Social media platforms seem to cycle through at hyper-speed – does anyone remember when Facebook was cool? None appears to be moving faster at the moment than TikTok — responsible for memes, dance crazes, the inevitable pet and animal videos and, equally inevitably, a cadre of creators/influencers bidding to become brands in their own right. It’s a pattern that’s played out on platforms such as YouTube and Instagram.

The ephemeral nature of the platform’s short-form mobile videos might seem to work against creating a brand. But the rapidity at which the most popular creators create – three or more times a day – generate the kind of engagement that any entertainer or marketer craves. As was said more than once during our Toy Fair panel, “From Influencer to Brand,” the key element is the “relationship” that viewers feel with a particular creator.

TikTok Ubiquity

TikTok is globally ubiquitous, downloaded 738 million times last year, a 13% jump from the previous year. In India alone, it was downloaded 323 million times last year, according to the research firm Sensor Tower. In the U.S., it was downloaded 46 million times in last year.

The influencers have already demonstrated corporate sponsorship and product placement appeal. For example in a recent sponsored video, TikToker Jasmine Gonzalez took her brother’s shoes and decorated them with accessories from Wicked Cool Toys’ Blinger kit. And Victoria Bachlet presented a montage of clips showing her visiting a Target store for back-to-school and buying Vera Bradley products. Sisters Ashley and Emma (WeWearCute) have featured products from Proctor & Gamble, Mattel, Kraft and others in their videos.

Licensing and talent agencies have begun signing TikTokers to represent them for sponsorship and branding. A small sample includes:

• The Joester Loria Group represents prank video creators WeWearCute (sister Ashley and Emma, 4.7 million followers) with plans to bring their brand to bath and beauty, toys, apparel, fashion accessories and other products.
• United Talent Agency (UTA) represents Brittany “Kombucha Girl” Tomlinson, whose first video about tasting kombucha tea quickly amassed 11 million total engagements (views, collective likes, comments and shares) shortly after it was released last July. UTA also works with sisters Charli (31 million followers) and Dixie D’Amelio (7.3 million).
• WME handles licensing and sponsorship for Addison “Rae” Eastering (19.7 million followers) and Chase Hudson(14.2 million). Hudson founded Hype House in Los Angeles as a dedicated living/performance space for TikTok influencers.