TikTok has launched an in-app and out-of-home (OOH) advertising campaign in the UK to celebrate Black History Month with its Afro-Caribbean creators and artists.
The #myroots campaign will appear across billboards and online until the end of October. The campaign features singer and songwriter Cat Burns, freestyle footballer Jeremy Lynch, comedy video creator Lily Rose, and comedians Michael Dapaah and Sherice Banton, who all share stories and celebrate their heritage.
The campaign was created by TikTok’s Creative Lab team in collaboration with Black employees, Black creators and Black creative talent. Black talent collaborated on this campaign and creative, with bespoke music for the campaign by Carly & MARL, mural art made by artist Linnet Rubaya, and TopView and social films directed by influential poet and director Caleb Femi.
The campaign features on 182 OOH sites in the UK, including Shoreditch High Street, and a mural in Camden Lock and on the Prince of Peckham. For the OOH placements, a personal statement is shared by each featured Creator about their heritage and what it means to them.
The campaign will also see a series of in-app activations such as Hashtag Challenges, Branded Effects, TikTok LIVEs and TopView ad takeovers. Social adverts will appear on other platforms including Facebook, Instagram and YouTube across the month.
“We are excited to celebrate our black community this Black History Month – and beyond – by focusing on the joy of this community on TikTok, their stories and their individuality. I am so proud of the work of my colleagues at TikTok in producing a campaign that is a celebration of the black experience in an authentic way,” commented Trevor Johnson, TikTok’s head of global business marketing, EU.
Speaking about being part of the campaign, creator, Lily Rose, said: “I felt extremely privileged and honoured to have been chosen to be a part of such a historic campaign. I think it’s positive how TikTok is trying to spread awareness of the Black Lives Matter Movement and are proactively encouraging the voices of Black creators to be heard. It’s great to see a platform with the prominence of TikTok finally giving black creators the recognition they deserve and bringing them to the forefront of the app.”
The campaign forms part of TikTok’s wider Black History Month activities, which includes a series of virtual events, TikTok LIVE sessions, panel discussions and more. The company is also partnering with Black Tech Fest, which is a first-of-its-kind digital conference and movement aimed to help Black professionals expand their network and celebrate inclusive allyship and tech.
