Snap’s head of creative unfazed by TikTok threat

TikTok might have quickly soared to 625m active users, but the lip-syncing app is apparently not causing Snap’s head of creative to lose any sleep.

“It hasn’t changed us and we’re only going to focus on ourselves,” said David Norris, during MAD//Fest 2019.

“We have such a strong connection with our audience that if we start thinking about what other people are doing then we’re only moving away from the thing that works for us.”

For Snap, which has 210m daily active users, that is “building by design”, understanding user behaviours and pushing for constant innovation around the role of the phone camera.

Increasingly, Norris added, also it’s about the role of Snap as a content platform.

Recent Snap innovations in these areas include Adidas trainers that users can try on virtually; a “contextual camera” that understands what it is being aimed at; a ‘point and interact’ function which allows users to do such exotic things like make a $10 bill sing the music from Hamilton; and a tool that can scan maths problems to reveal the answer.

“We’re trying to evolve the role of the camera,” said Norris. “We’ve recognised its importance in people’s lives.”

TikTok, meanwhile, is a hugely popular Chinese social media platform which launched in 2016 as a lip-syncing app called Musical.ly before being acquired by ByteDance.

Rebranded as TikTok in 2017 it occupies a space similar to YouTube and the now defunct Vine. Its growth has been astounding, although there are signs that is now starting slow.

Despite its high user growth, TikTok is also still relatively new at working with advertisers, meaning Snap’s offering is more mature.

However, according to agency sources, clients are signing off budgets to run test campaigns on TikTok as they note they have similar audiences.

Snap’s estimated net advertising revenues are projected to reach 1.5bn US dollars this year, up from £343.6m in 2016. It expects to hit its target of turning a profit by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, TikTok – which operates several revenue models, including advertising – remains in a growth phase, with parent company ByteDance targeting $14.8bn in revenue in 2019.