In a video published by Tiktok blogger@Dao.Duc.anh, a friend back to the camera and pushed a melancholy plush octopus toy on his head. After constantly feeding food to her friends, the octopus on her head finally turned from the inside out, showing a pleasant expression.

1. Opportunity: Tiktok’s marketing results are significant

Flip octopus plush toys became one of the most popular plush toys last year. On TIKTOK, netizens have shot short videos for their emotional interaction with their relatives and friends by turning the octopus. Topic label #ReversibleOCTOPUS has obtained a total of 34.72 billion views.

Virus -style communication with a flip octopus and its Tiktok short video shocked the brand team Teeturtle. “When we designed the first version of the flip octopus plush toys, the entire team was very excited about this concept. But you can never predict what the public will accept this product.” Ramy Badie, the founder and CEO of TeetUrtle. After learning that the flipping octopus had been spread, he recalled that his original response was panic because he realized that all the inventory was about to be sold out in 24 hours.

TIKTOK is one of the fastest -growing UCG short video platforms in the past two years. It provides a direct channel for the key customer base of toy manufacturers. According to Statista’s data last year, about 25%of US TIKTOK users are between 10 and 19 years old. Thousands of toys will appear when searching for topical labels #TOYS on the application. A variety of products and diverse gameplay are naturally attractive to young people.

Although some toy manufacturers like Teeturtle have not consciously used this “viral communication” method to sell products, some companies have begun to use Tiktok to promote brand marketing. A more successful case is Zuru’s 5 Surprise Mini Brands series.

Zuru launched MINI Brands as early as 2019, a blind bag toy with a micro -shrinking version of the popular food and daily necessities. In 2020, the company opened Tiktok’s online marketing strategy, started to post about 20 videos on Tiktok every week, and cooperated with the young KOL in the station to promote it. By evaluating which video performance is good, and what performs poorly to adjust the subsequent video shooting and payment content accordingly. As of November last year, the sales of 5 Surprise Mini Brands increased by 104%. The number of people subscribing to the MINI Brands Tiktok channel in the month also reached a record high.

2. Challenge: Viral marketing is facing problems

Although it is a marketing goal for many toy brands on Tiktok, this method is not without any disadvantages.

First of all, the brand should ensure that the goods inventory is sufficient to deal with the purchase needs of the outbreak after the viral transmission. This is particularly difficult to supply chain delays and shortage of raw materials in the background of the global epidemic. At the same time, the brand must constantly produce new content to maintain popular and avoid being forgotten by consumers because of “outdated”. Zuru’s marketing director Henry Gordon said that the Zuru team always develops a new generation of MINI Brands products 18-24 months in advance.

Another problem -counterfeit and shoddy is the use of the popularity and shortage of product after the spread of toy virus. This problem is the most serious in the field of plush toys. Jazwares’s Squishmallows plush toy series is another toy popular on Tiktok. The company specializes in a team dedicated to checking counterfeit products. In the past year, Teeturtle has also faced many times the flipping of octopus plush toys flooding and supplying shortages of supply.

In addition, although viral marketing may deepen audience memories and form group effects in a short period of time, it also reflects the characteristics of the short life cycle. After the information reaches the saturation, the attention will gradually decline, and it will even produce negative effects due to causing the audience’s rebellious emotions.

3. Cooperation: Brand+Followers

Despite these challenges, the strong user creativity and participation provided by the Tiktok social media platform cannot be ignored. Some brands choose to promote marketing with followers who are produced as a platform content.

Taking 5 Surprise Mini Brands as an example, many follower accounts have made very diverse and creative content outputs based on the product for a year. The content of these videos from offline retail store adventure, personal collection sharing to more novel ideas. A video blogger even proposes to his partner through the ring hidden in a bag (Zuru helps coordinate completed this surprise).

This reflects the changes in marketing methods by Tiktok’s user -centric characteristics. Companies that are increasingly using Tiktok to conduct online toy marketing toys have mentioned the importance of interacting with consumers and listening to consumer needs. The Barbie Color Reveal series has achieved great success on Tiktok, and Kimberly Barbosa, the person in charge of the marketing and marketing, said that the team is knowing the results of real -time observation and analysis.

Gerhard Runken, Jazwares senior vice president of brand and marketing, also highlighted the key role followers play in social media marketing. “You can make a video and brand followers will make it go viral,” Runken said. “Our mission is to take the content to the next level.” He pointed out that influencers should be allowed to create content with their authentic voices to maintain an emotional connection between brands and followers.

The traffic of social media platforms represented by TikTok is random and trends change rapidly. Is constantly chasing the trend, with a viral marketing video to attract attention, or to form a brand effect, with followers emotional connection for brand precipitation – how to create a set of their own play, stand out – this is every brand must face the survival proposition.