TikTok’s annual For You Summit Australia returned to Sydney's Hordern Pavilion, drawing over 800 industry leaders, creatives, and marketers, with thousands more tuning in online. Hosted by comedian and TikTok star Samantha Andrew, the summit highlighted TikTok’s transformative impact on Australia’s cultural and advertising landscape. It featured speakers from Virgin Australia, PepsiCo, and Canva, who shared valuable insights into how they've used TikTok to reach new audiences and grow their brand.

The summit showcased how TikTok’s community enables brands to embed themselves into culture, creating powerful business results through the marketing funnel. TikTok’s ability to both create culture, like the 2024 sensation of 'Looking for a Man in Finance’, to amplifying it, like Olympic and Paralympic content, means that brands can show up in a myriad of ways on platform and get cut through with the community.

Additionally, new products were introduced, including Dynamic Travel Ads and Automotive Ads, aimed at enhancing ad effectiveness and engagement for brands.

Key highlights:

  • Recut for TikTok: A recent study by Kantar revealed that advertisers who recut their television assets for TikTok saw, on average, a 1.5 times return on their advertising spend. While native creative performs well on the platform, marketers were informed that existing creative assets can also be effective. (Study: TikTok Marketing Science, Cross Media Meta-analysis, APAC, 2024, conducted by Kantar n=53).
  • Brand leaders: Virgin Australia CMO Libby Minogue, and PHD Australia CEO Mark Jarrett, showcased how TikTok's remixed content and creator collaborations in their, "Bring on Wonderful" campaign, boosted engagement and amplified brand impact.
  • PepsiCo ANZ Marketing Director, Susan Press, discussed their rebrand journey, their first redesign in 14 years and the debut of a globally unified brand identity. She described the rebrand as a "bold revolution" that blended the brand's rich history with a fresh, modern identity through an extensive TikTok media strategy. She said that embracing TikTok was crucial to their success, and resulted in a significant boost in brand awareness and recall.
  • Recent research presented by James Hurman, co-founder of Tracksuit and a global leader in advertising effectiveness, highlighted the synergy between brand building and performance marketing on TikTok in the new report, The Awareness Advantage.

    • “Video is now the backbone of modern advertising, and TikTok is leading this evolution", said Brett Armstrong, General Manager, Global Business Solutions, TikTok AUNZ. "By hosting TikTok's For You Summit, our goal is to empower brands to leverage TikTok’s cultural influence and creative tools to connect with their audience in meaningful ways that drive tangible impact. We’re excited to continue helping Australian brands connect with their audiences and grow their businesses."

    The summit also offered an exciting preview of the TikTok Ad Awards, opening for submissions on October 3rd. These awards celebrate the most creative and impactful campaigns by Australian brands and agencies on TikTok. With categories ranging from creativity, brand effectiveness, and performance, these awards are a must-enter for anyone aiming to showcase their best work on TikTok. More details coming soon. For more details and summit highlights, visit TikTok's For You Summit AUNZ 2024 wrap-up.