TikTok does a me-too with Youtube

Adopting from YouTube's playbook, TikTok bets on user-generated content to bring in more ads. TikTok launched the #MyTikTokStory campaign, on the platform to encourage Indians to create 15-second videos on cooking, do-it-yourself, sports, pottery, dancing and singing.

Bytedance believes that creators are the backbone of a platform like TikTok and is working to invest in the creative community.

https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/digital/moneyback-plan-tiktok-to-grow-content-creator-base-here/69720588

TikTok, Bigo,YouTube move to educational content

Bigo Live, a Singapore-based live streaming platform, launched education channels, while TikTok’s #EduTok has become a trending hashtag with over a billion views. Google-owned YouTube has also been focusing on educational content. It is investing $20 million in developing such content. In India, the company competes directly with ByteDance-backed video-apps and Alibaba-backed VMate.

https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/digital/tiktok-bigo-youtube-takes-the-next-leap-move-to-educational-content-from-entertainment/69935787

#TikTokRewind2019 campaign: Top 50 Content and Video Trends

Celebrating the end of 2019, TikTok has released a 10 day long campaign honouring and applauding the timeless moments from the platform. It includes the top 5 creators, viral videos, occasions, celebrities, challenges, etc. As part of the campaign, TikTok also launched a video featuring some of its popular creators. The video went viral on YouTube as it has already garnered close to 37 millions views within three days of launch.

https://www.exchange4media.com/digital-news/tiktok-puts-together-top-50-content-video-trends-as-part-of-tiktokrewind2019-campaign-101508.html

Instagram & TikTok will be big on influencer marketing in 2020

According to reports, Instagram has already become the first choice for brands. It is predicted that by 2020 it will be Instagram and TikTok which would be the top platforms for influencer marketing! Brands consider content control, influencer discovery, and finding new ways to work with influencers as their top three challenges in 2020.

https://www.exchange4media.com/digital-news/instagram-tiktok-top-platforms-for-influencer-marketing-in-2020-says-buzzoka-report-101572.html

TikTok launches ‘Wedding Season’ campaign

To encourage users from India to share videos of wedding looks, dance moves for sangeet nights and comic elements from weddings, TikTok launched the ‘Wedding Season’ campaign with  themes unique to India. Users showcased their creativity with fashion that display the diversity of Indian weddings apart from sharing the fun moments from Indian weddings like bride and groom being tried at weddings.

https://www.exchange4media.com/digital-news/tiktok-launches-wedding-season-campaign-101602.html

Holiday campaigns see partnership between TikTok influencers and brands

Just over a year after TikTok officially launched U.S. brand partnerships, major brands are tapping influencers on social video app for holiday campaigns. TikTok's sponsored "hashtag challenges," where high-profile influencers begin video trends, are one of the main ways for companies to advertise on the app. To improve brands' experiences on the app, the cosmetic companies and agencies said TikTok would need to improve analytics and introduce more in-app shopping features.

https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/advertising/beauty-brands-tap-tiktok-influencers-for-holiday-campaigns/72949992

TikTok move towards being shoppable

With more influencers and brands showing an interest in running ad campaigns, TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, is taking an obvious and interesting step towards making the platform shoppable. Link in bio and social commerce urls are being added to videos. Only a select few creators have access to this option at the moment. TikTok will call the feature Shopping Cart.

http://www.socialsamosa.com/2019/11/tiktok-shoppable-platform

New music streaming service: ByteDance

ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, has been in talks with big music labels for global licensing deals in order to include their songs on its new music subscription service. The app will be launched in markets such as India, Indonesia and Brazil first. ByteDance has not given a name to its music app yet and pricing remains unclear.

https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/media/tiktok-owner-bytedance-plans-to-launch-music-streaming-report/72107016

TikTok reaches a new record in downloads

TikTok has been reportedly downloaded 1.5 billion times till date. It has been downloaded 6% more than last year and has become the third most-downloaded app, outside of the gaming sector. 31% of the app’s downloads are users from India. TikTok has overtaken Instagram by 238 million downloads this year.

https://www.exchange4media.com/digital-news/tiktok-downloaded-15bn-times-till-date-6-more-downloads-than-last-year-100920.html

TikTok steps to becoming safer

After being under fire for several of its content that promoted misleading information that caused more harm than good, TikTok has updated their community guidelines. They plan to make their platform a safer place for all. TikTok added immigration status, caste, serious disease in the list of protected groups.

https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/digital/tiktok-updates-community-guidelines/73157567

Political Parties Exploring How To Leverage Tiktok

For the upcoming elections parties are trying to figure out how to leverage the platform’s huge reach and popularity without being political, as Tiktok will not allow political ads. Instagram was popular during the general elections but platforms like TikTok, with 200 million users in India, have caught up. 

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/political-parties-plan-to-up-tiktok-presence/articleshow/72341003.cms

Resso - music app for India from TikTok

ByteDance Inc. is testing a new music app in emerging markets. Resso is currently available in India and Indonesia. Unlike Spotify, Resso displays real-time lyrics and lets users post their comments under individual songs. They can also generate music-accompanied GIFs and videos, emulating a favorite feature of TikTok.  

https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/tiktok-owner-has-a-new-music-app-for-india-resso/72472028

What TikTok can do for brands in 2020

While it was Gen Z who dominated TikTok in 2019, the app is becoming popular across age groups now. TikTok India the platform will work towards developing interactive and trendsetting content and collaborate with advertisers to supplement their brand campaigns in 2020. The app only started monetising its platform in April last year and has since seen several brands from across verticals engage with its users to successfully launch products or build brand engagement.

https://www.exchange4media.com/digital-news/what-can-brands-expect-from-tiktok-in-2020-102054.html

TikTok dominates as the post popular app in India

TikTok has outdone Facebook in the key battleground market for global user domination. Indians have clocked 5.5 billion hours on the app. This is an increase of over 6 times from the 900 million hours spent in 2018! The numbers come at a time when TikTok is increasingly looking to monetise its fast growing user base in the country as it has hired a top management team. 

https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/mobile/india-clocks-over-5-5-billion-hours-on-tiktok-in-2019/73788622

TikTok proposes a safer internet with 'Mera Internet'

For Safer Internet Day, TikTok launched an in-app safety campaign #MeraInternet which invites users to share ideas on how one can become responsible netizens and bring forth a more positive environment. 

https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/digital/tiktok-calls-for-safer-internet-with-mera-internet-campaign/74082896

TikTok allows parents to monitor `screen time’

In an effort to keep teens safe on the platform, TikTok will roll out Family Safety Mode. Using this mode parents will be able to control ‘Digital Wellbeing’ features - screen time management, direct messages and restricted mode. As the names suggest, the features let parents select the time their kids can spend on the app, control who their child might be talking to, and restrict content they deem appropriate for their child. 

https://www.gadgetsnow.com/tech-news/tiktok-has-a-new-feature-to-reduce-users-addiction/articleshow/74219024.cms?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=GN_daily_newsletter

Spate of short form video platforms being launched

In light of TikTok’s short form video success, new short form video sharing apps such as Tangi, Hypershots, and Fireworks are all set to join the bandwagon. Short format video content is now perceived to be a lucrative opportunity for brands. M-Gen has short attention spans and is constantly scrolling through their social feeds to discover the next new thing. Taking cue from this evolving consumer behaviour, social media platforms are constantly reinventing their offerings, with a strong focus on quick-to-consume video content.

https://www.exchange4media.com/digital-news/is-the-tiktok-craze-giving-birth-to-more-short-form-video-sharing-apps-102835.html

TikTok-parent Bytedance launches music streaming app Resso

After being beta tested in India and Indonesia, Bytedance has launched Resso. It allows users to comment on songs and share lyrics on social media. Resso already has more than 500,000 downloads on Google Play. Resso will be competing against YouTube Music, Spotify, JioSaavn and Apple Music among others.

https://www.medianama.com/2020/03/223-bytedance-launches-resso/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+medianama+%28Medianama%3A+Digital+Media+In+India%29

Instagram biggest gainer with TikTok ban

Uncertainty and perplexity dominate TikTok’s future after an explosive growth in the Indian market. It is amongst the 59 Chinese apps banned by the Indian government a few weeks back and is likely to be banned in the US too from September 15, unless it’s bought over. The ban has created an immediate vacuum of a channel that connected with the Gen-Z audience and has forced both businesses and content creators to look for substitutes. This ban has witnessed a surge in content creators and viewers looking for substitutes in global players like Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts. Instagram was already a leading player even before the arrival of TikTok but once it came, this easy-to-use short-video sharing platform captured a diverse set of users, more young and regional in nature. In future Instagram might just become the next best alternative or ‘digital home’ for influencers and content creators who were earlier on TikTok.

https://www.exchange4media.com/digital-news/instagram-likely-to-become-new-digital-home-for-many-following-tiktok-ban-106694.html

India may be part of Microsoft-TikTok deal: Report

Microsoft is chasing a deal to buy all of TikTok’s global business, including India, Europe as well as US, Canada, Australia & New Zealand, One investor pegged the value of TikTok’s India business at as much as $10 billion. TikTok faces a September 15 deadline to either complete a sale of its U.S. operations or face a ban. 

https://cio.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/corporate-news/india-may-be-part-of-microsoft-tiktok-deal-report/77405480

ByteDance in talks with India's Reliance for investment in TikTok: Report

China’s ByteDance is in early talks with Reliance Industries Ltd for an investment in its video-based app TikTok’s business in India. The two companies began conversations late last month and have not reached a deal yet.The Indian government in June banned 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok and WeChat, for threatening its “sovereignty and integrity” after border tensions with China.

https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/bytedance-in-talks-with-indias-reliance-for-investment-in-tiktok-report/77517280

Facebook launches TikTok-like app for creating, sharing raps

Facebook has doubled down on its efforts to take on the growing Chinese short-video making platform TikTok, this time by launching a new app for creating and sharing raps. Called BARS, the app is now available in the Apple App Store in the US and makes it easy to create and share raps so that rappers can focus on and experiment with the content, “rather than investing heavily in equipment and production”. “Audio production tools can be complicated, expensive and difficult to use. With BARS, you can select one of our professionally-created beats, write lyrics and record yourself dropping bars,” Facebook said in a statement on Friday.”BARS auto-suggests rhymes as you’re writing to keep your flow going. You can also jump into Challenge mode and freestyle with auto-suggested word cues. Choose from a variety of audio and visual filters to take your creations to the next level,” the company added.

https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/facebook-launches-tiktok-like-app-for-creating-sharing-raps/81241103