"ADVERTISINGWEEK ASIA 2019" "TikTok" Hosts Seminar (Video Available)

ADVERTISINGWEEK ASIA 2019, an event where leading professionals in marketing, advertising, technology, and branding from around the world gather and network, opened on May 27 at Tokyo Midtown in Minato Ward. (The event runs until the 30th.)
The event features various seminars and workshops led by professionals from different industries. This marks the fourth year it has been held in Tokyo; in 2018, approximately 15,000 people participated over three days.

ByteDance, operator of the short-form video platform "TikTok," held its "TikTok FOREFRONT" seminar at the venue on the 28th.
Part 1 featured Eiji Suzuki, leader of TikTok's in-house solutions team "X Design Center," who kicked off the seminar.
Suzuki began by introducing TikTok, which covers 150 countries and regions and boasts 9.5 million monthly active users in Japan alone.

He explained the reasons for the platform's growth: "Algorithm-driven delivery of optimal videos to each user," "The video environment continuously evolving from 4G to 5G," "The current trend where brands follow influencers who have become the main protagonists," and "The rise of a generation unafraid of self-expression, as seen in the mandatory introduction of dance education."

Furthermore, as a new marketing model, it proposed "(Al)SAS" to replace the "AISAS" model advocated by Dentsu Inc. in 2004. (Al) stands for ALGORITHM, and the first S stands for SYMPATHIZE.
He emphasized that in today's saturated market for both goods and information, proposals based on emotional resonance through platforms capable of achieving high engagement via algorithms are more important than rational searches.

Suzuki introduced NTT Docomo's case study as an example of advertising using TikTok and invited Yusuke Sato (Creative Director/CM Planner) from Dentsu Inc., who executed the campaign.

 

 

Mr. Sato, who led Part 2, presented on future creativity, focusing on the structure of Docomo's "Everyone, Right in the Middle." campaign.
Docomo's ad features three characters freely moving between different layers – "human form," "Muppet," and "animation" – as the story unfolds. He highlighted how their exposure spans mass media, digital, real-world events, and social media.

As an example of adapting to a hyper-consumption society (where trends quickly become stale), he showed the "HUNGRY DAYS" CM series for Cup Noodles. He demonstrated how to create ads that aren't easily consumed by repeatedly devising mechanisms that become topics in online news.

Suzuki commented, "Sato's approach to content creation is crucial for capturing and sustaining the attention of fickle users when deploying ads and marketing on TikTok." He added, "From Sato's presentation, it's clear that advertising techniques honed over time remain fully applicable on new platforms and can achieve the Alsace model."
Sato expressed strong interest in "creative work that integrates campaigns made by professionals with those conceived by the digital native generation, represented by TikTok users." Suzuki also called out, "Going forward, I want everyone to consider integrated campaigns combining mass media and TikTok, which at first glance seem very different."

At the TikTok booth, demonstrations were held showing how popular influencers post short videos and their filming techniques.