TikTok has an average engagement rate of 9.38% compared to Instagram’s 7.2% for users with less than 1,000 followers. While a lot of people still believe that TikTok is a platform that mainly caters to kids and teenagers, the reality is far from that.
Various major brands have already begun taking cognizance of TikTok’s vast potential to help them build engaging communities, boost their brand awareness, and drive sales. Even brands that traditionally targeted an older audience have now started shifting their focus on TikTok.
It has become imperative for brands to keep up with trends, and TikTok is definitely not a trend that’s going to fade away any time soon. Plus, it’s an excellent platform to reach a younger demographic, connect with them, and acquire greater relevance in the long run.
With more than 500 million active users, TikTok can give your brand the facelift it needs to survive and thrive in today’s competitive marketing landscape. Therefore, try making the most of this platform like these three automotive brands did with TikTok’s branded hashtag challenge.
1. BMW Motorsport
BMW was about to launch its innovative new e-racing car for which it wanted to build traction among the young German audience.
Their Objectives
BMW wanted to promote its reputation as a frontrunner in the world of e-racing and build momentum for its new electric racing car- the BMW iFE.20- to a young German audience. By doing so, they sought to boost their brand awareness among Millennials and Gen Z across the country.
Approach & Solution
BMW called upon its TikTok community to share their passion for racing and celebration by demonstrating to the world how they celebrate their big moments through an engaging Branded Hashtag Challenge- #icelebrate.
BMW Motorsport leveraged TikTok’s most popular format with a 5 second TopView Lite video ad to announce the challenge. It collaborated with some of the country’s most popular Creators like Falco Punch, Sky & Tami, and PATROX to kick off the challenge. This helped the campaign gain a lot of authenticity and boosted user participation considerably. To add on to that, the Official Formula E song ‘Stand Together’ sountracked the videos and gave the campaign an immersive feel.
From mock podium celebrations to acrobatic dance performances, the videos produced for the challenge showed the high level of creativity that BMW’s TikTok community had. The Hashtag Challenge was also supported by an In-Feed Ad and served an emotive branded video alongside other content from across the TikTok community on the ‘For You’ pages of users.
The Result
BMW Motorsport Branded Hashtag Challenge was a massive success and yielded remarkable engagement for the brand. About 3,000 videos were submitted, which collectively fetched an incredible 15.6M views. Also, there were about 1.48M likes, comments, and shares, which proves how impactful a Hashtag Challenge can be when it is supported by popular Creators and there’s a clear call to action.
The accompanying In-Feed Ad successfully guided thousands of potential participants to the Challenge Page. Also, the Hashtag Challenge helped BMW Motorsport gain 18,000 new followers on TikTok in just six days.
2. VinFast
Vietnamese e-scooter brand, VinFast E-Scooter wanted to promote two of its e-scooters- the Impes and Ludo scooters.
Their Objectives
With electric scooters gaining a significant foothold in Vietnamese automotive market, local brands were vying for the lion’s share of the market in the country and Southeast Asia. VinFast sought to outshine these brands and drive its brand awareness with students with its product line of e-scooters that is designed to suit the Vietnamese physique.
Approach & Solution
VinFast launched the #Phieucungxechat Hashtag Challenge on TikTok to reach a wide audience and engage them in a way that would inspire a whole new generation of VinFast e-scooter lovers.
The challenge helped participants familiarize themselves with VinFast’s products through a ‘virtual’ test drive using a Branded Effect. This meant that TikTokers could add VinFast E-Scooter’s branded Effect and “sit” in the front seat of both the Ludo and Impes, while dancing.
Participants had the choice of deciding on which of the two scooters they would like to hop on to first. To take the challenge a notch higher, some users added a personalized touch to the dance with improvised facial expressions that synced with VinFast’s catchy soundtrack or an impromptu outfit change.
VinFast E-Scooter also ran an ad campaign on TikTok that included Brand Takeover and In-Feed Ads. these ads invited users to participate in the #Phieucungxechat Hashtag Challenge for a chance to win attractive prizes.
The Result
The #Phieucungxechat Hashtag Challenge was a resounding success for VinFast E-Scooters. The Brand Takeover Ads alone fetched 60M impressions and were instrumental in boosting the awareness around the campaign. The campaign resulted in a whopping 101K video submissions which garnered 200M views.
3. KIA
Korea’s leading global automobile manufacturer, Kia, wanted to go after millennials to promote their newly launched compact SUV-Seltos, and promote it as a sophisticated, sporty and spacious looking SUV.
Their Objectives
Kia wanted to promote Seltos among the youthful, tech-savvy buyers, who would be more interested in the latest style and features that adorned its SUV.
Approach & Solution
The Seltos Hashtag Challenge was a portrayal of Kia’s brand identity of “bringing a new beat” to the global auto industry. Also, the Branded Music used in the challenge conveyed the feeling of rhythmical heartbeats, which helped the low-energy millennial transform into an energetic fashionista at the roar of the Seltos engine. Branded Effects featuring full battery emoji and neon glasses amplified this transformation.
Also, two-day Brand Takeover Ads were followed by three days of In-Feed Ads, to which three top influencers were invited to participate. The initial momentum was lent by TikTok influencers who joined the challenge bandwagon, which strongly resonated with the young target audience.
The Result
The official video gained a whopping 6.8 million views in just 8 days. The participation in the Hashtag Challenge was also decent, resulting in 16K user generated videos. The full-screen Brand Takeover Ads garnered a 14.3% click-through-rate, which totaled 9.4 million impressions. Also, the In-Feed Ads achieved an additional 2.2. Million impressions.
Bottom Line
Like any brand awareness campaign, TikTok Branded Hashtag Challenge is also driven by how engaging your content is. However, its ability to make things go viral quickly gives it an upper hand over campaigns on other platforms. But it is crucial that you figure out what is going to appeal to your target audience the most. Also, it would be worthwhile to cross-promote on other platforms to get more people to participate in your challenge.
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