How TikTok caught the #SeaShanty wave, putting out an ad in four days

Short-form video platform TikTok was able to take a piece of organic content and create an ad to reflect its influence and cultural importance with speed of execution key to the campaign.

How fast is the speed of culture? In TikTok’s case, around four days. The short-form video platform is designed for these kinds of moments in which a video catches some part-human, part-algorithm wave on its way to global fame.

A single unit of video, also known as a TikTok, is similar to the long-defunct Vine. Perhaps the only difference between the two is that TikTok came along at a time when smartphones with broadcast quality cameras have long been ubiquitous. Users are just as receptive to experimentation, but now there are infinite possibilities as to where a viral hit can...

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