Introduction

Dynamic, fast-moving, and lately, the digital marketing space hasn't been any different with the entry of a dark horse in the playing fields--TikTok. It offers something no other platform really does, a way for brands to tap into a highly engaged, very young audience. Since its original launch, TikTok has quickly developed into a cultural phenomenon, with over a billion active users across the globe. This focus on short- and creative-video content has made it a perfect place for brands seeking to break through the clutter and make a big difference. Ranging from in-feed ads to novel branded effects and hashtag challenges, advertising capabilities to this extent have enabled businesses at any scale to reach their prospect audiences in novel ways. Here are some successful case studies of the different brands with TikTok ads, the tactics involved, and what they brought to the table.


Fenty Beauty: How to Leverage User-Generated Content


Fenty Beauty is a cosmetics brand created by music sensation Rihanna. A true digital marketing innovator, the brand's success crosses to TikTok. User-generated content is part and parcel of the very approach Fenty Beauty takes with TikTok. It utilizes, in fact, everyday users to add to the creative process and the influence derived from it organically. This makes customers easily turn into brand ambassadors for the brand, with their makeup routines and looks using the brand's products.


Fenty Beauty drew on that paradigm with the FentyBeautyHouse campaign, tapping TikTok influencers into a specially designed content creation house where influencers created videos on their favorite Fenty Beauty products: foundation, lip gloss, or anything in between. These recordings have since been shared with followers, urging them to emulate the same and create videos using the hashtag in the campaign.


And it was simply breathtaking—the hashtag FentyBeautyHouse gained over a million views, and over 1,000 participants responded. Fenty Beauty was, of course, gaining more in brand awareness and sales. It is a case study of user-generated content on TikTok and how it churned out a viral marketing campaign that struck a resonation with its mass audience.


Chipotle: Engaging Audiences with Hashtag Challenges


One of the innovative brands in deploying digital media strategies is Chipotle Mexican Grill. It was among the brands that harnessed unique characteristics of TikTok in its quest to engage with customers. One of the successful campaigns that Chipotle launched on TikTok is the GuacDance Challenge, where customers are asked to show their dance style for National Avocado Day.


Recognizing that the "Baby Shark" song had just gone viral, the brand decided to create a similar challenge: the GuacDance challenge. Those influencers were encouraged to show dance videos with modified avocados, if possible. The challenge gained momentum, and thousands of users on TikTok joined in, sharing their own videos.


As reported, it was hugely successful, turning in over 250,000 video submissions and 430 million video starts; more crucially, it drove Chipotle's biggest guacamole day ever, with over 800,000 sides of guacamole served. This case study attests to the effectiveness of TikTok's hashtag challenges in driving user engagement and in turn, sales. By leveraging a popular trend and encouraging participation, Chipotle was able to create a campaign that sparked the attention of their consumer base and very much reflected their brand voice.


Gymshark: Engaging and Building Community with Fitness Challenges


And Gymshark has been the number one fitness brand that TikTok has partnered in building a very strong community of fitness enthusiasts through exciting challenges that have now become the platform for brand promotion. This is a consequence of the brand getting to know the culture and being a really good content creator, which speaks similarly to that of a fitness-minded user.


One of Gymshark's most successful TikTok campaigns was the Gymshark66 challenge, where through the hashtag, users gave one another challenges to complete for 66 days and recorded progress on the platform. Hanghorm believes that it takes 66 days for a new habit to form, and participants share their stringencies on the hashtag Gymshark66. Gymshark collaborated with fitness influencers to push the challenge, shared the personal goals in the relation of fitness, and pushed others to join in too.


Within a short period of time, the campaign took off, with thousands of users creating and sharing their progress. According to Gymshark, millions of views happened within the hashtag Gymshark66, strongly proving a substantial improvement in brand awareness and engagement for the brand on TikTok. More importantly, it helped Gymshark create a loyal community of fitness enthusiasts who felt a personal connection with the brand. In effect, this case study brings the discussion back to how a community is built on TikTok through the enhancing sense of belonging by a particular brand in relation to brand community engagement.


Guess: Where Modes of Fashion Engage their Creativity Through Branded Hashtags


Fashion brand Guess was one of the early companies to come out with an amazing branded hashtag challenge on TikTok. The results: phenomenal. In very little time, the InMyDenim campaign that Guess had started—calling on users to share their top denim fits for the process of transitions from their 'Before' to their 'After' styles—had rapidly grown super-viral within the community.


The call to action was simple but effective: "Post a video that starts in your everyday outfit and switches to your favorite Guess denim fit—all to the tune of 'I'm a Mess' by Bebe Rexha," with the InMyDenim hashtag. So, Guess once again took advantage of the power of TikTok influencer partnerships and got the campaign started. The influencers posted their creative videos and called on their followers to do the same.


The InMyDenim challenge was an enormous success, with millions of views and thousands of user-generated videos. The campaign helped to not only increase brand exposure for Guess on TikTok but also set the brand up to lead in the fashionsphere. This case underlines the potential of branded hashtag challenges on TikTok in creating buzz around a product or brand and encouraging user participation.


The Washington Post: Humanizing News with Humor


The Washington Post is part of a heritage news company; it's not really a brand you would expect to do well on TikTok, yet it has cracked the code for appealing to a younger user base both fun and familiar. But no, its strategy is not solely to bring serious news content, but to turn a spotlight on the people in the newsroom and to inject some fun into the daily news cycle.


One of the many reasons behind the great success that The Washington Post is enjoying on TikTok is Dave Jorgenson, the social media producer who has become the face of the brand on the platform. Jorgenson created videos with himself in comic skits with colleagues, based on current events and the challenges journalists face daily. With humor and a backstage approach to storytelling, The Washington Post has humanized its brand and made its news content more accessible to a young audience.


The findings have just been phenomenal. It sold, attracted several millions of new followers, and still managed to make their videos receive a lot of engagement. This runaway case of brilliant success now proves that even brands within seriously serious industries can similarly succeed on TikTok by fully embracing the platform's playful, creative culture. Humanizing the brand and connecting on a personal level placed The Washington Post effectively in the front of widening its reach and relevance among younger generations.


BMW: Blending Innovation and Tradition in Advertising


BMW, a brand of luxury automobiles, boasts a rich history of creative innovative marketing over decades. A lot of that carries right through until filmic advertising on TikTok, and, since having been melded the new channels up against the traditional advertising elements, success in its campaign could be reached—reaching fresh audiences and reiterating itself as the flagman of technology and design.


And one of the important TikTok campaigns of BMW was when it had the THE1challenge with the launch of the 1Series model. It encouraged users to share something special and original in their clips that emoted the level of personalized experience that BMW wanted their 1 Series to be identified with. BMW collaborated with influencers projecting the brand's innovative and stylish values in mobilizing their followers for the challenge.


Not long after, the THE1challenge started to go viral, with millions of views and a lot of user-generated content. In effect, BMW established its brand quite well as one that is concerned with creativity and individualism, with a subscriber base being considerably young and tech-centered. The case proves that there is high potential for traditional luxury brands like BMW to shine on TikTok due to the app's innovative and user-driven way to create and share content.


Ocean Spray: The Viral Cranberry Juice Phenomenon


One of the most unexpected yet seminal examples of TikTok's ability to drive brands into the limelight is that of Ocean Spray. The sudden elevation to new popularity was credited to a TikTok user, Nathan Apodaca, also known as @420doggface208, who posted a video of himself skateboarding down a highway while drinking cranberry juice to that song by Fleetwood Mac. The video had gone viral almost overnight, with millions of views that inspired a wave of recreations, one at the hands of Fleetwood Mac's own Mick Fleetwood.


Ocean Spray jumped on this moment by creating a TikTok account and engaging with the content. The brand further fueled the story by eventually gifting Apodaca a new truck filled with Ocean Spray products. The impact the video had on sales and brand visibility went through the roof, showing the power of TikTok virality—unforeseeable, enormous.


This case is a testament to staying nimble and being prepared to double down on unexpected opportunities as they present themselves. While the initial virality was organic, Ocean Spray's quick and thoughtful response let the brand multiply a viral video into greater marketing success.


Conclusion: Unprecedented Success with TikTok Ads


As illustrated in the cases covered in this article, TikTok has lots of potential for advertising. From user-generated content and hashtag challenges to humorous skits and viral moments, there are so many ways brands can make an authentic, creative, and impactful connection with the TikTok community.