TikTok Execs Reveal How TV & Films Go Viral on Their Platform

variety.com:

Andrew Wallenstein President and Chief Media Analyst Long before “Barbie” exploded at the box office this summer, it was clear on TikTok that the movie was going to be a big deal.

When Warner Bros. first launched their teaser video on the platform, it received over 27 million views and more than 2.7 million likes, even though “Barbie” wasn’t going to be in theaters for another four months.

Fast-forward to a summer season heading toward the finish line and Barbie’s official TikTok (@barbiethemovie) account is amassing over 1.4 million followers and more than 21 million likes.

While by no means singlehandedly responsible for the popularity of the film, it’s the latest testament to the combination of how powerful studio marketing and organic fan activity can be for entertainment properties new and old on the Bytedance-owned platform. Listen to the podcast here: “There’s just kind of no corner of Tiktok that you can’t find some element of Barbie showing up and I think that that speaks to the tremendous success of the film overall,” said Catherine Halaby, Head of Entertainment for North America at TikTok on the latest episode of the Variety podcast “Strictly Business” in a joint appearance with Reia Davidson, US Head of Media and Entertainment.