Sofia Hernandez & Bill Stathopoulos Interview

Luke Kostka 00:26

To start the day we have Sofia Hernandez. TikTok’s global community of over 1 billion users has
brought brands into a new era of marketing. We're doubling down on the authenticity of driving results
at every stage of the funnel. In this session, Sofia Hernandez, Global Head of Business Marketing at
TikTok will dive into the power of the platform as a marketing tool and share best practices for brands
looking to make more meaningful connections with their consumers. Over to you, Sofia.

Bill Stathopoulos 01:03

Hello Ad World, and thank you for joining. My name is Bill and I'm the Director of Strategy and Content
for the event. Today, we have a really exciting session for you. And I think one that everyone has been
definitely anticipating. As everyone knows, short-form video has dominated social media and has
changed the content landscape forever. With us now we have Sofia Hernandez from TikTok. She is the
Global Head of Business Marketing. She's been leading 400-500 brands for over 18 years now and
leading some iconic marketing campaigns. And she's gonna be helping us discuss what has changed in
social media, and how marketers can leverage the platform. We'll be discussing organic growth and
TikTok paid campaigns, tapping into communities, creator partnerships, and a whole lot of things that
TikTok has available in order to drive ROI for brands. Sofia, great to have you once again.

Sofia Hernandez 01:51

Hi, Bill. I’m excited to be here and talk to everyone today. And thanks for making me younger with that
intro I appreciate it.

Bill Stathopoulos 01:59

Absolutely. My pleasure. Let's get to it. So TikTok and short-form video have changed social media and
the digital content landscape forever. How is TikTok unique compared to traditional social platforms?

Sofia Hernandez 02:14

So I think it's really unique actually. And I can break it into probably two key categories from a platform
perspective. TikTok is really rooted in relevant discovery, inspiration and co-creation. And that's what
makes it so special, right? Like, the algorithm does the work for you. From a discovery standpoint, it's
sharing what you'll like. Inspiration, like all of this content, is so inspiring to watch and it keeps you
really engaged. And then co-creation, this is not something you're passively, kind of, sitting back and
watching. There are so many opportunities to participate in a conversation to actually make your own
version of a creators TikTok, to build your own content. So it's all about relevant discovery, inspiration
and co-creation. From a community standpoint, I think what we've seen is this shift from FOMO, like
showing your luxury car and that amazing vacation you went on and in a really kind of braggy way, to
just this very kind of thirst in the community for realness. And so what we're finding on the platform is
less of the FOMO, less of the showing off and more like, this is what my vacation was like, there was
some good and there was some bad and I just want to share that with you, because that's real life. So
this FOMO to real has been really refreshing, I think, for everyone across the globe, because it's
something I think we were really craving.

 Bill Stathopoulos 03:50

I love that point especially because I think like the previous platforms, and not to name any names,
have conditioned this a bit. You know, it's a single shot which has to be perfect. You know, “my life, it’s
amazing, the trip was amazing”, just, you know, flying and all of that. And yeah, I think that does bring a
realness and I think creators have also embraced it as well, including brands, but also definitely
interested to hear your thoughts on that. So, you know, we definitely know that Tiktok has expanded to
more and since Gen Z's that was at the beginning, w can also say a few years ago. It feels like there's a
community now for every niche imaginable on the platform. How is the content diversified and how can
brands tap into these hyper engaged communities?

Sofia Hernandez 04:34

So the communities on TikTok are reall, you’re right, they’re very multi generational, but not only are
they multi generational, but they come together because they share very, like, niche interests, right?
And so we like to say communities are the new demographics because it's really important for
marketers to really start thinking about how they can engage with these communities based on these
like niche interests. So I'll give you a few examples that maybe you wouldn't think existed on the
platform. So the communities are called “Toks”, right? So there's “CleanTok”. And there's “PlantTok”.
And that's like, CleanTok is people who like to watch things get clean, PlantTok is people who share
their love of plants. Well, there's a PotatoTok community. And it has well over 200 million+ users. And
these are people who come together and talk about their love of potatoes and share recipes. And it's
really incredible to see the passion that exists in the community over these very niche topics. Now, that
is kind of one that is really rooted in sharing like interests, etc. I'll give you one that kind of was born out
of a trend. I don't know if you've heard about this boy named Topher who went viral in January. But
because of this video, there is now a community called TopherTok. And these are people who just are in
love with this boy, and I'll tell you what it is. Around the holidays, there was a game that Topher’s family
was playing where each family member would say, “if you were going to introduce a stranger to the
family, who would you warn them about?”, right. We all have that person in our family that you'd be like,
careful for whoever because they tell really bad jokes or like because they'll talk your ear off all night.
And so Topher’s brother basically says, “Hi, I'm so and so if I had to worry about anyone, it would be
Topher” and then Topher comes on. And he's this young boy and just very loudly like “I'm Topher”, right.
And so it's hilarious because everyone fell in love with him. And it's that simple and that real, right. Like
that's not something that a brand would sit around and concept when they're thinking about promoting, I
don't know, the shirt that Topher was wearing or the shampoo that he uses. But it's something that the
whole community just loved because they fell in love with this person. And this really offers an
opportunity for brands to be a part of it. Brands don't necessarily have to start TopherTok, but they can
easily jump in right and say, “Hey, Topher. We'd love to buy you a sweater or a soda”, or you know what
I mean? There's so many ways that people can engage, for sure.

Bill Stathopoulos 07:46

And I also love the fact that even though social media technically, in contrast to TV, was and has been
like two directional. Like the audience can interact with the influencer, with the brand. We hadn't seen
that in the extent that it's now visible and active on TikTok. And it's amazing that it can give brands such
opportunity. So I want to ask, what advice do you have for brands, looking to find success on the
platform, on TikTok?

 Sofia Hernandez 08:13

So, a few pieces of advice. And I know this is a word that's very overused in the marketing world and in
our communities. But realness and authenticity is key to how brands engage on this platform. I always
say that brands need to definitely think like marketers, because they all have goals that they need to hit,
but they need to act more like creators. And creators are very passionate about what they're talking
about, about the content that they're making, and about truly engaging with their audience in a unique
way. It's why we don't call them influencers anymore, right? Influencers are all about having influence
on people. That's not necessarily what creators are here to do. They're here to like, express a point of
view that they're passionate about. I'll give you an example. And I know we all have our favorite
creators, but there's a creator called Jorge Alvarez, and his handle is “ijorgealvarez". And he is a Latino
who talks about mental health because that is a stigma and that's a conversation that is very much not
had in the Latino community. And he decided, like he really wants to break that. So all of his content is
around really educating communities around mental health, right? And so he's not trying to, like,
influence someone of something. He's not trying to influence people to buy things. He's creating
content that he's passionate about, because he cares about engaging with the community and really
helping them learn and evolve. So yeah, so that's just an example of how authenticity really lives and I
see a lot of brands do that and start to engage authentically. And I can give you some of those
examples. But authenticity, think like marketers, act like creators. But also, you really need to shift how
you're working with creators, because we work with brands and we work with creators a lot. And we
bring them together. And we still see very traditional ways that brands want to brief a creator and
basically say, “stick to the script, hold the product up to the screen, and say x”, and creators in many
cases will say, “sorry, I won't do this”. And you know, like, “nevermind, this isn't good for me, because I
want to stay true to who I am and to who my audience is”. And that's super respectable, but also just
very indicative of what this platform is about. It's all about realness, authenticity, and coming together to
have that conversation.

Bill Stathopoulos 10:53

I love that fact and how you bridge you know, authenticity and realness as a principle to like, a real
example that, you know, a brand might say, “okay, perfect, TikTok is a good medium that's engaged
with it”. But still, to your point, they might give, you know, a really traditional scripted approach to an
influencer/creator in this new age, and how the creator, to protect their audience and to protect the
community that they're building, still might say no, so that's just amazing.

Sofia Hernandez 11:21

Just one more example. Because I think everyone watching this probably has the same question. I still
get asked a lot, whether or not brands have to create trends, or if they can jump in on existing trends,
because not being the start of something I think, is uncomfortable for brands. Because when you start
it, you own it, your legal team have approved it, they're very comfortable with it. But there are so many
ways to jump in on trends. But what it requires is for marketers to be much more agile than we're used
to being, and to start to change this relationship with legal, and their teams, and their agencies, and
their partners, like people have to be more real time and kind of on the pulse of what's happening. And
we need to be able to react that way. And I'll give one example. Kung Fu Tea, which you may or may
not have heard of, really jumped in on this fail video trend. And so like the failed trends are, you watch
something happen, and then there's a major fail, right, and usually, they're very funny. And so there's
this video that's gone around this TikTok, where a toddler sliding down a slide, and then their shoe kind
of gets stuck on the slide and they flipped over. And as a mother, I'm embarrassed to say that I've
watched it over and over again, and I crack up every time. Because if I was that person, that child's

 mother, I would be mortified. But Kung Fu Tea, at that moment where the kids kind of has the fail, they
cut to pouring their amazing Kung Fu Tea. And they use sound to do it. And that raked in over 2.7
million likes, and 14.4 million views. And this is big. And by the way with comments, and brands need to
really be diving into the comments, like “best ad ever hands down”, because they know they're
watching ads, the community knows they're watching ads. But if it's done like that, where you're like
entertaining someone and you still got your product shot in it, and you still basically shared what you
wanted to share. But not in a way that's pushing a message out at someone, it was really engaging.

Bill Stathopoulos 13:48

That was just so funny. I wonder if there was any more brand examples that stand out that you can
share with us both on the organic and the paid side. And then maybe elaborate a bit on how important it
is to combine organic content with paid ads on the platform, especially as it relates to brand awareness
versus conversions.

Sofia Hernandez 14:07

Yeah, I have an example of paid. I think Netflix has a few good examples. And similar to jumping in on
trends, there's a TarotTok so people who really are into tarot cards, and there's a trend where a tarot
reader will basically share a part one TikTok and then asks you to come back for part two, and they'll
share a part two. And when Netflix was promoting their documentary Stutz, they basically had a part
one with a cliffhanger, somewhat of a trailer to Stutz and then they had to come back for the part two,
and it was rooted in this TarotTok trend and the community appreciates that a brand gets it, they get
what's happening on the platform. They use the trend the right way. And again, we all know it's a
promotion of a new show, but it's done so authentically and in such a way that feels like part of the
community, that it's very, very well received. So that TikTok alone got over 109,000 likes. And so just
think about, not only did someone see that, but they liked it enough to take an action.

Bill Stathopoulos 15:29

Yeah, and they actually engaged with it in a meaningful way. And we've spoken about the idea of
community commerce before and how the purchase journey on TikTok is entirely unique compared to
other platforms. Can you say a bit more on this? I mean, a lot of marketers watching this talk are
definitely focused on conversion. So how can we leverage this and how does that affect this?

Sofia Hernandez 15:53

So basically, community commerce, or what we call community commerce, basically refers to this kind
of new behavior that we see on the platform. I'm sure you've heard of the #tiktokmademebuyit which
has 40 billion+ views, which is just incredibly impressive. Everything that we've just talked about, the
way brands really show up in a real way, the way that they're partnering with creators to not push
products at people, but really engage them and entertain them, and make them smile or make them
think, or make them feel like they learned something, that has a greater effect on people than kind of
some of our traditional methods. And I have some stats, if you don't mind me sharing, because I know
everyone in the audience loves a good stat. And so actually, it tells a little bit of a story and I like to call
it the 7779. So if you want to remember it, it's 7779 and so 73% of TikTok users feel a deeper
connection to brands they interact with on TikTok, compared to other platforms. So everything which we
just talked about, 73% of people on TikTok are telling us they're feeling a deeper connection to brands,
because of the way brands are showing up on the platform. Okay, the next 7, 71% of TikTok users say
that it's the creator and the brand's authenticity that motivates them to buy. So like, again, everything
we just talked about. 79% say TikTok inspires them to buy or try new products. So you're starting to see

 kind of the purchase intent. And I know this has been a big question in brands minds like “great, yes,
I'm going to show up there”. But is it going to move the needle on the business? Well, we did a niche
and media mix study. And we found that advertisers and brands on TikTok drove a 96 higher paid
media ROAS compared to all other forms of digital media. 96% ROAS compared to all other forms of
digital media, almost three times the offline sales efficiency. So that's it, 7779. 73%, 71%, 79%. But
those are really impressive numbers, just showing the power of the platform, not only to drive
awareness, but really to have a full funnel effect.

Bill Stathopoulos 18:26

That's amazing, and I think everyone's looking, you know, for that answer you just gave like, you know,
can TikTok actually drive an ROI and be an effective way to get the word out there, but also to generate
some sales, because at the end of the day, we're all judged based on the results that we can deliver.

Sofia Hernandez 18:44

It’s true, and we know, I mean, it's incredible that we're like just three years old, and we know that in
this year, brands really want to know how. Like, “How can I be successful?”. They’re all telling me “I get
that I have to be there”, but they want to understand more of the “how”, and you can expect us to share
a lot more of that. And a lot more examples about how TikTok works so that marketers can really take
that to their CFOs and CEOs to help really start to shift budgets.

Bill Stathopoulos 19:21

That's definitely a really good idea I'd say, because everyone, as you said, is looking to jump into the
platform, but it's not necessarily clear how to do that. And as we did discuss, TikTok is kind of a new
way and a new approach. So you have to redo the way you go about it. So, how important is it to work
with creators on that note and how can brands streamline their creator collaborations on TikTok?

Sofia Hernandez 19:45

So creators are the lifeblood of the TikTok community and the platform, and I think creators are the
easiest way. It's almost the low hanging fruit for brands who really want to dive in and dive in quickly. It
takes courage on the brand’s part, to really kind of hand over their brand to a creator because that is
100% what the creator will want and will expect in a brand partnership. I work with brands daily and
weekly, I work with creators daily and weekly. And I can't tell you how many times creators are like “I
turned down a $100,000 contract because they wanted me to do something that I genuinely don't feel is
right for what I represent, or for my community”. I mean, that is where creators are today. They really
want to stay true and authentic to who they are. So partner with creators, but find the creators that fit
what your brand is about. And experiment a little. There are creators that you might not necessarily
think of partnering with. And I think, we've shared this example before but it's so one of my favorites,
because I think it's a really courageous act on the part of a financial institution. But there's a financial
institution in Canada that partnered with a Filipino drag queen called Kyne, who really specializes in
talking about STEM and financial education. And that just hasn't happened in the past, Bill. And we're
seeing more, and more, and more of these unique partnerships. And I think it reflects so positively on a
brand, when they don't immediately go to an athlete to sell shoes, sneakers, but maybe they go to an
activist. So just encouraging brands to lean into creators, to allow creators to really kind of do their thing
and do it authentically. And to partner with different types of creators so that the brands can really
present themselves into these communities, these really niche communities. We have a tool called the
TikTok Creator Marketplace that is a self serve tool, that can really allow brands to go in and start to

 find the different creators that are out there. You put in a brief and the tool kind of tells you who the best
creators are based on your criteria.

Bill Stathopoulos 22:12

That's definitely super useful. I know that we've all, you know, in the past, tried to do that manually or
use a different service. But having that built into the platform is really, really powerful for anyone looking
to get started or include creators into their brand content. And finishing up, as we're nearing the end of
Q1, what are your hopes for how brands will dive into TikTok in 2023?

Sofia Hernandez 22:38

So, I mean, listen, we're all businesses, and we all hope that brands will dive in and brands want to dive
in, but they hope that TikTok will help them be really successful. I think it takes courage on everyone's
part, right? This is still pretty much a new platform in terms of behavior from marketers. It's really
pushing marketers to have, like, a new approach and new behavior. But what I'm seeing is marketers
get really excited about TikTok and having their brands on TikTok, and we have a few kind of early
adopters. But more and more, I'm having conversations where they're like “help me understand this
more so that I can dive in”. So we have a lot of resources on our TikTok for Business page, you can
always reach out to me. Bill, I feel like you're pretty much an expert now. So I'm sure they can reach out
to you. But this year is all about teaching the industry how they can be successful on the platform, so
definitely stay tuned for more of that from us.

Bill Stathopoulos 23:44

Amazing, Sofia, this has been really insightful. Thank you so much as always. I think everyone has
taken a lot of this out of this talk. And obviously everyone watching, feel free to reach out to Sofia or
anyone from the team or user resources that she mentioned. I think this is a really, really good year for
everyone to sign on the platform. Sofia, thank you again.

Sofia Hernandez 24:02

And this was fun. It's always fun to chat with you. Thanks for inviting me again.

Bill Stathopoulos 24:08

A pleasure. Thank you very much.

Sofia Hernandez 24:10

Bye everyone.