TikTok's impending ban is being brought to the fore again following a statement from Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. On Monday, McConnell added a call for TikTok to be banned in the United States unless its Chinese parent company ByteDance sells its stake. McConnell's support for the bill reinvigorated the news cycle and put the TikTok ban in the spotlight. But brands with an active presence on the app seem generally unperturbed.
U.S. lawmakers are inching closer to a possible ban after a vote in the House of Representatives earlier this month. The bill's next stop is the Senate. Until then, the company's future in the U.S. is uncertain, but that somehow hasn't deterred market players — at least for now.
But viral marketers, especially D2C brands that have relied on TikTok for growth, may have reason to be concerned. If the ban passes, the countdown begins for TikTok, as well as the short-form video app's viral nature that is at the heart of its success.
“I'm not really worried about that,” said Gabby Hirata, global brand president of the Halala clothing brand. “Even if TikTok were discontinued tomorrow, we don't think our business would be significantly affected.”
The direct-to-consumer athleisure brand has achieved viral status on TikTok in recent years thanks to influencer videos and TikTok Shop listings. It was only recently that Halala began embarking on his first brand-building campaign. But even given TikTok's virality, Hirata says he has long since diversified his social media strategy to become less dependent on any one platform.
Halala is not alone in feeling this way. Language learning app Duolingo regularly makes headlines for its mascot, Duo the Owl, with his trendy sounds and so-called free-spirited persona. However, according to Kat Chan, Duolingo's global head of social media, Duolingo is looking to diversify its social media presence, similar to Halala. Over the past year, he has focused on growing his audience and reach on platforms like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.
“We have invested in building our global TikTok account and building our presence on other platforms, so we are confident that no matter what happens with TikTok in the U.S., we will continue to be successful with our social marketing strategy,” Chan said. he said in an email. Digiday.
Meanwhile, startup snack and wellness brand BelliWelli started investing more in outdoor advertising after going viral on TikTok a few years ago. VeriWeri co-founder Katie Wilson said in an email to Digiday, “VeriWeri's TikTok has seen an increase in viewership and volume of creativity centered around brand engagement,” without providing specific numbers. I said it without saying. It's the driving force behind our success in building community. ”
It is unclear if and when the TikTok ban will go into effect, given that the Senate has not yet passed the bill or sent it to President Biden. From there, it will take six months for the app to find a new owner. Still, legal resistance over free speech rights could stall the government's efforts.
This is not the first time the US government has proposed banning social media apps. The brands themselves aren't entirely convinced this will happen, but neither are the agencies. TikTok has proven itself as an effective brand awareness tool and is gaining her a coveted Gen Z audience. Money is also increasing rapidly. According to eMarketer, TikTok is expected to take in $8.66 billion in ad revenue this year, growing 31% year over year. Short-form video platforms are expected to account for 10.5% of U.S. social network ad spending and 2.8% of U.S. digital ad spending this year, according to forecasts.
“There's so much money here that it would be crazy for Microsoft or Oracle or whoever the buyer is to not just spin it off or sell it to a consortium of American companies,” said the vice president of search and social. Eric Hamilton says. At Good Apple Media Agency. “Whoever has $25 trillion. Someone will do it, and someone will want to pay the price.”
Still, agency executives continue to tell clients to develop contingency plans and wait and see. According to agency executives, most of the aforementioned contingency plans revolve around brand building on TikTok's competitors, such as Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, both of which are aimed at capturing the cultural cache and engagement levels that TikTok has. has not been successful. Notably last week, Meta announced that he would be releasing yet another He Reels-like feature in the coming months. At the same time, Facebook plans to “show more Reels to meet the growing demand for this format.” Realistically, there is no platform that can fill TikTok's void, agency executives say.
“I don't know if Facebook can replace TikTok itself or what TikTok was. It just doesn't have enough social influence anymore,” said CEO and CEO of January Digital and January Consulting. said founder Victor Dravicky. “But definitely, they have a huge user base, so I'm sure there's value there.”
This means that the success brands see on TikTok may not be easily replicated on another platform. However, that doesn't mean it's not worth a try. Agency executives are telling clients to keep an eye on what happens next with the bill, and say there's nothing wrong with increasing your brand's presence on alternative social media platforms.
Marketing experts have long argued that going viral is not a sustainable strategy, but TikTok's potential ban will bring that debate back to the forefront.
“It's not that brands that go viral on TikTok itself don't have value,” Dravicky said. “There's value in it. There's an art to it. If that's the only way to drive business, it's just a high-risk situation.”
