performance ads, including targeting, bidding, ads creation, and conversion. In April 2019, TikTok Ads launched self-registration features, providing easy-to-use self-serving tools to empower businesses big or small to connect with their audience," he said.
"TikTok content recommendation technology applies to advertising as well, helping advertisers effectively deliver their content to relevant audience to drive real business results. When we work with business partners, we help them to learn how to create a TikTok-style video and engage with their audience in just 15 seconds. We hold workshops to share video creation experience, tips, and actionable insights with our partners."
Is it really possible go viral? Sim thinks yes. "Some of the necessary conditions that we’ve identified to start your viral video campaign are: defining your campaign idea, marrying this with the extensive filters and music on TikTok together with the strong support from the creator community," he said.
Successful brand partnerships across Asia for TikTok include:
#slideandswivel (Singapore) - Still ongoing, TikTok teamed up with Samsung to get Singaporeans to flaunt their best moves while incorporating slides and swivels into an original dance routine. Winners stand a chance to win a Samsung Galaxy A80 plus exclusive BLACKPINK merchandise.
#donnghiepthoate (Vietnam) - TikTok launched its first-ever brand campaign in Vietnam with Sunsilk. Coinciding with the Lunar New Year (Tet Festival), the campaign enabled users to virtually wipe off their verbal karma (in a fun way) to receive love charms and have a brighter year ahead via a customised interactive lens. The campaign featured a brand takeover (over 45 million total impressions), in-feed ads (over 10 million total impressions) as well as a hashtag challenge (30,000 videos and over 24 million views).
#LightUpF11Pro (Malaysia) - TikTok’s first-ever brand campaign in Malaysia was done in collaboration with Oppo. Coinciding with the launch of the F11 Pro, the campaign featured custom interactive content via a hashtag challenge (over 9 million total impressions).
Specifically for Singapore, successful campaigns this year include #thisissingaporelah (1.5 million local views), #mypetslife (11.6 million local views) and #sgearthhour2019 (1.6 million local views). TikTok launched one of its first-ever local brand campaigns, #killernotstupid, in collaboration with local film-maker Jack Neo, where users were encouraged to participate in a quirky finger dance challenge to stand a chance to win a pair of passes to the gala premiere of the movie Killer Not Stupid.
Sim also commented that hot topics differ among countries. "In Singapore, the top five content topics are food, comedy, talent, education and fashion," he shared. Sim also listed some of the up-and-coming local content creators in Singapore:
Mingwei
National taekwondo exponent Ming Wei, a bronze medallist at the 2015 SEA Games, started making a name for himself on TikTok with his fitness, flexibility and taekwondo videos. His videos are a way of sharing his sport with the general public, and he hopes to get more young people interested in taekwondo and other sports.
Hui Xin
From dancing to K-pop hits by BLACKPINK, to lip-syncing to comedic audio tracks, actress Hui Xin showcases her diverse talents through her videos.
Ko Yong
An up-and-coming transition content creator, Ko Yong's videos showcase the impact that transitions can make in bringing stories to life via short-form videos.
Details:
TikTok is available in over 150 countries and regions in 75 languages. Download the TikTok app via iOS or Google Play.
