TikTok makes foray into entertainment

TikTok makes foray into entertainment

The Chinese social video app TikTok is launching an event ticketing service and promotion in Thailand, the first market in Southeast Asia, as it aims to expand its scope beyond social and into entertainment.

TikTok Tickets offers deals and discounts to users buying tickets to concerts, movies and other events, and the company has built strategic partnerships with entertainment brands in the Thai market.

The app has become popular in the past year with Gen Z, disrupting similar social media apps like Snapchat.

In its initial phase, TikTok Tickets has partnered with BEC Tero, Major Cineplex, Neon Festivals and Ticketmelon to offer more than 500 tickets to popular movies and trendy concerts.

Upcoming offerings include tickets to the Mumford & Sons, Green Day and Neon Countdown concerts. TikTok Tickets runs from Nov 19 to Dec 31.

"Under the TikTok Tickets programme, entertainment partners utilise TikTok's strength as a preferred platform among creative young audiences to increase their brand exposure and reach millions of TikTok users in Thailand," said Suppawat Berananda, head of music at TikTok.

"TikTok provides brands with the opportunity to engage with target audiences in a dynamic format," he said. "TikTok, in turn, benefits from enhanced entertainment content on our platform, and collaboration is a stepping stone that can lead to uplifting the Thai entertainment content industry moving forward."

TikTok previously established partnerships and collaborations with leading entertainment content providers like Live Nation, Line TV, Big Mountain Music Festival and S2O Music Festival.

According to TikTok Trends' white paper, TikTok is the top app for short videos and has a large library of music and entertainment on the app. It plans to leverage its 680 million monthly active users worldwide for use in digital marketing.

"Fuelled by the rise of today's mobile devices as the key media consumption, short-form videos have become an essential format for brands to connect with their audiences," Mr Suppawat said. "In fact, nearly 9 in 10 companies use video as a marketing tool today, and by 2022, video will make up 82% of all internet consumer traffic."

TikTok Tickets runs from Nov 19 to Dec 31.

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