TikTok joins forces with Publicis to drive community commerce

TikTok has gone into a global partnership with Publicis Groupe to help brands tap into emerging shopping trends on its platform. Through the partnership, brands will benefit from unique learning opportunities, insights, and strategic counsel centred around driving product discovery and purchase intent on the platform. 

Publicis is the first global agency group to partner with TikTok to bring “the power of commerce and education to brands and marketers”, said the press statement. As TikTok's founding commerce agency partner, select Publicis clients will also test TikTok's new commerce products, capabilities and creative solutions through TikTok’s incubator programme called "Community Commerce Sprint". According to the video platform, participants will receive access to cross-functional support and coaching on Community Commerce best practices from dedicated TikTok teams through this multi-week program. The programme aims to prepare brands to create impactful commerce campaigns for the video platform.

TikTok added that product discovery was unique on its platform due to “community commerce”, which is the blend of community, entertainment, and shopping. As a part of the partnership, Publicis clients will be seminal to fielding data-driven insights that are supported by WARC research, and best practices to apply to their future commerce strategies, said the company.

An example of community commerce in action is the #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt hashtag, said the video platform. According to TikTok, the hashtag showcases the products the community discovered on TikTok, and has generated over 3.8B views to-date. Through the partnership with Publicis, TikTok said it plans to “dive deeper into what drives Community Commerce on TikTok and giving brands tools and resources to drive sales by proactively and intentionally engaging with its community”.

Helen Lin, chief digital officer, Publicis Groupe, said that TikTok caught the agency’s attention due to its “role in evolving consumer shopping patterns, and creating instant groundswell”. “Incredible opportunities exist at the intersection of content and commerce, especially when endorsed with a sense of community and authenticity that grows organically on TikTok. We are thrilled to partner with TikTok to lead the charge in Community Commerce, bringing a unique suite of capabilities to Publicis clients around the globe,” added Lin.

Khartoon Weiss, head of global agency and accounts, TikTok, said: “By partnering with a global force in commerce and media like Publicis Groupe, we're co-creating resources for brands that will help them better understand and take advantage of the incredible momentum around commerce that's been building on TikTok."

TikTok also partnered with IPG’s Mediabrands earlier this April to curate a creator and content accelerator initiative "Creator Collective" for brands. Under the partnership, the two companies will co-create a series of custom programmes for Mediabrands’ clients that aims to help them build an authentic presence on TikTok by tapping into the platform's community of creators.

Closer to home, dairy brand Farmhouse saw the effects of community commerce in real-time as its dark chocolate milk flew off the shelves during the first week of its product launch in Singapore. The success of the product was unprecedented as Farmhouse integrated marketing strategy with the new product did not focus on TikTok, with the rise in TikTok content being purely organic.

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