The creative toolkit for holiday and shopping season

This demand for more meaningful experiences led TikTok to coin the term ‘shoppertainment’, which reflects the need for e-commerce to evolve towards connecting with the emotional needs of audiences.

The size of the shoppertainment market in APAC is expected to reach $1trn by 2025, according to a BCG study. Holiday sales play a big role, and provide massive e-commerce revenues for advertisers that hit the right notes.

However, when striving for success brands should consider taking positive steps to cut through an overcrowded digital advertising market and fragmented buying cycle. For instance, BCG’s research demonstrates that 26% of APAC shoppers want more time to consider their purchase, almost half (46%) complete a purchase on a different day, 85% of consumers switch apps when progressing through a purchasing journey, and more than a third (34%) are skeptical about branded content.

Higher levels of creativity in video advertising will help to engage shoppers throughout this process. Emphasizing the point at the TikTok Shoppertainment Summit, Anny Havercroft, head of business marketing, South East Asia, at TikTok,said: “We need to consistently refresh our creative assets. We have to keep our creative diverse, and we have to keep our audiences engaged as a result. How do we do that? I want to welcome you to the new era of tech-powered creativity. It’s here today on TikTok...whether you’re ideating, producing, optimizing or evaluating, we’ve got tools for you.”

Introducing “the three Rs” - Recut, Remix, Reimagine

Marketers are rightly concerned about the potential costs and time pressures involved in developing highly creative video campaigns. They may face challenges with volume of video creative, originality, and the scaling required to work with multiple creators and influencers.

TikTok’s tech-powered solution is embodied in a three-stage approach, “Recut, Remix, Reimagine”, which is designed to help brands to address these challenges throughout the creative journey.

Advertisers are able to “Recut” by tailoring their existing creative assets for TikTok, and connecting with creative partners through TikTok’s Creative Exchange based on specific needs. TikTok’s CapCut tool provides an all-in-one video editor available across platforms for advertisers to generate scripts to pair with ready-made footage, or customize a storyboard to an exact need.

At the “Remix” stage, marketers lift their creativity and access fresh ideas through TikTok’s Creative Center, which provides vertical and market specific insights, trends and inspiration. TikTok Creator Marketplace connects advertisers directly with creators, while the virtual Creative Assistant offers collaboration throughout the creative process – generating scripts, insights and ads themselves – supported by best-practices and solutions.

Brands are also encouraged to “Reimagine” through TikTok’s solution that crowdsources authentic content from creators. Meanwhile, interactive add-ons allow for the addition of innovative interactions and effects to make video ads more enjoyable.

Impact for brands

Advertisers are embracing this approach. Rika Mandashari, co-founder and chief marketing officer at creator platform BintanGo, says that TikTok is easing the challenge for advertisers of dealing with multiple creators, and describes Creator Marketplace as a “gamechanger”.

Speaking at TikTok's Shoppertainment Summit she said: “If there are about 100 creators it’s back and forth so many times. So, having a streamlined process from the start to the end is really amazing.”

In one example, Mc JEANS, the Thai fashion brand, looked to expand reach through creators, and experimented with different affiliate commission rates on TikTok Creator Marketplace to maximize efficiency. It also optimized ad creatives on TikTok Ads Manager, based on keywords and trends identified from Creative Center.

This example, and many others, show how harnessing the power of TikTok creativity more efficiently can boost impact throughout holiday sales. A cohesive campaign strategy, together with a content playbook focused on a video-first approach to surprise and inform consumers, will deliver strong results.

Through creative use of video, it’s clear that marketing leaders have an immediate and tangible opportunity to capture value and leverage the inspirational and authentic content that emotionally engages customers in this next wave of commerce.

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