Throughout 2020, TikTok enjoyed pronounced global growth, but naturally with popularity comes challenges:

• Mistrust: negative sentiment around the category had politicised safety concerns in some markets affecting brand perception

• Narrow user-base: users were perceived to be primarily youth limiting commercial appeal

• Competition: social media behemoths were reaching into deep pockets spending more on marketing and copycat products

However unlike competitors, TikTok is more than a space where friends socialise and share “lip syncing and dancing” videos.

It is an entertainment platform where communities connect and creativity is celebrated, trends are imagined, and anyone can be the star of the show.

Our challenge was to transform perceptions, show new audiences there is so much more to TikTok, and in doing so, take our place as the definitive global home of entertainment and culture.

Objectives:

• Increase brand love +3%

• Increase trust amongst non-users +3%

When a brand wants to become a part of culture, it will typically try to catch the latest hype train.

But our ambition was much bigger…

We wanted to ingrain TikTok’s community within a truly momentous cultural event;

an event that has a forever place in the global entertainment web.

It was here that Spider-Man swung into view.

In a world-first entertainment partnership between studio and platform, we gave TikTok’s community a never-seen-before all-access pass to Spider-Man – to the film, the plot, characters, cast and IP – and in doing so, democratised the traditional Hollywood blockbuster film release.

There’s no larger pop culture icon than Spider-Man. Since the 60s, he’s been climbing the ranks to become the world’s greatest superhero.

Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) was one of the highest-grossing films ever. Anticipation for the sequel was red-hot.

And with almost 50 billion views of #SpiderMan, we knew the fandom was alive on TikTok.

Spider-Man: No Way Home was our ticket. TikTok was ready for it.

Blurring the lines between reality and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we turned entertainment into a two-way street, inviting creators to write and star in their own Spider-Man story.

Our strategy had four components:

1. Fuel frenzy by releasing content that couldn’t be found anywhere else

2. Encourage co-creation and interaction (TikTok’s not-so-secret weapon)

3. Facilitate once-in-a-lifetime experiences for creators to share with their tens of millions of followers

4. Magnetise the Marvel-madness to TikTok ensuring the world tuned in

Moments after the trailer dropped, we launched the first in-world TikTok account for famed Marvel news outlet, The Daily Bugle. Starring film talent, we interrupted For You feeds, fuelling fan theories, racking up millions of views within hours.

We then unleashed the multiverse IP to our community, inviting co-creation and interaction with talent via bespoke AR effects, exclusive access to the musical score, duets and stitch features.

Cranking it up a notch, we created a TikTok-remixed version of the trailer, putting creators centre stage. This was amplified through high-impact placements worldwide, featuring a CTA to watch the film and head to TikTok for more.

We created opportunities for hundreds of millions to go BTS with talent, and gave the world access to the global premiere red-carpet livestream, hosted by two top creators, where world-famous creator @justmaiko (51M followers) announced his in-film cameo.

The world was tuned in and loving it.

BRAND METRICS

*among those aware of the partnership

• Brand love for TikTok increased 31%*

• Trust among non-users increased 28%*

*Ref: MetrixLab

REACH AND ENGAGEMENT

Bespoke video creations and views of #SpiderMan and #SpiderManNoWayHome exploded.

#SpiderMan

• TikTok users published 3M videos – up from 731K pre-campaign (+317%)

• Video views hit 32BN – up from 8.8BN (+267%)

#SpiderManNoWayHome

• Users published 1.M videos – up from 195K pre-campaign (+757%)

• Videos views hit 16.6BN – up from 2.2BN (+668%)

Top creators generated more than 88M video views of their partnership content.

2.5M unique viewers tuned into TikTok’s red-carpet livestream of the global premiere.

@TheDailyBugleOfficial

- More than 1.4M followers within hours

- 40M views across 13 videos

- Fuelled 50+ earned articles in global entertainment media