The Middle East is well recognized as a hub of creativity, and TikTok has been a testament to this since its launch in the region in 2020. With the arrival of TikTok For Business in the region, creativity took a leap with an explosion of branded content on the platform that successfully connected with the audience and engaged with them in a meaningful way.
In order to celebrate the most creative work coming out of the region, TikTok has launched the TikTok Creative Digest, a bi-monthly video newsletter featuring the most innovative regional brand campaigns on TikTok. From brands using TikTok to tap into trending themes and hashtags to campaigns advocating or supporting an important cause within the TikTok community, the Creative Digest showcases brands that excelled as storytellers and successfully took the TikTok community along on their brand journey. The newsletter will highlight the best campaigns during the magic moments in the year such as Ramadan, the UEFA Euro 2020 and Back to School.
Shant Oknayan, general manager of global business solutions METAP said, “At TikTok, we strive to fulfil our mission to inspire creativity and bring joy in everything we do, and this has been at the heart of TikTok For Business since its arrival in the region. In less than a year, we have had the privilege to work with the most creative brands in developing unique campaigns which appeal to the interests, sentiments and nuances of the regional audience. These brands have truly been game changers and for this reason, I am excited to introduce the newly launched TikTok Creative Digest which celebrates these innovative campaigns and provides them with a platform to shine and be recognized on, long after they have been completed. The Creative Digest is a celebration of the best works from across the Middle East, which have successfully tapped into an active audience and resonated with the regional TikTok community by bringing them together during key calendar moments.”
The first Creative Digest from TikTok is a Ramadan showcase, looking at some of the regional brand campaigns which successfully captured the Ramadan spirit during the Holy Month, through easy to use effects and inclusive trends which brought the community together. The top Ramadan brand partnerships highlighted in the first edition of the Creative Digest are as below.
Fine: To mark the Holy Month of Ramadan, Fine partnered with TikTok to develop nine videos under a Ramadan Wisdom Series. These TikTok videos were showcased in four markets and caught the attention of its Gen Z target by using old-school proverbs with a twist, thus merging the traditional with the modern.
Starbucks: Starbucks wanted to find a salient connection with its fans during the month of Ramadan. So TikTok created a hashtag challenge based on an insight that hits home to all coffee lovers; after a long fast (and caffeine deprivation) nothing beats the feeling of that first sip of coffee after Iftar. In true Ramadan fashion, TikTok created a Ramadan drama style track for people to express their love affair with that first sip of Starbucks post Iftar.
Arla Foods: One of the most successful campaigns over the Ramadan period, the hashtag #Ramadanprep was a TikTok collaboration with The Three Cows cheese from Arla Foods. The campaign asked TikTok users to share videos of how they got ready for Ramadan and the resulting content showed people getting their homes ready for the month, preparing the dinner table for Iftar, cooking food to break their fast and much more. Some of the branded content videos showed how top creators were making dishes with The Three Cows products, highlighting how it could be creatively used in a variety of dishes during Ramadan.
KIA: To launch the new KIA Sonet in Saudi, the automotive brand decided to bring the highest rate of approval for the car possible in the region – mama’s approval. Through the partnership with TikTok, one of Saudi’s top creators created a mini-series of TikToks showcasing all the reasons Mama approves of him buying the all-new Sonet in a fun, humorous and truly TikTok manner.
Vimto: The Vimto and TikTok partnership portrayed how Iftar wouldn’t be the same if you had to celebrate it by yourself. A familiar sight is that as soon as a mother starts filling the table with delicious meals, families and friends start gathering around the table and the Ramadan spirit comes through. And at the centre of that table is always Vimto.
Saudi Telecom Company (STC): In light of the pandemic, Ramadan this year was different for many people, who couldn’t be with family and friends to enjoy Iftar and share special moments. With that in mind, Saudi Telecom Company (STC) provided a way for people to feel connected, using the hashtag #Ramadancheck and #Ramadancountdown on TikTok. Whether it was by being virtually inside people’s homes, watching their workout routines or seeing them have fun with close friends, these two Ramadan hashtags successfully brought together the TikTok community in the true spirit of Ramadan.
Ounass: In a partnership between Ounass and TikTok for Business for the region’s first e-commerce powered live event on TikTok, the brand took to the airways in four live sessions that gave TikTok users inspirations around Ramadan fashion and trends, in collaboration with celebrity trendsetters, and enabled people to shop directly from the live session.
Garnier: To launch the Garnier Hair Food products in Saudi Arabia and connect Gen Z with the brand, Garnier partnered with TikTok to showcase the product benefits through a series of three content videos, each time highlighting a different benefit. The videos featured popular creators and showed Garnier’s natural ingredients in a fun way that’s native to the platform.
A101 Harca Harca Bitmez: A101, one of the biggest retail companies in Turkey, sponsored the TikTok #ChefsTable Ramadan project. During this campaign, the most popular chefs from the Masterchef Turkey show cooked Ramadan meals and invited users to join the challenge, with an opportunity to vote for their favourite chefs and win prizes.
