TikTok Unveils New Strategies for Brands at TikTok Unboxed Malaysia

TikTok, the leading platform for short-form mobile video content, recently concluded TikTok Unboxed Malaysia, a significant event aimed at introducing innovative branding and commerce solutions tailored to help Malaysian enterprises enhance their engagement with audiences in the digital economy. This exciting event took place at the Tropicana Gardens Mall Convention Centre and focused on practical strategies that leverage TikTok’s comprehensive capabilities for brand building and accelerating Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) growth.

Marketing leaders from prominent brands and agencies, such as Grab, Dentsu, and MediaDonuts, were in attendance to share invaluable insights on how upper-funnel activations on TikTok are effectively driving full-funnel business impact. They emphasized the importance of harnessing content as a powerful tool for engaging audiences and fostering brand loyalty.

The evolution of commerce in Southeast Asia is undergoing a significant transformation, with content-led experiences that blend discovery with purchasing, revolutionizing the interaction between brands and consumers. TikTok is at the forefront of this shift, boasting over 325 million users in Southeast Asia and becoming a key player in the region’s commerce landscape. The rise of content-driven commerce on TikTok has fundamentally changed how consumers engage with businesses, allowing them to build awareness, generate interest, and drive demand all within the same platform. This transformation is further supported by TikTok Shop, the platform’s closed-loop shopping ecosystem, which combines the power of community, creativity, and commerce to deliver a seamless shopping experience.

In Malaysia’s rapidly evolving digital ecosystem, TikTok encourages businesses to explore unique digital solutions that can enhance audience reach, drive growth, and unlock new opportunities. The platform is dedicated to supporting businesses on this journey by providing the essential tools and solutions needed to engage audiences effectively across the marketing funnel. By leveraging TikTok Shop and other platform features, businesses can convert engagement into sales, build lasting brand equity, and achieve a strong return on investment (ROI).

To unlock market potential, TikTok is introducing new solutions and e-commerce guides aimed at optimizing the business landscape. A recent BCG study revealed that generative AI has the potential to reduce production costs by 5-15%. TikTok has listened to these insights and collaborated with creative marketers across the industry to innovate its advertising products, ensuring the best experience for businesses, creators, and the entire TikTok community.

Brands can anticipate the rollout of TikTok’s new creative AI suite, which is powered by Gen-AI tools such as TikTok One and TikTok Symphony. These tools will enable brands to scale their creative production while developing content that resonates with global audiences. TikTok One will serve as a centralized hub for marketers to access TikTok’s creative tools, offering nearly 2 million TikTok creators, top agency and production partners, and valuable insights, including TikTok Creative Exchange, TikTok Creator Marketplace, and TikTok Creative Challenge, all accessible with a single login.

On the other hand, TikTok Symphony will provide businesses with access to a generative AI-enabled video editing suite. This innovative tool will allow marketers to streamline content development, creativity, and productivity on TikTok. With Symphony, everything from scriptwriting to video production and asset optimization will become simple and efficient, enabling brands to achieve tangible results with a new paradigm of creativity.

Through these advancements, TikTok aims to supercharge productivity and assist businesses in creating content at scale. The platform invites businesses to come and test these features, continuing its mission to simplify and empower creativity that breaks through the noise.

In addition to product innovations, TikTok will be releasing an e-commerce playbook that outlines key strategies for business growth, based on the successes of top sellers in the region. The playbook includes strategies such as identifying and nurturing Hero SKUs—products that gain significant traction, often driven by creators and users. For instance, an inflection point occurs when an SKU reaches an average of 30 daily orders over 30 days, resulting in a 36% uplift in subsequent orders. When daily orders surpass 100, an additional 60% increase is typically observed over the next month.

Moreover, the playbook emphasizes the importance of using a combination of TikTok Shop Ads. Brands are encouraged to start with Product Shopping Ads (PSA) to achieve initial sales, then utilize Video Shopping Ads (VSA) to extend their content reach. LIVE Shopping Ads (LSA) can help create Super Hero SKUs that drive GMV, proving to deliver 2.4 times GMV growth for sellers compared to using just two ad formats.

Additionally, access to TikTok’s Business Accelerator on the Seller Center provides businesses with shop diagnostics and tailored recommendations for success. With these insights, companies can effectively engage their target audience and achieve sustainable growth on TikTok Shop.

“Our vision for this event is to empower and celebrate businesses by highlighting the creative possibilities they can unlock through TikTok,” said Delilah Chan, Head of Partnerships for Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia at TikTok. “We want to showcase how brands can not only drive growth but also build meaningful connections with their audiences. This event is about more than just digital tools; it’s about inspiring homegrown businesses to harness the power of creativity, stand out in the e-commerce space, and thrive in today’s fast-moving digital landscape.”

Furthermore, Hatim Azizan, Creative Director of Dentsu Creative Malaysia, shared insights on the rapid growth of AI within APAC, stating, “The rapid growth of AI within APAC presents us with the era’s biggest opportunity to scale. By partnering with the experts from TikTok Creative Exchange, we developed the Face of Courage campaign, creating an avatar that gave a voice to domestic violence survivors to tell their stories while protecting their privacy. By understanding the role generative AI can play in our creative process and empowering that technology with human insights, stories, and ideas, we can solve real problems for our communities in whole new ways.”