Dive Brief:

• TikTok is launching a new ad product that lets brands connect with creators and crowdsource content for marketing campaigns, the social media company announced on May 18. Branded Mission is in beta-testing and available to marketers across more than a dozen markets, with plans to add additional markets later this year.
• With the new feature, advertisers can develop a brief and share it with the platform’s creator community, who can then produce videos for brands to turn into ads in exchange for a potential traffic boost and payment via TikTok’s ad revenue share program. All adult creators who have at least 1,000 followers are eligible to participate.
• Branded Mission is designed to enhance relationships between brands and creators who are integral in developing authentic content on the booming social media site.

Dive Insight:

While brands on TikTok already have some capabilities to tap creators for ads on the platform, Branded Mission will likely give creators — especially emerging ones — an additional way to be discovered and establish partnerships.

Branded Mission is structured in a similar manner to challenges, a popular form of TikTok content that encourages participation, where marketers disclose basic requirements and the potential earnings a creator can pocket. Creators then can opt to participate and produce a short-form video in their style that also meets the requirements.

“Creators are at the center of creativity, culture and entertainment on TikTok,” the company said in the announcement. “With Branded Mission, we’re excited to bring even more creators into the branded content ecosystem and explore ways to reward emerging and established creators.”

The new feature will likely broaden brands’ creative options, as it could help brands discover emerging talent and provide ample content to choose from to turn into an ad. The product also creates a direct communication channel for brands and creators, potentially removing the need for agencies that offer influencer marketing services.

Branded Mission is the latest feature TikTok has introduced as it builds out its ad product suite in an attempt to lure advertisers and monetize the site that’s most popular with Gen Z. The platform earlier in May debuted a contextual advertising solution, dubbed TikTok Pulse, to ensure brands’ ads are placed near the top 4% of videos on the app. It marked the first ad product with a revenue share element for creators, though only creators with at least 100,000 followers could participate in the program’s initial stage.