Pomelo goes on collaboration frenzy first with Grab and now TikTok

Shortly after its collaboration with Grab, fashion brand Pomelo has now tied up with TikTok to create a 13-piece collection. Targeted at Millennials and Generation Z consumers across Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, the collaboration's theme centres on "Be bold be you". With the collection, Pomelo and TikTok look to empower young women to embrace their personal styles with positivity, by expressing themselves in a way that exudes creativity, confidence, and originality. Pomelo also looks to raise brand awareness to new audiences across the region by expanding its marketing visibility and exposure to TikTok’s platform.

The streetwear-inspired collection is designed to be vibrant and expressive, and aims to encapsulate the creative diversity of TikTok, and the authenticity of the individuals within the community. It will include clothings with TikTok's logo, printed mesh tops, and pieces splashed with the brand’s signature colours of red, light aqua, and white. Pomelo and TikTok has also created a range of tinted shades and mini crossbody bags for consumers to complete their look. The collection will be available through Pomelo's stores, online platform, and app. 

Jean Thomas, CMO of Pomelo Fashion, told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that it chose to work with TikTok as both platforms have an underlying objective to empower women to embrace their individuality and be original in expressing themselves, through a sense of style and creativity in both clothing and content. Furthermore, the fact that TikTok has been named as the most downloaded platform of 2020 made the partnership attractive to Pomelo as well, Thomas added.

For this collaboration, Thomas said the success of this collaboration would be measured based on the virality of the collection, feedback from customers, and other key stakeholders. Pomelo will focus mainly on the impact that the collection has generated on both Pomelo and TikTok as brands, he added. 

To celebrate the launch, Pomelo also hosted a shoppable livestream show on its official TikTok account and Facebook page. According to its spokesperson, this marks the first time it has rolled out a livestream via TikTok. At the same time, Pomelo has also engaged more than 170 influencers and TikTok stars to promote the collection and its #BeBoldBeYou TikTok challenge, particularly on TikTok and Instagram.

The challenge allows users to showcase their personal fashion style and aims to a community of TikTok users who are fearless, unique, and proud to show off their originality and authentic selves to the world, both online and offline. The challenge will be fronted by notable TikTok personalities from across Southeast Asia to push users to join in on the challenge, Pomelo said. Running until 5 March, Pomelo is giving away prizes worth up to US$300 as well as its full collection with TikTok to the most creative entries.

Pomelo and TikTok's shoppable livestream show also comes as TikTok seemingly looks to dive into the eCommerce space. It has been looking to hire tech talent across SEA to build on its eCommerce offering. On LinkedIn, the social media platform has posted for jobs for data engineers, software engineers, and tech leads in Singapore under its TikTok eCommerce arm. Similarly, it has opened up nine job opportunities for eCommerce in Indonesia, including user and campaign operation specialist, category lead, business development, and customer service specialist.

Last December, Pomelo partnered with Grab to launch a fashion collection. The Pomelo x Grab capsule encompasses six wearable streetwear-style pieces with an iconic, upbeat take. Designed in-house by Pomelo, the collection showcases a fresh colour palette of green and white, reminiscent of Grab’s brand colours, as well as purple and black, representing Pomelo. According to its spokesperson, the collection was well received by the media and influencers, gaining hundreds of social posts and 75 media coverage across Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. Although unable to disclose any figures, Thomas added that feedback was "extremely positive" as the collection took its customers, stakeholders and industry peers by surprise.

"Pomelo will continue to look for partnerships with platforms and mediums, as well as brands, licensors, and other local designers, to expand our reach and acquire new audiences, and wow our customers with exclusive and collectible pieces," Thomas said. 

Separately, TikTok recently revealed that it rejected 3,501,477 ads in the second half of 2020, for violating advertising policies and guidelines. On top of that, the platform is ensuring safety for brands and users by proactively removing inappropriate content. "TikTok has strict policies to protect users from fake, fraudulent, or misleading content, including ads. We are committed to creating a safe and positive environment for our users, and we regularly review and further strengthen our systems to combat ads that violate our policies," its recent transparency report said.

The report also showed that 89,132,938 videos were removed globally for violation of TikTok's guidelines, which it added is less than 1% of all videos uploaded on the platform. Of those videos, TikTok said it identified and removed 92.4% before a user reported them, 83.3% before they received any views, and 93.5% within 24 hours of being posted.

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