The TikTok takeover: Rethinking market research

TikTok’s impact on culture has, to this point, been more significant than its impact on ad spend. But the gap is closing. Ad spend on TikTok is predicted to grow by 20-25% over the next year. As the platform matures and big brands and agencies see the impact of their experiments, its importance in the media mix is set to rise.  

From the consumer’s perspective, TikTok has already had a profound impact. Ask any teenager how they search for something, and the answer is likely to be TikTok first. Not Google, TikTok.  

This means that how they (and increasingly older demographics) learn about the world is fundamentally changing. Does your team have the right skills to keep up with these changes?  

If you don’t use TikTok, it’s easy to miss how influential it is. That’s the thing with availability bias. But it can’t be ignored. TikTok has already uprooted category norms and helped challenger brands gain significant market share. It’s the kind of growth most firms can only dream of.  

The challenge for consumer insight teams is simple. If we don’t understand the impact that TikTok can have in our market, then we’ll continue to be at risk from those that do. Our insight teams need to address this gap in our consumer knowledge. Behaviour change theory tells us that motivation is important but so is the ability to change.  

This session with Jeremy Hollow tackles both. Using two case studies that show how TikTok has enabled fundamental changes to the dynamics of two different markets, he explains why you should care about TikTok. He also shares a framework for interpreting TikTok data to drive consumer and market insight.?? 

What you’ll learn: 

• How TikTok is shifting consumer behaviour and the search landscape, overtaking traditional platforms like Google, especially among younger demographics 
• How market research teams must develop new competencies to effectively harness TikTok's data-rich environment for consumer insights 
• A TikTok data analysis framework you can use to interpret TikTok data 
• How to bridge the gap in consumer knowledge, ensuring your teams are not left vulnerable to competitors who are effectively harnessing TikTok