Year on TikTok 2021: The Aussie brands that entertained and products that sparked joy

In 2021, Aussies were inspired and humbled to see trends and culture come to life through the TikTok community. More than one billion people turned to TikTok this year to be entertained, and part of the entertainment was brands and products that captured Aussies’ attention and hearts.

Brands and SMBs are an inspiring part of the TikTok experience, and the end of the year is the perfect time to look back on stand out – and sold out – moments of 2021. Today, TikTok is celebrating Australian businesses of all sizes that embraced authenticity to reach new audiences, tapped into and started new trends with its community and unlocked real-world opportunity for commerce through the power of discovery. TikTok is also taking a look back at the products that were added to trolleys and carts around the country after trending on For You pages.

Says Brett Armstrong, general manager, TikTok Global Business Solutions, Australia & New Zealand: “Brands in Australia brought us joy and encouraged us to get creative. They reminded us of the importance of being authentic when connecting with the community and were able to engage with a wide global audience. 2021 was the year that TikTok became a launchpad for must-have brands and products that the community loves.

TikTok is a unique place where culture, community and commerce come together to inspire a creative community that spends a movie’s worth of time consuming content every day. Testament to this is that globally, an average of 79% of TikTok users find content on TikTok to be unique or different, and 68% of TikTok users find advertising content specifically to be unique or different from any competitive platform.

From #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt moments and hilarious and heartfelt interactions between brands and their customers, the TikTok community found inspiration in the authenticity and creativity that brands and SMBs have brought to the platform this year. The opportunity for new and innovative content on TikTok knows no bounds, and the community can’t wait to see how brands and small businesses just getting started will look to these moments to define next year’s biggest conversations. While this list could have been much longer, these Australian brands, small businesses and products were just a few of the many moments that touched Australia’s hearts (and our shopping lists) in 2021.

CRACKIN’ CAMPAIGNS

With access to TikTok’s suite of in-app tools and solutions, brands are able to create content that captures attention and wins over our community. By embracing sounds, creative effects, filters and TikTok products such as Duet and TikTok LIVE, brands and businesses are engaging with audiences in ways the industry has never seen before. They’ve learned to speak the TikTok community’s language through innovative and engaging content and it’s paying off. Here are some of the Australian brand campaigns and content strategies that showed the world how it’s done.

– Athlete’s Foot (@theathletesfootaunz) – Reimagined TikTok’s For You Page as a running track, with advertising placements acting as signposts for the community. The campaign was the first in Australia to use sequential storytelling on-platform, where users had to scroll through their For You feed to catch the creator to win a pair of ASICS Kayanos.

MECCA (@meccabeauty) – Launched an innovative, shoppable livestream campaign with Charlotte Tilbury, where the TikTok community could easily shop from the Mecca website directly from videos. In this campaign, six TikTok creators fashioned looks with Charlotte Tilbury products from MECCA, bringing the brand to life.

Up Bank (@upbanking) – Launched Australia’s first ever gamified effect to drive awareness, brand love and recognition on the platform. Their interactive ad execution drove mass user participation through a fun short-form game that gave users the chance to win a $1000.

Telstra (@telstra) – Rolled out an entertaining and creative paid and organic content strategy that speaks the language of an under-indexed millennial audience. Telstra has embraced TikTok as an opportunity to build brand affinity, and translate often tech-focused or complex messaging in an engaging way.

Macca’s (@mcdonaldsau)- A focal point of their always-on TikTok content to connect with audiences far and wide, Macca’s celebrated their 50th Birthday milestone by ‘TikTokifying’ their famous “I’m lovin’ it” jingle. Macca’s worked with a diverse mix of popular local creators to put their own spin on the brand’s jingle. Continue reading…