The TikTok Creative Digest: Combining the region’s love for football and creativity for a winning formula!

TikTok has become a vibrant place where people find their communities and rally around a shared passion for the sport they love – with football content in particular kicking off on the platform. This has given brands an opportunity to make real connections with TikTok users by embracing the culture that makes the platform unique; building on key calendar moments, events and happenings to fuel brand love.

There’s no denying, football is the world’s most popular sport and the Middle East is no exception. The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2020, took the world by storm from June 11th to July 11, 2021 – ending with Italy taking home the big trophy. The tournament may be over, but for many brands this was just the beginning in creating long lasting memorable moments with their audience.

The excitement surrounding Euro 2020 fueled brand campaigns on TikTok which resonated greatly in the MENAT region and delivered brilliant results in a recent IPSOS study.

• 81% of MENAT football fans watched content created by brands on TikTok.

• 76% of them put on their creative hats and took part in specially curated #HashtagChallenges to celebrate all things football.

• 79% of the TikTok community resonated with other users' football content and engaged with it by sharing or reposting that content, making the fan-tastic content on the platform a winner!

Shant Oknayan, General Manager of Global Business Solutions METAP, TikTok said:

“The great level of traction that the Euro 2020 content gained from our community is a testament to our platform's success in enabling brands to engage more authentically with their audience Brands in the region were able to stay on-trend, share adrenaline-pumping moments, and develop outstanding campaigns that deeply resonate with their audiences, delivering tangible results..”

And in honour of the UEFA 2020 Euro Cup and the love we've seen grow exponentially for football on the platform the next edition of The Creative Digest - TikTok’s bi-monthly video newsletter featuring the most innovative brand campaigns on the platform - uncovers the brand moments that scored big goals and won the hearts of their audience with football!

While TikTok was packed with joyful and entertaining content by many brands, here are three that took the experience to another level and scored big with football lovers on TikTok:

Gillette

Gillette invited its audience to show their favorite goal celebration in an engaging video, featuring the soft and fresh after-shave face of a Gillette user.

Head and Shoulders

H&S asked all football fans to share how they celebrate their favorite moments through videos showing how to maintain an ice cold head this summer while celebrating their favorite teams.

Nivea Men

Nivea Men opted to challenge users to share their #GameReady rituals. Nivea Men posted a video featuring Ronaldinho preforming the game rituals and interacting with its men products.