Today, we're thrilled to announce the debut of our leadership development programme, TikTok Academy: Elevate across Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam. This program marks the first edition of TikTok Academy's strategic initiatives in Southeast Asia for agency partners, emphasising our steadfast commitment to the media industry and nurturing future leaders within the industry.

Empowering Future Leaders in Marketing

Themed 'Nature Meets Nurture: Through the Lens of the Future', the programme will see us working in close collaboration with a cohort of 350 emerging agency leaders with 5 to 8 years of experience. These leaders will be nominated by their agencies and will fall under one of the following categories:

  • Changemaker: Someone who is taking creative action to solve a problem and spark transformative change within the industry.
  • Storyteller: Someone who is devoted to producing a compelling narrative using words, art, and science to share experiences and ideas for meaningful connections.
  • Playmaker: Someone who raises the standard of play within the team and puts others in a position to score.

The rapidly evolving media landscape poses an opportunity for agencies to develop future leaders who can adapt to new technologies, platforms, and consumer behavior patterns. In speaking with our media and creative agency partners, we often hear that they are on the lookout for ways that they can nurture their future leaders to innovate and lead transformative change in the marketing space. Our vision is to embark on this journey alongside them, empowering our agency partners with the ability to equip their talent with the tools and support needed for the future. With this, we hope to also provide our partners with greater alignment to TikTok for them to be able to discover the effectiveness and sustainability of the platform for their campaigns and creatives.

By working with rising marketing talent under these categories, we aim to contribute to cultivating a generation of professionals adept at navigating the intersection of marketing and innovation, forging paths that inspire both growth and sustainability in the industry. Therefore, the leadership programme will see us working with the next-generation of marketing talent to build their industry knowledge, and leadership skills, whilst promoting personal well-being so that they can seamlessly integrate into their leadership roles in the years to come.

A leadership programme aimed to inspire and nurture growth

TikTok Academy: Elevate will comprise of three bi-weekly virtual workshop sessions from 21 March until 18 April 2024. Each workshop session will present an Elevate Challenge for participants to take part in. These challenges will vary in format, aiming to either encapsulate the session's theme or leverage the strengths of participants, enhancing their understanding of the evolving marketing landscape, emerging platforms like TikTok for advertising and marketing, and giving them space to self-reflect on their career growth. 80 finalists will be shortlisted and invited to an exclusive Elevate Leadership Summit in Bali from 5 to 7 June 2024.

"We are always on the lookout for how we can support our agency partners with the right resources to guide them in their endeavours. As we strive to be their trusted destination for creative marketing solutions, we hope that our leadership programme will significantly enhance the capabilities of next-generation talent to be self-aware future leaders of the industry. Together, we are committed to cultivating a partnership that propels their industry prominence to new heights," said Matty Lin, General Manager, Global Business Solutions, TikTok Southeast Asia.

At TikTok, we aspire to cultivate a community of industry professionals poised to navigate the dynamic landscape of digital marketing with confidence and innovation. By providing them with the ability to network, collaborate, and learn from like-minded individuals in the industry, we aim to enhance their understanding of available resources and ad solutions, thereby facilitating their journey toward achieving marketing excellence for their clients.