Case Background
As the US market gradually becomes saturated, international streaming giants are expanding into global markets. Southeast Asia, with its population advantage, has gradually become the focus of competition. Chinese video platform Tuke has already established a presence in Southeast Asia. With more and more streaming players joining the fray, competition for the Southeast Asian market is becoming increasingly fierce. In August 2021, Tuke's first Southeast Asian original drama "Soul Ferry: Nanyang Legends" was launched on the international version of Tuke. Tuke hopes to run ads on TikTok to enhance brand awareness and increase app downloads.
Solution
To achieve the above goals, Tuke chose TikTok, which gathers a large number of streaming users and has global influence, as its main battleground. With the assistance of TikTok for Business partner agency GURUONLINE, Tuke conducted full-funnel marketing to boost the launch of the new drama, creating a "Film & TV Landmark Tour" challenge that combines the series with Singapore tourist attractions. At the same time, TikTok's premium ad resources were used to increase exposure for the series and brand, achieving deeper localized marketing.
In the early stage before the series aired, Tuke chose to use Reach&Frequency to increase exposure for the new drama, comprehensively showcasing content related to the series, continuously reaching the target audience, and enhancing user awareness of both the series and the Tuke brand. At the same time, a onelink redirect link was set up to drive app downloads and installations while gaining brand exposure, achieving both branding and performance goals.
During the peak period, Tuke used multiple TikTok ad products for content marketing to help the new drama break out strongly in the Southeast Asian market.
During the campaign's peak, Tuke chose the highly engaging Brand Challenge to promote the new drama. At the same time, high-exposure One Day Max and Brand Premium in-feed ads were used to help the challenge gain the best discovery page exposure on the day of the event.
For the challenge's creative concept, Tuke integrated the main themes of the series, using the lead actors as narrators for the sticker creative, and guided users to participate through simple trigger actions. In cooperation with the Singapore Tourism Board, famous Singapore attractions such as Chinatown, Little India, and Katong/Joo Chiat were incorporated into the sticker creative, combined with different characters from the series to further promote "Nanyang" culture.
In addition to referencing characters and local landmarks, the theme song "Eternal Night" was chosen as the background music for the stickers, quickly immersing users in the world of "Soul Ferry: Nanyang Legends." The soul of the series was injected into the stickers, and the passionate rhythm perfectly matched the creative concept, allowing users to experience immersive drama chasing through the stickers and also making the theme song a hit.
For influencer marketing, Tuke used TikTok Creator Marketplace, inviting a total of 9 top Singaporean KOLs from different backgrounds and 6 actors from "Soul Ferry: Nanyang Legends" to support the challenge, precisely reaching the actors' fan bases, users interested in lifestyle, drama, and the broader entertainment community. In addition, Tuke pinned the KOLs' challenge videos on the challenge aggregation page to provide creative guidance for subsequent UGC.
After the challenge ended, Tuke used high-quality creative materials from influencer participation to run TikTok brand auction ads, continuing to reach more users at a better CPM. At the same time, this helped Tuke gain more off-platform traffic and promote download conversion goals.
Marketing Results
For the new drama's campaign in the Singapore market, as of the end of the event day, the total topic views exceeded 7M, with nearly 10k video submissions and almost 4,000 participants, and the average engagement rate reached 9.9%, far exceeding the regional average in all metrics. In addition, as of the closing date, topic views reached 29M, a 314% increase from the end of the event day, successfully helping the new drama achieve strong exposure in the Singapore market.
What this signal means for growth teams
This market signal should be treated as an operating prompt, not a standalone trend. The brand question is whether the team can connect TikTok content, creators, paid media, commerce readiness, and reporting into one measurable growth cycle.
Commercial read
- Market signal: TikTok marketing Case Studies
- Published: February 7, 2024
- Commercial lens: TikTok Ads, creators, TikTok Shop, live commerce, and reporting.
- Source transparency: the original source linked in this article
What brands should do next
- Identify the market, audience, product group, and KPI this signal could affect.
- Turn the insight into a small TikTok creative, creator, Shop, or paid media test before scaling spend.
- Add FAQ, offer clarity, product proof, and contact paths so traffic can convert instead of only reading.
- Review weekly performance across reach, click quality, Shop actions, creator output, and revenue impact.
Tuke Marketing helps brands connect TikTok Ads, creator partnerships, TikTok Shop operations, live commerce, and reporting into one accountable operating system.
What should brands do with this TikTok signal?
Brands should translate the signal into a focused operating test across creative, creators, TikTok Shop readiness, paid media, and reporting before increasing budget.
How does Tuke Marketing evaluate this kind of news?
Tuke Marketing reviews platform news through market timing, category demand, creator supply, commerce readiness, and measurable growth actions.
When should a team contact Tuke about this topic?
A team should contact Tuke when it needs to turn a TikTok market signal into a practical launch, creator, advertising, live commerce, or reporting plan.
Source transparency: Tuke cites the original source linked in this article and adds its own operating analysis for brands evaluating TikTok growth decisions.