Prime Video is one of the main brands on TikTok in France. We’re always aiming for the best KPI results (reach/engagement) in all our campaigns, but we also want to position Prime Video as the ultimate entertainment producer. After the success of Cités (casting) and the Dubbing Factory (dubbing), we now wanted to give our fans an experience in directing. This is how the “Directed by TikTok” idea came about. The campaign was aimed solely at TikTok users.

Directed by TikTok is a very ambitious UGC contest launched by Prime Video in France. The concept was simple. First, we wrote a script, especially designed for TikTok, with a very famous influencer called Freddy Gladieux. Then, we recorded it with iconic French voice over artists. Finally, we gave people the sound, but only the sound. There were no images. It was up to the users to use it and direct the story in their own way. Real shoot, animation and puppet mastering, there were no rules.

The campaign is part of the brand’s long-term strategy in France to showcase the various professions that exist within the audio-visual sector to a mainstream (but mostly young) TikTok audience. After the success of Cités (casting) and the Dubbing Factory (dubbing), we focused here on directing. The approach was to leave people totally free to share their own interpretations of this audio-only scenario. There were absolutely no rules, which helped the initiative to be as accessible as possible (it was still a 2-minute scenario to direct). The brand was also there to help, by providing them with storyboards and clues on how to direct it properly. Providing a great first step into the entertainment industry!

This UGC challenge took place over 2 weeks on the French TikTok Prime Video account. People had to use the sound uploaded onto the account and then direct their images, using them and then sharing them with the campaign hashtag. So each time somebody posted their participation to win the contest, it helped increase the campaign reach and give more and more visibility to the sound. Influencers were there too, to contribute in boosting the campaign’s visibility, which created massive reach in France over the period.

This activation was a 100% social media contest that only aired on TikTok, so the relevant KPIs were not business-oriented but more social media focused.

The resultants were really quite impressive considering the ambitious aspect of the initiative (people had to direct a 2-minute short film!!). More than 100 of them took up the challenge for a total reach of 10M, without any media budget. 25 influencers and micro influencers did it for free, simply because they thought the challenge was a great idea. It also led to an increase in the number of TikTok followers for the French account with a +5% growth.