Social Licensing Focus on TikTok

Hashtags and the fan-gags

TikTok is a place where Gen-Zs like to hang out and share videos of one another doing nothing constructive. But don’t let that put you off, it’s also a hotbed of emerging creativity that just might send you viral. LSB takes a look.

In early summer, Licensing Source Book set out to explore the relationship between the short-form video social media platform TikTok and the world of character and brand licensing. The set up was perfect. A trend known as ‘the GentleMinions’ by which gangs of teenage boys marked the release of Universal’s Minions: The Rise of Gru by arriving at screenings dressed in their best suits, was sweeping cinemas around the world. While those cinemas did their best to discourage this ‘anti-social behaviour’, the trend was met with – albeit distanced – acknowledgement from Universal itself. Within eight days of the release of the film, the social media obsession surrounding it catapulted the total franchise’s global box office earnings past $4bn giving rise to #minionscult and a total ‘TikTok takeover’. Minions: The Rise of Gru took $125 million domestically in its opening weekend, shattering all previous Fourth of July box office records. It was a triumph manufactured, not by marketing ploys and big budgets, but by the public itself. Universal Pictures’ only statement amid the TikTok explosion was a two-line tweet that said: “To everyone showing up to @Minions in suits: we see you and we love you.” GentleMinions activity has since been relegated through the Google search pages, overtaken by new TikTok headlines:

Above: Between January and July 2022, 15% of teens aged 13 to 18 said TikTok was their favourite app, says The Insights Family. Below : The ‘GentleMinions’ generated a raft of coverage across the mainstream media, including NBC News in the US, while Universal Pictures acknowledged it with a tweet.

issues of data harvesting, ecommerce in the EU and some trend about Pink Sauce, raising questions about the flash-in-the-pan lifespan of social media popularity. Can it be a sustained form of marketing? And – as a tool designed to churn out viral video after viral video - how effective is TikTok at delivering brand longevity? First, let’s address the fact: TikTok’s curve of relevance is rising. According to the UK communications watchdog, Ofcom, 7% of UK adults now use the platform as their primary source of news, while for teenagers aged 12 to 15, Instagram has now surpassed BBC One and BBC Two as the most popular news source, closely followed by TikTok and YouTube. However, these users aren’t accessing information from traditional news outlets on TikTok but from other TikTok users themselves. The Insight Family’s Yennah Smart, tells us: “1 in 4 TikTok users – around 37% - are actively posting their own videos on social media and kids are empowered by the creative aspect of the app as they become creators themselves. Between January and July 2022, 15% of teens aged 13 to 18 said TikTok was their favourite app, making it the number one app for the age group. In the 6 to 12 age bracket it is the number three favourite app.” In an interview with The Guardian, Emily Hall, a campaign manager at Fanbytes, explained that “TikTok shouldn’t be viewed only as an entertainment platform. It is an active participant in popular culture, with people using the platform to be updated on social movements and news affairs.” Look at the speed at which large groups of teens were corralled to suit-up for the #GentleMinions trend, helping #minions hit some 8.9 billion views by the end of it. Now that’s a social movement. “The TikTok platform is great for virality, as you can reach a wider audience including those who are not seeking out your brand specifically, as long as you’ve got your metrics right,” says Yennah. “When asked what type of videos UK kids aged 13 to 18 watch on TikTok, the number one genre was comedy, second was influencers and third was animals and pets.”

Yes, influencers remain relevant. In fact, ADK Emotions – keeper of the Beyblade property – has cemented its commitment to influencer collaboration as TikTok “becomes a key tool in its international market growth plans.” The latest addition to its ‘digital ecosystem’, Beyblade’s official TikTok channel has been Below left and right: TikTok has become launched to ‘embrace the a key tool for the Beyblade brand. consumer demand for shorter form content’ while targeting a cross-generational audience with footage from the Beyblade content archive as well as a programme of product unboxing and ASMR content. Simultaneously, ADK Emotions “will remain committed to collaborating with Beyblade influencers, including Osvaruto in Mexico and Beyblade Geeks in Canada to promote the animation and content, new toy concepts, as well as updating fans on any brand related news.” It makes sense, considering these are local channels delivering combined audience figures of over 270,000 followers and some 3.3 million likes. But what guarantee is there in converting those big audience numbers into sales? Didn’t TikTok only recently launch a live shopping feature for brands? Yes, it did. But it flopped. TikTok has now abandoned plans to expand the live ecommerce initiative in Europe and the US following a trial launch in the UK that simply failed to gain traction with consumers. Called TikTok Shop, the initiative was launched in the UK last year. It enabled brands and influencers to broadcast live and sell products to viewers. The plan was to roll the feature out in Germany, France, Italy and Spain this year before expanding into the US. However, the platform has admitted “the market just isn’t there yet. General consumer awareness and adoption are still low and nascent.” For now, then, TikTok’s biggest potential appears to be in audience engagement. Yes, in the hands of TikTok creators its content is wild and unpredictable, but also endlessly creative. And that creativity has led to some of the biggest headlines this year.