This work is relevant for creative strategy as the work shifted perceptions of the platform in a big way. Flipping how people see the usefulness of the brand & encouraging usage and likeability amongst an audience of detractors.

Bringing to the forefront the stars and creators on the platform that were the key to the creative strategy. Showing the world of learning content, we knew our audience craved.

Not only did #LearnOnTikTik shift the narrative of TikTok as a brand, it also increased usage of the brand making it seen as a valuable and relevant destination.

TikTok cemented its place as the digital platform of 2020: bringing entertainment, fun, memes, lols and music to its 800 million active users worldwide – particularly during the national lockdown of Summer 2020 where many of us sat bored in the house, in the house bored.

But such rapid growth amongst a core younger target audience alienated an older generation of Instagrammers, Facebookers and Tweeters. Why would they need another app on their phone? Particularly one that they perceived to be silly and superficial. TikTok had a perception problem.

Our brief was to increase relevance and grow brand love, by highlighting the educational and useful content that provided value to users’ daily lives. Getting to an idea that could improve usage, likeability & association and celebrate the creators on the platform.

TikTok’s growth amongst a core younger audience alienated an older generation of Instagrammers, Facebookers and Tweeters. Why would they need another app on their phone? Particularly one that they perceived to be silly and superficial. TikTok had a perception problem, it felt like a bit of a guilty pleasure.

TikTok, not resting on its laurels, wanted to realise their vision to be an inclusive and diverse brand for everyone. To do this they needed an audience growth strategy; growing an audience base on the platform and shifting perceptions of the brand as a whole.

We needed to set up communication behaviours designed to overcome rejector mindsets. Encouraging detractors to see TikTok as a valuable and relevant destination. Solving the credibility, relevance and inertia hurdles to downloading the app, with an audience who are curiosity rich but time poor.

Qualitative research revealed to us key emotional and functional barriers we needed to overcome to drive adoption; TikTok was not seen as a credible learning brand,or relevant by non-users, and inertia - getting people to download the app was a huge hurdle.

An appetite for learning was clear with our target audience with 43% of adults embracing the convenience of online learning.

We had to spark this audience's curiosity. We knew the perfect place to start. The platform itself. TikTok has a community of creators innovating new ways of learning architecture, pottery, sign language, baking, sexual health, football trickshots…. We needed to bring this breadth of entertainment to the forefront.

Research also revealed that identifying the right individuals and organisations, as well as the right types of learning, was key to convincing our target audience of the usefulness of the platform. Making TikTok a new part of their lives.

We started by creating a bonafide sub-brand and hashtag: #LearnOnTikTok. This championed real creator learning content, fueled by the multi-million dollar Creator Learning Fund. The foundations were in place.

We then needed a creative platform simple enough to connect diverse markets (UK & DE) and audiences, and shift perceptions in a big way. Our idea, the A-Z of TikTok. It’s beauty is its simplicity. Just as we have always used the alphabet to teach kids about the world, we used the A-Z construct as a large structural campaign idea to enable TikTok to highlight an array of dazzlingly different and surprising subjects – all brimming with fun, educational content from the app. Equally, it enabled us to serve this content across relevant moments as well as bigger scalable media (EG: TV) that could push out to a broader audience in mass channels.

The campaign was a huge success. And Stephen Fry wasn’t the only fan, whose mind was changed on TikTok.

Non-user likability uplift +29%

Download +14% -

Exposure to the campaign resulted increased of download considerations

Associations (Educational Content +19% & Empowering Content +15%)

And it wasn’t just new users who felt a change - the campaign built further brand love with campaign recall in the UK being 22%.

On performance (Facebook Google) channels, the A to Z campaign performed 10 - 20% above benchmark for 25+

Engagement with in-app learning ecosystem during the campaign period 436.1M

We even went again this year, with TikTok wanting to keep the message alive! Spreading the internet with digital ads that told surprising 'Did you know?' facts! Taking over UK cities with bold murals celebrating our creators facts! Letting people know each & every time, you can #LearnOnTikTok