TikTok Philippines Reveals Summer Trends, Sees Higher Brand Engagement

Brands can take advantage of users’ excitement for the summer for higher engagement, a report from short-form video application TikTok showed.

Based on a commissioned survey by Teluna in January 2023, a “significant rise” among users was noted, especially within the travel, fashion and food and beverage sectors.

“Summer is a huge opportunity for brands as user behaviors present clear guideposts that brands and marketers can use to create greater engagement and activation,” Life Dawn Cervero, TikTok Philippines vertical lead, said.

TikTok is one the most used apps locally. According to media monitoring company Meltwater in 2022, 67.9 percent of Filipinos aged 16 to 64 said it was their most used app.

In their summer trends survey, Filipinos looked forward 1.4 times more toward summer sales compared to 2022, while 47 percent planned their summer holidays at least a month in advance.

At least three out of four users plan to travel either domestically or internationally, while 77 percent plan to spend quality time with family and friends.

In line with this, content is predicted to focus on resorts, beach activities, road trips, cultural and sightseeing adventures, and even food hunts.

According to the platform, brands can leverage this by tapping content creators that can feature summer-related items like travel gear, accessories and even itineraries based on the featured items.

In terms of food and beverage, 66 percent of Filipino TikTok users plan to buy summer food and drinks such as ice cream, halo-halo, juices, and softdrinks to name a few. Another 68 percent expressed their desire to see new menu items or launches for the summer.

Road trips, picnics with family and friends, camping cookouts, and food reviews can be content that can garner traffic and followers for food and beverage brands, TikTok said.

In terms of fashion, 81 percent look to buy fashion products, while 87 would spend more for the season if there were discounts.

With content creators showing their summer outfits and essentials, TikTok said this allows fashion brands to jump on the trend, tapping them to promote their products.

In a February 2022 commissioned survey by Nielsen in Southeast Asia, 56 percent of TikTok users said its ads made them discover new products or brands, while 48 percent were interested in making a purchase on or from the app within the next three months.

A 2021 study conducted by Flamingo on TikTok’s marketing science and user self-expression also showed that 73 percent of the app’s audience felt “deeper connections” to brands on TikTok compared to other social media platforms.

A separate study in the same year and topic by Nielesen added that 61 percent of the audience felt that advertising blends in with content on the app.

“With TikTok, there are infinite opportunities to convert as brand discovery and community content work together to create a loop that amplifies reach, awareness, and participation. This leads to greater conversion as users are inspired to try products, promote them on the platform, and contribute to sales growth,” Cervero said.

Local brand BLK Cosmetics was cited as a brand that was able to expand reach through the platform and the summer season trends. The company did this through incorporating summer themes in their advertisements, paired with a display card which redirected users to their TikTok shop similar to a hyperlink.

Due to the success of BLK Cosmetics’ campaign, it was concluded that brands can rely on full-screen and sound on experience, extensive product usage and a clear call to action paired with an interactive add-on, such as the app’s display cards.

“TikTok is really changing the game with its closed-loop entertainment-to-shopping experience that gives brands the ability to immediately realize the effect of their advertising campaigns,” Jacqe Yuengtian-Gutierrez, CEO and co-founder of BLK Cosmetics said.