1
00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:12,840
Speaker 1: Welcome to Strictly Business, Varieties weekly podcast featuring conversations with

2
00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:16,680
Speaker 1: industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment. I'm

3
00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:20,680
Speaker 1: Cynthia Littleton, co editor in chief of Variety Today, my

4
00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:24,799
Speaker 1: guest is Blake Chandley, VP of Global Business Solutions and

5
00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:27,760
Speaker 1: head of Ad Sales for TikTok. TikTok has been at

6
00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:31,400
Speaker 1: the center of the storm around social media. The platform

7
00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:35,320
Speaker 1: has enjoyed meteoric growth over the past year. It's Chinese

8
00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:38,559
Speaker 1: parent company, byte Dance, has also been drawn into the

9
00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:42,400
Speaker 1: geopolitical tensions between the US and China, but the drama

10
00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:46,200
Speaker 1: hasn't dampened the interest of marketers in using the platform

11
00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:49,760
Speaker 1: and it's many tools that are designed, in Chandley's words,

12
00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:55,080
Speaker 1: to inspire creativity and spark joy. In the conversation. Up next,

13
00:00:55,360 --> 00:01:00,320
Speaker 1: the former Facebook executive offers insights into TikTok's rise and

14
00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:03,720
Speaker 1: how the user base and audience has changed during the pandemic.

15
00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:17,280
Speaker 1: Welcome back to Strictly Business. I'm really excited to hear

16
00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:21,800
Speaker 1: from Blake, who is TikTok's VP of Global Business Solutions

17
00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:24,320
Speaker 1: and head of ad Sales for one of the most

18
00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:28,600
Speaker 1: dynamic media platforms that has come along in the in

19
00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:31,000
Speaker 1: the last few years, a time when we have seen

20
00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:34,440
Speaker 1: no shortage of new platforms arriving. But TikTok has made

21
00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:37,600
Speaker 1: quite an impact in a short time, and we're fortunate

22
00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:40,720
Speaker 1: to have Blake to talk to us about the service

23
00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:44,040
Speaker 1: and its evolution. Thank you so much for joining us, Blake. Oh,

24
00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:48,480
Speaker 1: it's more pleasure. Thanks for having me. Well, you are

25
00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:52,160
Speaker 1: coming on just about your one year anniversary with TikTok,

26
00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:54,960
Speaker 1: a company that has been much in the news and

27
00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:59,280
Speaker 1: has made a big impact on pop culture. Can you

28
00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:03,840
Speaker 1: tell us about, you know what, there were so many

29
00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:09,400
Speaker 1: there were so many extraordinary circumstances of circumstances and conditions

30
00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:12,760
Speaker 1: that that certainly made a lot of you know, made

31
00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:16,560
Speaker 1: for ripe conditions for people looking for new kinds of

32
00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:19,960
Speaker 1: short form content and new avenues for creativity, which is

33
00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:23,840
Speaker 1: one of the things that TikTok really has inspired. Can

34
00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:25,800
Speaker 1: you talk us through sort of what were some of

35
00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:31,440
Speaker 1: the accelerants that made such a huge growth here for TikTok. Yeah,

36
00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:34,440
Speaker 1: of course, Well one almost two years now, funny enough,

37
00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:37,399
Speaker 1: and time time flies. I've been with the company um

38
00:02:37,639 --> 00:02:41,440
Speaker 1: and twenty was an interesting year by any measure, as

39
00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:44,880
Speaker 1: you can imagine, um, you know, from our perspective, what

40
00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:47,200
Speaker 1: started out as what we thought would be an amazing

41
00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:51,200
Speaker 1: growth here quickly shifted as COVID came in and people

42
00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:53,959
Speaker 1: started working from home, and then we had Black Lives Matter,

43
00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:55,880
Speaker 1: And there are a number of things that happened through

44
00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:58,480
Speaker 1: the year, but if you look at overall, I think

45
00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:03,040
Speaker 1: one of the things that always surprised us and looking

46
00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:05,200
Speaker 1: back to probably shouldn't come as any surprise given the

47
00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:09,040
Speaker 1: platform is you know, content platform, it's an entertainment platform.

48
00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:13,880
Speaker 1: Is the universal appreciation, universal kind of adoption of the

49
00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:18,799
Speaker 1: platform across all generations. And our mission is to inspire

50
00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:21,160
Speaker 1: creativity and bring joy and I think we did that

51
00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:23,480
Speaker 1: throughout the year in a year where a lot of

52
00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:25,440
Speaker 1: people really appreciated and needing some of that on a

53
00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:29,000
Speaker 1: daily basis. But what really struck me was there was

54
00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:31,440
Speaker 1: a shift us as we saw the year go on

55
00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:35,760
Speaker 1: in two areas. One was around content, right, so diversity

56
00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:38,840
Speaker 1: and content um and then the kinds of creators that

57
00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:42,560
Speaker 1: were creating content the platform, you know, went from you know,

58
00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:46,680
Speaker 1: pretty simple offering to diversity around cooking and d i

59
00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:50,160
Speaker 1: y and education, and we had these amazing creators just

60
00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:53,920
Speaker 1: telling inspiring stories all year long, and that that just continued,

61
00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:56,560
Speaker 1: which then led to the adoption of the platform for

62
00:03:56,680 --> 00:03:59,920
Speaker 1: variety of audiences and so the diversity diversification of our

63
00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:03,680
Speaker 1: audience base. UM went from a relatively younger audience I

64
00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:08,119
Speaker 1: gen z to a an audience has spanned multi generations UM.

65
00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:10,400
Speaker 1: And I think it's all based around storytelling. And I

66
00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:13,440
Speaker 1: was thinking the other day, is we all kind of

67
00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:16,240
Speaker 1: have our own thoughts going into a new year that

68
00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:19,120
Speaker 1: I remember days when we sit around television as a

69
00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:22,240
Speaker 1: family and watch TV, right, and and that was you know,

70
00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:24,880
Speaker 1: going back aways, and it was linear TV, and that's

71
00:04:24,880 --> 00:04:27,280
Speaker 1: just what we did, right, UM on a Sunday night

72
00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:29,360
Speaker 1: or dus And night, or whenever we have our favorite

73
00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:31,440
Speaker 1: TV show and we'd all sit around his family and

74
00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:35,000
Speaker 1: we just don't do that anymore. Screens have really fragmented

75
00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:37,640
Speaker 1: that experience. And so you know, my kids have their

76
00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:39,359
Speaker 1: screens and we have all my wife and I have

77
00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:43,240
Speaker 1: our screens, and most of the time they don't connect. Right.

78
00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:45,680
Speaker 1: What we saw a lot of this year, and then

79
00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:49,800
Speaker 1: looking back, it is a phenomenon, was this connection of generations, right,

80
00:04:49,839 --> 00:04:53,360
Speaker 1: and so people were treating TikTok's and younger generations were

81
00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:56,600
Speaker 1: introducing their parents and grandparents the platform, and so there

82
00:04:56,680 --> 00:04:59,680
Speaker 1: was this this unity again around a family, around this

83
00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:03,800
Speaker 1: content that just didn't exist before. And so I kind

84
00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:06,280
Speaker 1: of feel like there's this interesting movement to stake a

85
00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:09,080
Speaker 1: place around You're connecting that family again, which you know,

86
00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:11,919
Speaker 1: we we we we feel really strongly is part of

87
00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:15,240
Speaker 1: our mission to really you know, to really aspire creativity

88
00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:18,560
Speaker 1: and bring joy across all different people. It's a different

89
00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:23,040
Speaker 1: form of family friendly entertainment on TikTok for sure, much

90
00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:25,839
Speaker 1: of it. What was it that and I'm sure that

91
00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:29,040
Speaker 1: diversification of audience must have been music to your ears,

92
00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:33,039
Speaker 1: being you know, in in charge of selling advertising on

93
00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:38,560
Speaker 1: the platform. What was it though that in in your experience,

94
00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:43,440
Speaker 1: what was it that drove the initial adoption? What was

95
00:05:43,520 --> 00:05:47,320
Speaker 1: the I think that I brought people to the platform. Yeah,

96
00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:49,000
Speaker 1: it's a great it's a great question. I think that

97
00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:52,240
Speaker 1: a lot of people you associate associate us with being

98
00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:57,320
Speaker 1: a social platform, right, and there's this automatic direct association

99
00:05:57,400 --> 00:05:59,920
Speaker 1: with some other players in the space of which role

100
00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:02,599
Speaker 1: intimately familiar. I mean, I think the big difference is

101
00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:05,279
Speaker 1: we're not like we're we're we're interest based for content

102
00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:08,120
Speaker 1: platform UM. And so the ability to people to find

103
00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:11,159
Speaker 1: content that's relevant and interesting in them is really what

104
00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:13,520
Speaker 1: you know, really really what the four you Feed does,

105
00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:16,080
Speaker 1: and that's very, very different than the experience people are

106
00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:18,640
Speaker 1: gonna find anywhere else where. It's reliant to on a

107
00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:21,000
Speaker 1: connection to friends and family and so on and so forth.

108
00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:23,640
Speaker 1: And this is really, in my view, the next generation

109
00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:27,039
Speaker 1: of television, right. And it's it's it's short form, it's

110
00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:29,800
Speaker 1: easy digest it doesn't require a huge commitment in terms

111
00:06:29,839 --> 00:06:33,200
Speaker 1: of time, although people do find themselves once they start

112
00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:36,000
Speaker 1: kind of getting sucked into the TikTok like uh, you know,

113
00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:39,160
Speaker 1: vortex and spending a lot of time. UM. But it's

114
00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:43,080
Speaker 1: easily digestible, it's interesting, and it's all designed specifically for

115
00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:45,560
Speaker 1: you based on your interests UM. And that's how the

116
00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:52,359
Speaker 1: four you Feed really has generated a lot of positivity. UM.

117
00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:56,520
Speaker 1: Of course, TikTok has been in the headlines, you know, again,

118
00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:01,120
Speaker 1: coming off of a pretty incredible year for the for culture,

119
00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:05,039
Speaker 1: for politics, for certainly for public health. UM. You know,

120
00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:07,919
Speaker 1: TikTok and the parent company, bike Dance have been in

121
00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:11,560
Speaker 1: the headlines. There has been there's been a lot of

122
00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:14,840
Speaker 1: strife at the at the political level in the US

123
00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:19,640
Speaker 1: about about the Chinese ownership of bike Dance and how

124
00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:23,080
Speaker 1: how that you know, may or may not be figuring

125
00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:28,000
Speaker 1: into larger kind of geopolitical and business considerations. I realized

126
00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:30,280
Speaker 1: that all of that is going on, you know, at

127
00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:33,640
Speaker 1: a step above the area that you oversee. But can

128
00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:37,560
Speaker 1: you talk about how that the impact of the political

129
00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:41,000
Speaker 1: drama and the uncertainty about whether the company had to

130
00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:43,560
Speaker 1: be sold to continue to operate in the US or

131
00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:47,240
Speaker 1: how did how did that impact your growth? Obviously TikTok

132
00:07:47,320 --> 00:07:51,440
Speaker 1: is growing apace, but was that was that difficult? Did

133
00:07:51,440 --> 00:07:54,280
Speaker 1: that impede growth at all? And was at a difficult

134
00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:56,920
Speaker 1: conversation for you with the marketers that you are selling

135
00:07:56,920 --> 00:08:00,200
Speaker 1: the service to. Ye, It's an appropriate question, and it's

136
00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:02,720
Speaker 1: something that's you know, it's not something else spent a

137
00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:04,360
Speaker 1: lot of time to go too deep in because we're

138
00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:07,360
Speaker 1: you know, still currently in discussions you know, with the

139
00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:10,080
Speaker 1: governments and the regulatory body about you know, about some

140
00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:12,520
Speaker 1: of that. But listen, we we've been pretty clear that

141
00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:14,640
Speaker 1: one there's been a lot of media coverage on it,

142
00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:17,280
Speaker 1: right and uh, you couldn't escape it. It's it's it's

143
00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:19,080
Speaker 1: dropped off a little bit in some of the current

144
00:08:19,400 --> 00:08:23,440
Speaker 1: UM media considerations. But one we've been pretty clear that

145
00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:26,160
Speaker 1: we we just disagree with some of the fundamental premises

146
00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:29,040
Speaker 1: that the government put forward UM in terms of security

147
00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:32,160
Speaker 1: of data, access of data. You know, we're TikTok does

148
00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:35,600
Speaker 1: not exist in China. Are data don sit in China,

149
00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:37,880
Speaker 1: It's it's u S data sits in the US. It

150
00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:40,319
Speaker 1: was somewhere doundancy in Singapore. So, like you know, we're

151
00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:43,560
Speaker 1: very comfortable with with the with the precautions and the

152
00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:46,120
Speaker 1: things that we've done as a company UM, but we've

153
00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:48,000
Speaker 1: agreed we disagree with the government on that one in

154
00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:49,920
Speaker 1: many cases, but we continue to work with them like

155
00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:52,640
Speaker 1: we have we have ongoing almost daily dialogue with the

156
00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:55,199
Speaker 1: governments around how do we resolve this because at the

157
00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:57,280
Speaker 1: end of the day, we want to protect our users

158
00:08:57,320 --> 00:08:59,439
Speaker 1: and we want to you know, that's a huge game

159
00:08:59,480 --> 00:09:02,120
Speaker 1: and we have u is protecting our user base and

160
00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:04,560
Speaker 1: it's a number one priority as a company. And so

161
00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:07,120
Speaker 1: anything we do to empower our our audience or a

162
00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:10,439
Speaker 1: hundred million plus users in the US, UM protect them,

163
00:09:10,480 --> 00:09:13,120
Speaker 1: empower them. It's it's really we feel an obligation to

164
00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:15,800
Speaker 1: protect them in that sid and so you know that

165
00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:18,120
Speaker 1: comes with it. You know a lot of different discussions

166
00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:20,360
Speaker 1: we need to have and and to get people comfortable

167
00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:23,760
Speaker 1: with that. But we're ongoing negotiations, discussions with the objective

168
00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:27,400
Speaker 1: of having an outcome that's positive for our users. Do

169
00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:30,720
Speaker 1: you have a sense that the the administration changed, the

170
00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:35,079
Speaker 1: incoming by an administration might have a different view. I

171
00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:37,280
Speaker 1: can't really speak to that right now. I know there's

172
00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:39,920
Speaker 1: a lot of discussions taking places. You can imagine there's

173
00:09:39,920 --> 00:09:44,520
Speaker 1: a lot of um dialogue across the aisle everywhere. But

174
00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:46,560
Speaker 1: right now, I think I'll just let that be and

175
00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:48,520
Speaker 1: we'll see where things fall over the next few weeks.

176
00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:52,120
Speaker 1: Was it at all? Has it again at the sort

177
00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:55,760
Speaker 1: of Washington drama? Has it hasn't been a damper at all?

178
00:09:56,040 --> 00:09:58,800
Speaker 1: Four marketers? I mean, it seems like the TikTok story

179
00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:02,720
Speaker 1: for the the TikTok itself has been nothing but growth.

180
00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:05,839
Speaker 1: And I'm guessing that that's that that is what what

181
00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:07,800
Speaker 1: people want to hear at a time when it's you know,

182
00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:11,600
Speaker 1: it's reaching audiences is harder than ever. Yeah, we've been

183
00:10:11,679 --> 00:10:15,040
Speaker 1: really really surprised surprise of the support I mean the community,

184
00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:18,720
Speaker 1: the advertising community in general, whether the advertisers agencies have

185
00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:21,760
Speaker 1: really supported us through this whole process. And we've had

186
00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:26,240
Speaker 1: obviously discussions and dialogue around it, UM and but but

187
00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:30,960
Speaker 1: the universal support received has been UM really really positive.

188
00:10:31,280 --> 00:10:33,040
Speaker 1: We spend a lot more of our time talking around

189
00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:36,320
Speaker 1: brand safety and community safety and what we're doing not

190
00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:38,360
Speaker 1: only is an individual company, but as an industry to

191
00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:42,000
Speaker 1: protect users. Then we have around some of the political

192
00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:45,079
Speaker 1: dynamics that are taking place, and so the vast majority

193
00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:48,280
Speaker 1: of our time has spent talking around those subject matters.

194
00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:51,520
Speaker 1: You do a lot of obviously a lot of creative

195
00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:54,920
Speaker 1: things with marketers and sponsorship. How can you talk in

196
00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:58,600
Speaker 1: general about kind of how your your typical how a

197
00:10:58,679 --> 00:11:02,680
Speaker 1: typical market deal with tiptop TikTok works? Is it? Is

198
00:11:02,679 --> 00:11:06,040
Speaker 1: it CPM based, is it time? How do you how

199
00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:09,040
Speaker 1: do you? I said, if you start the highest level,

200
00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:11,720
Speaker 1: it's it's a fundamental change, right, we're being a little

201
00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:14,200
Speaker 1: bit I think we'll be a little bit disruptive in

202
00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:18,080
Speaker 1: that sense. UM. Digital marketing has gotten very much around

203
00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:22,520
Speaker 1: programmatic and it's you know, it's very tech driven. UM,

204
00:11:22,559 --> 00:11:25,520
Speaker 1: it's we've lost the art of storytelling and I think

205
00:11:25,559 --> 00:11:28,440
Speaker 1: that's something that we identified very early on the brands

206
00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:31,800
Speaker 1: one more of and given the inspirational environment and the

207
00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:34,240
Speaker 1: storytelling takes place every day with our users and our

208
00:11:34,240 --> 00:11:37,520
Speaker 1: comedy in general, what brands want to do is find

209
00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:39,760
Speaker 1: a voice in that right. And so the conversations we

210
00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:42,320
Speaker 1: have a brand's first and foremost is around what did

211
00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:45,760
Speaker 1: their voice look like? An environment around authenticity, right, how

212
00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:48,280
Speaker 1: do they storytell? How do they how are they quote

213
00:11:48,360 --> 00:11:51,120
Speaker 1: less than perfect? Because at the end of the day,

214
00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:53,920
Speaker 1: you know the concept of going and creating a million

215
00:11:53,960 --> 00:11:57,439
Speaker 1: dollar mini film and then put it onto all these

216
00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:00,200
Speaker 1: different platforms, it doesn't resonate as well in the put more.

217
00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:03,080
Speaker 1: People want to see authenticity. Um, you know, they want

218
00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:05,120
Speaker 1: they want brands come in and be involved. They want

219
00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:08,040
Speaker 1: brands to invite them to be involved. And so the

220
00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:11,160
Speaker 1: conversation first and foremost is around creativity and the role

221
00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:14,040
Speaker 1: the brands play the platform and the roles the brands

222
00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:17,440
Speaker 1: play a really really important role. Um. We do not

223
00:12:17,559 --> 00:12:20,800
Speaker 1: want brands to be perceived as kind of advertising. I

224
00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:22,440
Speaker 1: mean I have to watch it in order to have

225
00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:25,160
Speaker 1: access to this free content. We want users look at

226
00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:28,080
Speaker 1: the branding content and say, wow, that was cool, I

227
00:12:28,120 --> 00:12:30,840
Speaker 1: want to watch it again, right, And so we see

228
00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:32,600
Speaker 1: that kind of path, we see that kind of passion

229
00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:34,199
Speaker 1: of brands to do it right. And there are a

230
00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:37,800
Speaker 1: number of brands that have UM. All year long, we

231
00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:41,920
Speaker 1: saw amazing executions from brands that really inspired people and

232
00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:45,400
Speaker 1: drew them in and and ask people to participate. And

233
00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:48,240
Speaker 1: so that's the first and foremost the conversations we have

234
00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:50,280
Speaker 1: with brands. And then the next question is how do

235
00:12:50,280 --> 00:12:52,160
Speaker 1: we amplify that and how do we you know, kind

236
00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:54,360
Speaker 1: of invest behind that to make sure we get the

237
00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:57,360
Speaker 1: right reach and frequency and the right kpi s or

238
00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:00,160
Speaker 1: measurement that that that they need in order to you

239
00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:06,080
Speaker 1: to invests. But would you say that marketers come to

240
00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:09,480
Speaker 1: you do they Are they generally looking kind of in

241
00:13:09,520 --> 00:13:15,320
Speaker 1: the age demographic based buying or are they looking for

242
00:13:15,559 --> 00:13:18,240
Speaker 1: we want to be in your anything that involves cooking

243
00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:21,840
Speaker 1: or anything that involves skateboarding or something like by topic

244
00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:24,760
Speaker 1: and more or is it a mix of both. It's

245
00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:26,760
Speaker 1: mixed both, Like you have people that you know, certainly

246
00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:29,280
Speaker 1: there are certain audiences the brands are targeting based on

247
00:13:29,920 --> 00:13:33,840
Speaker 1: their brand right UM, and so they're super there's typically

248
00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:38,719
Speaker 1: some demographic considerations as well as contextual um and so

249
00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:44,280
Speaker 1: we work with brands on both those parts. We'll take

250
00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:47,680
Speaker 1: a quick break before hearing more from Blake Chandley about

251
00:13:47,720 --> 00:13:56,240
Speaker 1: TikTok Ad campaigns that move the needle this year. Welcome

252
00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:59,960
Speaker 1: back to strictly Business. Here's more with TikTok Ad sales

253
00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:03,800
Speaker 1: chief Blake Channelly. You give us a for instance of

254
00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:07,000
Speaker 1: a of an execution or two that you think really

255
00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:11,679
Speaker 1: harnessed the capabilities that TikTok brings, the unique capabilities of

256
00:14:11,679 --> 00:14:16,960
Speaker 1: TikTok Um. Yeah, I think that, I think that, I

257
00:14:16,960 --> 00:14:18,840
Speaker 1: think I think there were two that they come up

258
00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:20,520
Speaker 1: and I look at I look at it almost in

259
00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:22,560
Speaker 1: two seconds. They are the big brands, the ones we

260
00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:25,640
Speaker 1: all know, these national brands that are amazing marketers that

261
00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:29,000
Speaker 1: we have our smaller SMB community which is actually doing

262
00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:34,200
Speaker 1: some really in traditional stuff as well. Um the there

263
00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:36,120
Speaker 1: was one there was one campaign by under Armour that

264
00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:39,680
Speaker 1: was done this kind of the holiday period which was

265
00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:42,800
Speaker 1: show up and show off, which we had. They retained

266
00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:44,800
Speaker 1: a number of our creators and that was another. That's

267
00:14:44,880 --> 00:14:47,240
Speaker 1: our core premacy work with brands, lars connecting with the

268
00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:51,760
Speaker 1: creators or some people call them influencers, but um to

269
00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:53,480
Speaker 1: help them tell their story and bring their story in

270
00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:55,840
Speaker 1: life from the platform. And so they retained a number

271
00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:58,960
Speaker 1: of their athletes to commit and do some interesting things

272
00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:02,120
Speaker 1: with some music in the BA around that were there

273
00:15:02,160 --> 00:15:04,600
Speaker 1: were there were great right, whether it be basketball related

274
00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:06,680
Speaker 1: or whatever it might be. And then they basically put

275
00:15:06,680 --> 00:15:08,440
Speaker 1: that out there to our community and said, you know,

276
00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:11,360
Speaker 1: show up and show off, and it was around skills,

277
00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:13,480
Speaker 1: around different things. And then they allowed the community to

278
00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:15,960
Speaker 1: take that and to make it their own right. And

279
00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:18,240
Speaker 1: so it could have been in the basketball space. It

280
00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:20,920
Speaker 1: could have been someone either on a basketball's court doing

281
00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:23,600
Speaker 1: something amazing with a trick shot or a donk or

282
00:15:23,640 --> 00:15:25,760
Speaker 1: whatever it might be. Or there were camping. There was

283
00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:29,080
Speaker 1: some creative with someone in a supermarket grabbing you know,

284
00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:32,160
Speaker 1: paper towels off the top shelf. Given all their shows empty,

285
00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:34,840
Speaker 1: and that was their version of showing off, right, And

286
00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:37,240
Speaker 1: so have you generated? I think there are one point

287
00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:39,760
Speaker 1: four billion pieces of created at one point four million

288
00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:42,920
Speaker 1: pieces of creative that were that were developed by our

289
00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:45,760
Speaker 1: user base in conjunction of the campaign and had eight

290
00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:47,760
Speaker 1: billion views. I mean, that was one that was great,

291
00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:49,960
Speaker 1: But another one which I thought was really amazing and

292
00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:52,880
Speaker 1: it goes to storytelling. Was Cheerios. Um, I don't know

293
00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:55,000
Speaker 1: if you're you saw this, but you know, Cheerios had

294
00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:59,760
Speaker 1: an amazing commercial back in the nineties which was a

295
00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:02,440
Speaker 1: great mother with a baby with cheerios on the on

296
00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:04,640
Speaker 1: the on the top and then you know, normally you'd

297
00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:07,120
Speaker 1: be feeding cheerials to the baby and this time the

298
00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:09,680
Speaker 1: grandmother was Christmas time, saying, here's where you live, and

299
00:16:09,680 --> 00:16:11,960
Speaker 1: the baby wants the cheerios and she holds it up

300
00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:13,560
Speaker 1: and the baby's like, I'm gonna eat it, and then

301
00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:16,440
Speaker 1: they she puts it down because here's your uncle John lives.

302
00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:19,400
Speaker 1: Here's where I live, and unfortunately we all camp be together,

303
00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:21,200
Speaker 1: but I'm glad that I'm here with you. And she

304
00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:24,119
Speaker 1: puts two curios together and it was just a very emotional,

305
00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:27,120
Speaker 1: you know, and you know General Mills and Turials, you know,

306
00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:31,080
Speaker 1: no family and Christmas and holidays now and so that

307
00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:33,720
Speaker 1: was that was done years and years ago television campaign

308
00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:36,560
Speaker 1: while there was a creator on the platform that basically

309
00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:39,760
Speaker 1: came up with an idea that said, you know, General Mills,

310
00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:43,440
Speaker 1: please please please recreate this today, but use zoom and

311
00:16:43,560 --> 00:16:46,120
Speaker 1: usually and so and literally the brand and she tagged

312
00:16:46,120 --> 00:16:48,080
Speaker 1: General mills in and literally the brand brought it back

313
00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:51,360
Speaker 1: to life, and they did an incarnation of two thousand

314
00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:54,720
Speaker 1: twenty right, which had the same grandmother and the same

315
00:16:54,920 --> 00:16:57,920
Speaker 1: child baby which was now grown up, and they're connecting

316
00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:00,200
Speaker 1: on zoom and they had the whole behind the scenes thing,

317
00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:03,000
Speaker 1: but it was very much still this emotional connection for

318
00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:06,480
Speaker 1: the brand to the holiday season. And so like again

319
00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:09,240
Speaker 1: that storytelling can't take place anywhere else, it has to

320
00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:12,399
Speaker 1: take place in a place like this and uh, and

321
00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:14,320
Speaker 1: this is one of those kind of tear jerker moments.

322
00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:17,520
Speaker 1: You go, Okay, that was just an amazing piece of content.

323
00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:19,560
Speaker 1: Forget the fact that it brought to us by it

324
00:17:19,640 --> 00:17:22,040
Speaker 1: by brand. So those are two games. And then on

325
00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:25,159
Speaker 1: small business, there was there's an amazing campaign that was

326
00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:27,639
Speaker 1: done through the through the holiday of the shopping season

327
00:17:28,080 --> 00:17:30,680
Speaker 1: by a small business called Two Blind Brothers, and he

328
00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:33,760
Speaker 1: got some national coverage. But there are these two Blind

329
00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:39,040
Speaker 1: Brothers um Bradford Bryant who had this concept, you know,

330
00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:41,560
Speaker 1: called shop blind and what they essentially did was a

331
00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:43,920
Speaker 1: challenge is said to people in their whole lives they've

332
00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:46,080
Speaker 1: had to rely on others to shop for them or

333
00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:48,959
Speaker 1: read menus or whatever it might be. And they started

334
00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:52,600
Speaker 1: campaigns the Shop Blind meaning come come to our website. Um,

335
00:17:53,080 --> 00:17:55,320
Speaker 1: you know, basically, give us a price point and we're

336
00:17:55,320 --> 00:17:58,440
Speaker 1: gonna send youselfing. You don't know what it is, right,

337
00:17:58,960 --> 00:18:02,360
Speaker 1: um and and and and and all Pro Hunter proceeds

338
00:18:02,359 --> 00:18:05,960
Speaker 1: were going towards you know, retinal retinal research to help

339
00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:08,919
Speaker 1: cure certain forms of blindness little people are affected by.

340
00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:13,280
Speaker 1: And the idea of going to saying, you know, basically

341
00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:15,919
Speaker 1: saying here's my price point and then stepping back was

342
00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:19,080
Speaker 1: kind of scary, but like tens and tens and tens

343
00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:22,520
Speaker 1: of thousands of people went and shop blind, right, and

344
00:18:22,680 --> 00:18:25,479
Speaker 1: it just it became kind of a universal viral, had

345
00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:28,280
Speaker 1: a viral component to it, which was good for you moment,

346
00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:30,480
Speaker 1: which of course, you know, giving to any kind of

347
00:18:30,520 --> 00:18:33,080
Speaker 1: mount for profit is, but also a brand and a

348
00:18:33,119 --> 00:18:35,600
Speaker 1: product and shopping and e commerce and it all tied

349
00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:38,000
Speaker 1: it together in a really kind of magical way. So

350
00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:40,120
Speaker 1: those are the kind of things that we love seeing

351
00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:43,280
Speaker 1: on the platform m M. And for you know, the

352
00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:47,080
Speaker 1: more you grow, the more opportunities you the more opportunities

353
00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:48,840
Speaker 1: you have. And as you say, these are these are

354
00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:54,159
Speaker 1: fairly unique opportunities, particularly for marketers. The downside, of course,

355
00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:57,600
Speaker 1: of user generated content and having an open platform like that,

356
00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:02,119
Speaker 1: is that you know, a content moderation has become a

357
00:19:02,280 --> 00:19:05,959
Speaker 1: huge issue for all social media platforms large and small

358
00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:11,360
Speaker 1: with your mission to spark creativity and and create bursts

359
00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:14,840
Speaker 1: of joy, which goodness knows we need more than ever. Now,

360
00:19:15,359 --> 00:19:19,280
Speaker 1: how are you going? How are you watching the skies

361
00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:22,439
Speaker 1: to make sure that bad actors don't get into your

362
00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:25,480
Speaker 1: platform and put things on that you know are are

363
00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:29,960
Speaker 1: decidedly less than joyful. Yeah, it's the number one thing

364
00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:33,520
Speaker 1: we think about as you get imagining, especially in days

365
00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:37,080
Speaker 1: like we've led up to this conversation. Um, it's an

366
00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:40,240
Speaker 1: industry thing. As an industry, it's it's it's an opportunity

367
00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:42,280
Speaker 1: for us to do better um. And we can call

368
00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:45,560
Speaker 1: it issues whichever. It's a challenge UM. And like most

369
00:19:45,640 --> 00:19:49,280
Speaker 1: we use a combination of community guidelines which are very

370
00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:54,080
Speaker 1: strict around hate and speech and misinformation and everything else UM,

371
00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:57,480
Speaker 1: as well as technology so machine learning to identify that

372
00:19:57,640 --> 00:20:01,280
Speaker 1: as content gets loaded into platform, using machine learning to

373
00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:04,560
Speaker 1: quickly identifying and training the machines to look for content

374
00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:08,600
Speaker 1: that falls into a certain pattern or behavior. That's um,

375
00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:11,000
Speaker 1: you know, snonymous with some of these behaviors we don't

376
00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:14,240
Speaker 1: want and pulling that content for whatever reaches for whatever

377
00:20:14,240 --> 00:20:16,600
Speaker 1: reaches the graph. And you know, according to our last

378
00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:19,360
Speaker 1: transparency employee pulled down a hundred million pieces of content,

379
00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:23,320
Speaker 1: of which nineties percent were before whatever you hit the

380
00:20:23,359 --> 00:20:25,600
Speaker 1: graph and the rest of simil reactionary. And then we

381
00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:29,960
Speaker 1: use human moderation, which is as people reporting content that's

382
00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:32,959
Speaker 1: inappropriate they think should be considered. You know, we use

383
00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:36,120
Speaker 1: the combination of machine learning and human moderators to make

384
00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:40,240
Speaker 1: sure that we're identifying that that behavior, that content and

385
00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:43,239
Speaker 1: pulling it down very very quickly. And then obviously, you know,

386
00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:45,560
Speaker 1: on the back end, making sure that those folks that

387
00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:48,240
Speaker 1: are doing that, you know, are pulled from the platform

388
00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:53,080
Speaker 1: and so on. Has um has I mean with a

389
00:20:53,119 --> 00:20:56,400
Speaker 1: hundred million pieces of content, that's a lot too, that's

390
00:20:56,400 --> 00:20:58,879
Speaker 1: a lot to keep up with. Machine learning can do

391
00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:03,919
Speaker 1: so much. Have have you found that they're given the

392
00:21:04,040 --> 00:21:08,600
Speaker 1: nature of TikTok, the nature of stuff that is objectionable?

393
00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:12,439
Speaker 1: Does it does it? Is it? Is it political? Is

394
00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:15,000
Speaker 1: it more violent? Or is there like an is there

395
00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:18,640
Speaker 1: like a thread to what you're finding that is objectionable

396
00:21:18,840 --> 00:21:23,520
Speaker 1: on TikTok is attract a certain kind of of objectionable

397
00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:26,119
Speaker 1: type of content versus maybe you would see on a

398
00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:30,359
Speaker 1: broader social platform. Yeah, I think so many other platforms

399
00:21:30,359 --> 00:21:33,800
Speaker 1: have different issues. Like I think these social the social

400
00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:37,040
Speaker 1: platforms where people are connected via social kind of like

401
00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:41,520
Speaker 1: their social behaviors, they have a very different challenge than

402
00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:43,280
Speaker 1: we do. You know, when people are coming to the

403
00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:47,840
Speaker 1: platform to create your inspired to creativity and bring joy. Um,

404
00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:50,720
Speaker 1: the expectation when people come into it's just that they're

405
00:21:50,760 --> 00:21:52,960
Speaker 1: not looking for that kind of content, whereas in some

406
00:21:53,119 --> 00:21:55,960
Speaker 1: other platforms, I think it's expected at this point, and

407
00:21:56,000 --> 00:22:00,080
Speaker 1: so that's where the voices are loudest um. And so

408
00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:03,680
Speaker 1: to be fair, we have some activism, like when Black

409
00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:06,560
Speaker 1: Lives Matters came up, there were people that were you know,

410
00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:08,720
Speaker 1: discussing that subject, but they were doing it in a

411
00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:12,640
Speaker 1: really inspirational way. It wasn't in a derogatory or crew way.

412
00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:14,920
Speaker 1: It was done more of an inspirational way. And so

413
00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:18,960
Speaker 1: we want people to to express express themselves. But when

414
00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:21,840
Speaker 1: it turns to hate, or turns to misinformation or whatever

415
00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:23,640
Speaker 1: it might be, we need to make sure that our

416
00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:26,919
Speaker 1: our communities protected. So we worked really diligently on that.

417
00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:30,480
Speaker 1: Have you had some tough calls into when you sort

418
00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:32,520
Speaker 1: of when the human beings get involved. Have you had

419
00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:36,560
Speaker 1: tough calls about what what is the line between what's

420
00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:40,560
Speaker 1: okay and not okay? So the trust and safety team

421
00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:42,600
Speaker 1: falls and are dip different remits. So I'd be remiss

422
00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:44,200
Speaker 1: if I were to try and step in and and

423
00:22:44,359 --> 00:22:46,960
Speaker 1: go too deep on the subject. I think that everybody

424
00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:50,280
Speaker 1: today's world is changing so fast, and you know, people

425
00:22:50,320 --> 00:22:53,320
Speaker 1: that are trying to express themselves in a negative way

426
00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:55,639
Speaker 1: will continue to try and find ways to do that.

427
00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:58,080
Speaker 1: You need to be able to react accordingly, and so

428
00:22:58,320 --> 00:23:00,480
Speaker 1: you know, certainly there are probably moments there are tough

429
00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:04,440
Speaker 1: decisions to make. UM I'm not literally to talk about

430
00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:08,160
Speaker 1: those here, but certainly we'll continue to evolve our platform

431
00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:11,760
Speaker 1: and iterate our platform and our policies to protect our community.

432
00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:16,280
Speaker 1: Best weekend. Yeah, thank you, and that I can imagine

433
00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:19,119
Speaker 1: that there's no more urgent and tougher job in the

434
00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:21,719
Speaker 1: company than than keeping an eye on all of that,

435
00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:25,840
Speaker 1: especially because you have the reputation for being for being

436
00:23:26,119 --> 00:23:30,080
Speaker 1: um for being very you know, open and friendly to

437
00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:33,720
Speaker 1: to all demographics. UM, I know Blake. You spent a

438
00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:38,159
Speaker 1: long time at Facebook before joining TikTok. What what did

439
00:23:38,240 --> 00:23:40,560
Speaker 1: you learn in your time in the formative years of

440
00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:44,000
Speaker 1: Facebook and watching its evolution that what did you learn

441
00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:47,080
Speaker 1: from Facebook that you are applying it at TikTok now?

442
00:23:47,119 --> 00:23:49,639
Speaker 1: And are you seeing in any major differences in the

443
00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:53,000
Speaker 1: in the growth trajectories of the platforms. Yeah, I think

444
00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:56,800
Speaker 1: the growth trajectors are very similar UM and and Facebook

445
00:23:56,800 --> 00:23:59,560
Speaker 1: at the time. Going back, I was there for a

446
00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:02,680
Speaker 1: decade from two thousand seven to seventeen. If you kind

447
00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:06,960
Speaker 1: of rewind back to two thousand nine ten, before Facebook

448
00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:09,320
Speaker 1: became you know the big of b myth it is today.

449
00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:12,879
Speaker 1: You know, social was new, right, the social graph didn't exist.

450
00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:15,920
Speaker 1: It was this new concept UM that people were trying

451
00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:19,240
Speaker 1: to embrace and understand and both users right on on

452
00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:21,199
Speaker 1: the growth side from the user perspective, what role did

453
00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:24,280
Speaker 1: play in people's lives? UM as well as brands and

454
00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:27,239
Speaker 1: and and certainly regulatory bottles and everybody else. We were

455
00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:29,080
Speaker 1: all trying to make it up as we went, and

456
00:24:29,119 --> 00:24:31,679
Speaker 1: so we were constantly iterating, and we were creating product,

457
00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:34,160
Speaker 1: and we were moving quickly in response to different things

458
00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:36,239
Speaker 1: that we saw in the market, and it's very very

459
00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:38,000
Speaker 1: similar to where we are today. And we're not a

460
00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:41,520
Speaker 1: social graph, we're you know, content graph from the interstgraph,

461
00:24:41,520 --> 00:24:44,200
Speaker 1: which is new. It's very it's very very different, UM,

462
00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:47,680
Speaker 1: and it's had its own different opportunities and challenges and

463
00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:50,680
Speaker 1: everything else. And so for us, it's really around a

464
00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:55,080
Speaker 1: couple core things. One is hiring amazing people like people

465
00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:57,560
Speaker 1: ultimately health to find what the future of the business

466
00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:00,159
Speaker 1: will look like. And so we have great people on

467
00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:03,480
Speaker 1: the product side, the ad side, marketing side, just to

468
00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:07,119
Speaker 1: have amazing individuals who have open minds or what we

469
00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:10,720
Speaker 1: call learners, and we want to create a very learning culture. UM.

470
00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:12,600
Speaker 1: We want to be able to move very quickly, and

471
00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:14,520
Speaker 1: change is hard. Like if you look at some of

472
00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:17,320
Speaker 1: the big companies now, it's much more difficult for a

473
00:25:17,359 --> 00:25:20,639
Speaker 1: Facebook or Google to shift you know, bought businesses as

474
00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:23,399
Speaker 1: big as they are, Whereas we're still nimble enough that

475
00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:26,120
Speaker 1: we can move very very quickly UM if we see

476
00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:28,040
Speaker 1: something that's working, and so we do a lost a lot,

477
00:25:28,119 --> 00:25:31,240
Speaker 1: a lot a lot of testing, iteration UM. And so

478
00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:33,560
Speaker 1: some of the core values I think we saw back

479
00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:36,000
Speaker 1: in the day are similar in terms of moving fast

480
00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:39,320
Speaker 1: and then trying to build product that's that's relevant for

481
00:25:39,359 --> 00:25:42,159
Speaker 1: our users and our brands and uh, and then there

482
00:25:42,160 --> 00:25:44,520
Speaker 1: are differences, like I think that we've learned a lot

483
00:25:44,640 --> 00:25:48,400
Speaker 1: from you know, around data and consumer privacy and um,

484
00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:51,560
Speaker 1: you know, giving users control of of of the kind

485
00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:56,399
Speaker 1: of advertising they see, which historically it wasn't necessarily built

486
00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:58,639
Speaker 1: into the business models that we think, you know, it

487
00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:02,879
Speaker 1: could be could be really differentially differentiated going forward. So

488
00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:05,000
Speaker 1: we're learning some things and werena do things a little

489
00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:06,800
Speaker 1: bit differently, and we're gonna hopefully be a little bit

490
00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:10,760
Speaker 1: disruptive in a very comfortable way. But I think the

491
00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:13,359
Speaker 1: industries asked us to be, and they said, don't just

492
00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:16,000
Speaker 1: come back and prom with a big audience with a

493
00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:18,480
Speaker 1: programmatic capability. They really wants to come back and allow

494
00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:21,280
Speaker 1: them to storytell again and to engage audiences in a

495
00:26:21,280 --> 00:26:23,720
Speaker 1: different way that they simply haven't able to do on

496
00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:27,520
Speaker 1: the mobile lice Blake, why don't you leave us with that?

497
00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:30,199
Speaker 1: Why don't we end with what are you're like? What

498
00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:33,560
Speaker 1: are some of your most impressive growth stats from twenty

499
00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:36,240
Speaker 1: or growth stats for TikTok since it really started to

500
00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:39,280
Speaker 1: take off in the US. Well, I mean, idea certainly

501
00:26:39,280 --> 00:26:42,080
Speaker 1: our user based and we're now exceeding a hundred million users,

502
00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:45,720
Speaker 1: which was up significantly from two thousand nineteen. And we've

503
00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:48,159
Speaker 1: seen that across the world where it's not it's not

504
00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:51,400
Speaker 1: really just the US we're seeing. It's um the kind

505
00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:53,840
Speaker 1: of content, it's just diverse five an amazing way and

506
00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:57,800
Speaker 1: types of audiences that are on the platform and changed significantly.

507
00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:01,000
Speaker 1: I won't get into the metrics from revenue and brands,

508
00:27:01,080 --> 00:27:04,879
Speaker 1: but you know, certainly the industry has supported us, and

509
00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:07,800
Speaker 1: for that where it's really grateful and humbled. We think

510
00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:11,479
Speaker 1: that by working with the smartest people in the agency world,

511
00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:13,600
Speaker 1: in the client world, that we can build kind of

512
00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:18,840
Speaker 1: future that is it is different where advertising becomes you know,

513
00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:22,600
Speaker 1: anticipated and hope for versus something people deal with more

514
00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:25,719
Speaker 1: to get contact. And so those are things that we're

515
00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:28,880
Speaker 1: really focused on right now. Blake, thank you so much

516
00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:31,120
Speaker 1: for taking the time to talk us through what's going

517
00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:34,520
Speaker 1: on at this most dynamic media platform. We will definitely

518
00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:44,720
Speaker 1: stay tuned. Thanks for listening, and please leave us a

519
00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:48,480
Speaker 1: review at Apple Podcasts. We love to hear from listeners.

520
00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:51,240
Speaker 1: Be sure to tune in next week when my guests

521
00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:54,959
Speaker 1: will be Andrew Kosov and Roderick Johnson, the producers and

522
00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:57,480
Speaker 1: financiers who run al Con Entertainment