Dive Brief:

• TrillerNet launched early access to Cliqz, an algorithm-free short message service (SMS) platform that connects creators directly with fans, according to details emailed to Marketing Dive. TrillerNet, which announced the news during Advertising Week, is the parent company of social video app Triller.
• Cliqz will offer creators monetization opportunities via brand activations, and is being tested by top creators including the D'Amelio family, Avani Gregg, Madi Monroe and Greg Metelus, along with sister brands Triller Fight Club and Verzuz.
• With Cliqz, TrillerNet seeks to differentiate its platforms from competitors including TikTok and Snapchat as a destination for creators, who can apply for early access to the new platform now. Cliqz was developed by Amplifiy.ai, which TrillerNet acquired in April.

Dive Insight:

TrillerNet continues to build out its offerings with an SMS platform that could help make its flagship product a more attractive destination for creators. Along with connecting creators with fans, Cliqz will offer them ways to make money through brand partnerships. CEO Mahi de Silva said the platform has received "huge commitments" from beauty brands, Ad Age reported.

With its algorithm-free approach and De Silva's claim that "creators should own their audiences, not the platforms," Cliqz seeks to differentiate from rivals that have worked to entice creators to their respective platforms. Facebook in July announced plans to invest $1 billion in creators on its core app and Instagram through 2022, while Snap this month announced Challenges, a feature that helps creators earn money on its short-form video platform Spotlight. Many of these moves come in the wake of TikTok's explosion as a platform for content and advertising that has made celebrities — and brand partners — out of creators like Dixie and Charli D'Amelio.

"Using Cliqz to connect directly with fans around the world at no cost is really compelling to anyone with a large following on social media," Marc D'Amelio, father of the D'Amelio sisters, said in a statement. "But also being able to monetize those direct connections via Triller's unique brand activations makes Cliqz a no-brainer for any top creator."

TrillerNet has made several moves this year to establish and distinguish itself in a crowded but growing marketplace for social video. Cliqz builds on the company's previous acquisition of conversational artificial intelligence (AI) platform Amplify.ai, which was co-founded by de Silva, Adam Schuetz and Manoj Malhotra — a team that helped pioneer SMS technology, per details emailed to Marketing Dive.

TrillerNet has also made moves into content, acquiring livestreaming platform Verzuz — which exploded in popularity in the early, homebound days of the pandemic — and FITE TV, a live and pay-per-view streaming platform focused on combat sports. The content plays have brought more talent into the Triller fold, with rappers (and Verzuz performers) Fat Joe and Big Daddy Kane receiving early access to Cliqz.