TikTok, the leading destination for short-form mobile video, has announced the launch of TikTok Trends, a regional programme dedicated to driving awareness among brands and the industry when it comes to making the most out of TikTok as a creative advertising platform. To kick off its announcement, a TikTok Trends event was conducted in Vietnam which tapped into the country’s dynamic creative market as a net contributor and facilitated the development of Vietnamese talents using TikTok as a promotional platform.

As a preferred platform for expression among the creative young audience, specifically Gen Z and Millennials, TikTok provides brands with the opportunity to engage them in a dynamic, mobile-first format. TikTok has 680 million monthly active users worldwide and is proven to be highly popular in Southeast Asia. With 87% of brands using video for marketing, TikTok Trends aims to help marketers learn more about the short-form video industry in general and TikTok in particular.

TikTok Trends was launched with the objective of empowering brands to make strategic business decisions through a wide array of initiatives including:

• TikTok Trends Events is a regional event series powered by TikTok with the goal of providing a platform for mobile and digital marketing professionals to connect and share valuable learnings, insights and the latest trends in the short-video space as well as key TikTok product updates.

• TikTok Trends Newsletter is TikTok’s monthly source of information, offering insights around the latest digital marketing trends, pop culture phenomena across Southeast Asia, as well as tips on how markets can make the most out of their next marketing campaign on TikTok, through key learnings, case studies and product updates.

• TikTok Trends Entertainment Marketing White Paper serves as a practical guidebook for marketers empowering them to maximise their entertainment marketing efforts. From providing a macro view of the entertainment industry to focusing on key learnings following a successful entertainment marketing showcase, the White Paper provides insights into TikTok, as a creative advertising platform brands can harness to drive marketing impact that truly moves the needle in across Southeast Asia. Download the white paper here.

• TikTok Trends Creator Academy is a programme that offers a series of workshops to empower creators to develop and create compelling brand content and stories on TikTok, made possible with TikTok’s strategic partnerships and robust creator network across Southeast Asia.

“Fueled by the rise of mobile as the key device of today’s media consumption, short-form videos have become an essential format for brands to connect with their audiences. In fact, nearly 9 in 10 companies use video as a marketing tool today, and by 2022, the video will make up 82% of all internet consumer traffic,” said Kan Bi, Head of SEA Revenue Partnerships, TikTok. “By offering valuable insights on how to leverage the short-form video platform and making the shift from horizontal to vertical video format, TikTok Trends will empower marketers to make strategic and impactful business decisions,”

According to mobile advertising platform MediaBrix, fewer than 30% of users will turn their phone sideways to view a horizontal ad, and even when they do so, they only watch around 14% of it. As short-form mobile video continues to rise in popularity, brands must be willing to create content that’s easily consumable on smartphones. In Singapore, as well as elsewhere in the world, TikTok provides easy-to-use video capturing and editing tools directly from the smartphone, allowing the creation of diversified content that is immersive and interactive.

With diversified content and a fast-growing digital community, TikTok continues to receive an overwhelming response in Singapore. In 2019, TikTok launched creative hashtag challenge #BuayPaiseh in partnership with YOUTHx, presented by the National Youth Council, to celebrate and showcase youth dynamism and aspirations. The campaign garnered 2.7 million local views in just three months. Additionally, TikTok’s collaboration with Samsung on the #slideandswivel challenge, which aimed to encourage positive expression and creativity in culturally-diverse Singapore, saw fervent participation and 11 million views since launch. Doing its part for the environment, TikTok also supported Singapore’s efforts in fighting climate change through hashtag challenges like #ForClimate, partnering International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to raise awareness for the critical issue, gathering 377 million global views to-date.

TikTok is available in over 150 countries and regions in 75 languages, with a robust localisation strategy to encourage users to create and interact with content relevant to local cultures and trends.