Surging Social Spend: TikTok Advertisers in the UK - Winmo
In 2023, UK social media ad spending is expected to hit £10.75 billion, driven significantly by TikTok advertisers like Adobe and eBay, who are increasing their investments to target broader demographics beyond Gen Z, with Adobe shifting from Facebook to TikTok under new agency leadership and eBay leveraging TikTok to engage younger audiences amid executive promotions focused on customer experience and sustainability.
UK ad spending on social media is projected to reach £10.75B in 2023. A significant driver of this growth is TikTok advertisers. Contrary to the perception that TikTok is primarily for teens and Gen Z, over 3 billion people have downloaded the app, with 37% of users over the age of 30. This broad demographic appeal has encouraged both emerging and established advertisers to invest heavily in the platform.
Winmo Social was used to identify UK brands spending £100k+ on TikTok annually. Below is a selection of top UK TikTok advertisers profiled in Winmo:
ADOBE
2022 TikTok spend: £322,600 | Splitting global media between Publicis Media and Wavemaker.
Adobe hired Publicis to manage its $296m (~£246m) EMEA, APAC, & Japan account, with the UK portion valued at about $10m, or £8.3m. Wavemaker oversees media for the Americas. These agency hires followed several personnel changes, including three prominent external hires: Chris Talago (Senior Marketing Communications Director – EMEA & APAC), Rachael Murphy (Industry Marketing Head), and Georgia Scott (Solutions Marketing Head – UK&I). Adobe is relatively new among UK TikTok advertisers, having previously allocated the majority of its social spend to Facebook (£3.2M in November 2022 alone). With new agencies on board, Adobe is expected to experiment more with TikTok to target Millennials, Gen-Z, and businesses.
Adobe will likely:
- Make more agency changes
- Continue to increase spending
- Release campaigns
eBAY
2022 TikTok spend: £567,900 | eTailer promotes UK CMO to general manager, increases spend
eBay, one of the world’s largest web-based marketplaces, promoted its UK CMO, Eve Williams, to UK VP & general manager in March. In her new role, she will focus on customer experience and the company’s sustainability credentials, replacing Murray Lambell, who now leads the home, garden, and refurbished sectors globally. eBay continues to seek ways to engage Gen-Z, making TikTok a key channel for reaching younger demographics.
eBay will likely:
- Continue to increase spending
- Fill the CMO vacancy
- Seek agency partners
REVOLUT
2022 TikTok spend: £407,900 | Fintech searches for global AOR amid spend boosts
Revolut, a mobile app offering financial services and free international money transfers, has started searching for a global agency of record (AOR). There is no formal incumbent, but Wieden & Kennedy London created the company’s first major campaign last year. The selected agency will develop a new creative approach to engage more audiences in the UK and internationally. Spending is expected to continue increasing as growth remains a priority, and Revolut has made TikTok its primary social media advertising channel.
Revolut will likely:
- Review more of its roster
- Continue to increase spend
- Release campaigns
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