JAN. 2020 JUNE JAN. 2021 JUNE141618202224 HOURS TIKTOKYOUTUBESOURCE: APP ANNIE INTELLIGENCE, ANDROID PHONES ONLYAVERAGE TIME SPENT MONTHLY PER USERlike advertising. They’re on their
phones a lot. And we’re finding that
they are really big into self expres-
sion. So TikTok is an awesome place
for marketers if they’re brave enough
to hand over their brand and let the
audience run with it. A lot of brands
are afraid to do that. But the ones
who are willing, they’re making a lot
of fans in Gen Z.”
As the agency of record for Chee-
tos, Doritos, and Tostitos, Goodby
has orchestrated many TikTok
campaigns. For Cheetos, the agency
approached TikTok about a 2020
Super Bowl ad it was developing
around MC Hammer’s 1990 hit
song, “Can’t Touch This.” In the TV
spot, the protagonist escapes various
undesirable chores because his hand
is perpetually covered in Cheetos
dust, a.k.a Cheetle. The TikTok team
helped Goodby make TikTokers feel
like they were part of the ad with a
homegrown AI effect that enabled
the agency to superimpose Cheetle
onto the hands of users and share the
personalized ads.
For megabrands, this type of
integration can greatly amplify a
campaign’s power, and it came from
the TikTok marketing team’s creativ-
ity and cooperation. “You’ve got older
people watching the Super Bowl, and
younger people maybe half-watching,
half on their phones,” Johnson says.
“So this is a way to extend the cam-
paign to reach a younger audience and
really broaden your reach as a brand.”I
T WOULD BE A stretch
to say that Peter
Thomas Roth had
never heard of TikTok
when it decimated his
supply chain in late August, but he
wasn’t exactly a regular user. He had
to go searching through his phone
for the app to see what in the world
was happening.
Roth is the founder and CEO of
his eponymous Manhattan skin-care
products company. He’s done a ton of
product marketing over the com-
pany’s 18-year life span. He has con-
ducted many before-and-after demos
on QVC and created countless glossy
print ads. The Kardashians have even
flaunted his wares. And he’s spent a
lot on Instagram, which he refers to
as the “pretty” platform. All of it pro-
vides a somewhat predictable boost.None of it has compared to the effect
of a TikTok created by Trinidad San-
doval, a 54-year-old hospital worker
in Missouri with 70 followers.
In an anodyne, three-minute
presentation, devoid of dazzling
effects or an underlying soundtrack,
Sandoval highlighted the seemingly
magic power of Roth’s FirmX Eye
Temporary Eye Tightener. In the
video, which has been viewed more
than 29 million times, received more
than 5 million likes, and gener-
ated nearly 130,000 comments, she
explains how a weight-loss surgery
caused significant under-eye bags.
She applies the cream under her left
eye and waves at the spot to acceler-
ate its effects. Soon the skin tightens,
providing a stark contrast to the right
eye. “I don’t know if we’re allowed
to do this on TikTok,” she says, “but
I wanted to share the secret with
you because I know for me, my bags
are...sometimes I cry when I look at
myself in the morning.”
TikTokers quickly amplified the
video’s reach, reposting thousands of
“duets” and “stitches” across social
media with annotations, voice-overs,
and gasps of amazement. Over the
next few days, viewers carpet-bombed
Roth’s website and all of his retailers.
“I think it was a Thursday morning,
9 a.m., and my IT person calls to say
we’re already sold out of FirmX Eye,”
Roth recalls. “That afternoon, retail-
ers were sold out online, and it was
selling out everywhere in brick and
mortar.”
Roth and his team worked all week-
end to shore up any available product.
By Monday, it was entirely spoken
for—with no hope of meeting demand
anytime soon. The team ran out of
boxes, paper invoices, even printer
ink. Worse, there are no one-ounce
tubes available anywhere; they’re all
made to order. He’s hoping to restock
in October, and in the meanwhile is
maintaining his humor as customers
are undoubtedly looking at compet-THE TIKTOK ECONOMY