Emerging amid a surge in the user-created video, Triller faces a difficult challenge– and essential opportunity– in snagging brand name dollars from mainstay social apps as they contend with legal fights.
Triller is getting traction as an advertising platform as marketers seek to reach a growing audience for user-created videos. Digitally native brands like Manscaped, L’Or éal’s NYX Professional Makeup, and legacy players including Pepsi recently have developed campaigns for Triller, the buzzy app that uses an expert system (AI) to let users quickly produce a professional-looking video.
The user-created video has emerged as a valuable part of brands’ mobile marketing methods, punctuated by Reddit’s acquisition of video-sharing social app Dubsmash today and TikTok’s explosive development over the previous two years. That meteoric appeal has led rivals including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat to baby crib the format and develop similar features for developing videos set to a music track.
“There’s some magic into this design [of] utilizing well-known music clips, permitting people to mash them up together– and you create this sort of purposeful scheme where the intent is not about your friends, it’s about a shared experience and fun,” said Brian Bowman, founder, and president of Consumer Acquisition, an agency that specializes in marketing apps on social networks. “That is what has changed at least from the experience side.”
NYX tests Triller with charm drop, Snapchat store
Charm brand names that were once early adopters of influencer marketing likewise are dipping their toes into newbies like Triller. L’Or éal’s NYX brand name of cosmetics this month began a campaign throughout Triller and Snapchat. The promotion revealed the charm brand name’s spring 2021 collection and will consist of a virtual performance by vocalist Bebe Rexha and an enhanced truth (AR) pop-up store in Triller, according to a statement.
The virtual shop is the current sign that Triller and Snapchat have developed a way to integrate their platforms after first announcing their collective efforts in March. At that time, the companies stated they would provide Snapchat users the choice to publish their self-made video to a story in Triller. In a more powerful platform tie-in, NYX’s project now aims to turn passive users of Snapchat into active individuals– and possibly paying clients– through the Triller shop. It’s an innovative way for the brand to extend its reach among more youthful audiences who are less most likely to consume content on traditional channels like direct TELEVISION.
NYX’s campaign also comes as Triller’s audience shows significant growth. Earlier this year, it was one of the 5 most downloaded video-sharing apps in the U.S. and became a prospective competitor to TikTok, according to a Sensor Tower price quote. As TikTok dealt with a stronger possibility of being banned in the U.S. earlier this fall, video apps consisting of Triller and Likee expanded their share of downloads from 24% in January to 44% in August. As of early August, Triller reported 65 million month-to-month active users, though those figures haven’t been verified by independent analytics companies.
The social video app now faces a complicated obstacle in taking on deep-pocketed tech giants with billions of users and legions of marketers. However, competitors Facebook, Google, and TikTok each are knotted in legal battles that might open an opportunity for Triller to complete the spaces as brand names dabble in more nascent platforms. Facebook and Google are mired in antitrust examinations that might stop more expansionary acquisitions or make them more careful about quashing start-ups like Triller. TikTok’s mom and dad company ByteDance is negotiating an offer to keep its app operating in the U.S. amid its own legal squabbles.
Triller is majority-owned by Proxima Media, a Hollywood studio established by Ryan Kavanaugh, manufacturer of movies such as “The Quick and the Furious” and “The Social media.” The video start-up was in talks to go public through a merger into an openly traded shell company, Reuters reported in October.
” There’s some magic into this style [of] using widely known music clips, enabling people to mash them up together– and you develop this type of purposeful combination where the intent is not about your buddies, it has to do with a shared experience and enjoyable.”
Brian Bowman
Creator and President, Customer Acquisition
On The Other Hand, Triller has partnered with brands on original programmings, such as a November boxing match between Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. The “Tyson on Triller” match was sponsored by DraftKings, SmartStop Self Storage, and WeedMaps, and marked the very first event by Proxima Media. Snoop Dogg hosted the match, which was the very first from a brand-new boxing league that’s prepping five to eight events a year on Triller.
In current weeks, drink leviathan Pepsi has similarly entered into participatory occasions on Triller. The soda brand, which has a long history of campaigns featuring stars like Michael Jackson and Britney Spears, this month announced a collaboration with rap artist Fat Joe to develop a truth competitor’s show on Triller. The “Your Wildest Dreams” contest asks aiming artists to share performance videos on the app for a possibility to appear in a 2021 commercial for its Wild Cherry Pepsi variant. This month’s contest shows how digital platforms like Triller are developing new social media-inspired show formats that encourage participation and permit competitors similar to “American Idol” and “The Voice.”
NYX isn’t the only charm marketer that’s establishing campaigns for Triller, as seen this month in promotion by E.l.f. Cosmetics. The brand announced a strategy to debut a five-song vacation album on the app while billing itself as the very first beauty brand to launch a Triller campaign. The “e.l.f. the hauls” album remixes seasonal classics from emerging artists and includes videos starring social influencers. Together, these campaigns indicate that some brand names are exploring Triller as they seek to diversify their social media efforts and broader marketing plans.
