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Announcing the UK winners of the TikTok Ad Awards 2024!
Last night, in a dazzling ceremony held in London, the TikTok Ad Awards 2024 celebrated the standout brands and agencies across the UK that are setting the standard for creative, high-performing campaigns on TikTok.
Each winning campaign brought something unique to the platform, tapping into TikTok's vibrant culture, engaged community and innovative ad solutions to captivate audiences and exceed campaign goals. These brands delivered a masterclass on how to succeed on TikTok, showcasing the strategies and ad formats that lead to exceptional results.
Read on to discover this year's winners and explore their remarkable campaigns!
Greatest Creative
This award recognises a brand's overall creative approach on TikTok, including the strategic use of paid peaks and organic beats to establish an ongoing TikTok-first presence on the platform.
Highly commended: Maybelline – Maybe It’s Maybelline
Credits: L'Oreal UKI | Blow Creative | Essence
Winner: KFC - Oil Up
Credits: KFC | Uncovered | Mindshare
With an overarching goal to 'become an iconic brand on social in the UK amongst Gen Z', KFC tapped into a trending sound to entertain and engage its target audience.
By leveraging BrandWatch for social listening and TikTok Creative Centre for platform insights, the KFC team was able to identify 'Oil Up' as an emerging slang term, used by Gen Z & Gen Alpha; something that was taking TikTok by storm with a handful of brands (such as Duolingo) jumping into the conversation. The brand listened to its audience and decided it was time to oil up ‘Admin’… with its own distinct KFC twist!
Pan to a London warehouse, a paddling pool, two giant bottles of cooking oil, and some key ingredients that make KFC so delicious… their herbs and spices mix!
With the hero creative ready, the brand built hype by dropping two organic teasers and using a reply-to-comment format to hint at a big "oil up" release. The audience reaction showed the campaign's potential, and the team leveraged that momentum with Spark ads to launch the hero creative.
The campaign achieved significant reach with over 2.3M unique users reached organically, while additional paid budget from both Spark and In Feed Ads drove an incredibly efficient and low CPM, allowing KFC to drive reach up by a further 21%. This meant over 560K unique people were liking, sharing, saving and, most importantly, commenting on KFC's hero content – with positive sentiments all round.
This campaign took a huge trend on TikTok and truly made it its own. Taking a genuinely TikTok-first approach, this brand used Brand Watch for social listening and TikTok Creative Centre for platform insights, to generate a real understanding of what audiences were talking about and reacting to. And then it unleashed a brilliant creative idea to own the conversation, using humour and authenticity to organically reach over 2.3 million users, proving that fantastic creative content is the greatest driver of efficiency.
Greatest Performance
This award celebrates the use of inventive TikTok-first creative and campaign strategy to drive excellent lower-funnel results.
Highly Commended: Unilever Homecare – CleanTok TikTok Shop
Credits: Mindshare UK | Gravity Road
Jury member Olly Gosling, VP, Strategy @ Influencer said of this campaign: "One of the most impressive things about this campaign was the breadth of platform features that had been utilised, and the thoughtful and strategic way they had been stitched together to deliver such impressive lower funnel performance. You could really see not just the impressive performance, but the way the campaign had been architected from the get go to achieve it. The fact that they had sold out of product on multiple occasions before even getting to the conversion part of the campaign speaks volumes as to how well this campaign performed."
Winner: The Works - BookTok
Credits: The Works | Nonsensical: The TikTok Agency
The goal of the campaign was to increase online and in-store book sales by leveraging the popular 'BookTok' trend on TikTok, as well as maximising the impact of the TikTok platform for driving business within budget.
An evolving strategy that started back in 2023, The Works saw a massive opportunity to utilise the 'BookTok' trend on platform, with a strategy to collaborate with BookTok creators by "sparking" their content, refreshing this content weekly to maintain engagement.
With a clear test-and-learn roadmap in place, The Works began producing TikTok native videos for a BookTok campaign, focusing on top-titles trending in the BookTok community. These videos mimicked both the popular BookTok Live format & BookTok hauls, highlighting new releases in a dynamic and engaging manner to drive consideration along the funnel.
This campaign consistently demonstrated outstanding performance across several KPIs, significantly outperforming benchmarks and other platforms, with an average ROAS of 9.6 YTD +77% YoY. The average CPA achieved a lower saving YoY, and generated a surge in online sales an revenue, proving the effectiveness of the BookTok strategy in driving conversions and the scalability.
Jury member Olly Gosling, VP Strategy @ Influencer said of this campaign: "One of the most impressive parts about judging the performance category, was being able to see all of the ways that TikTok campaigns have not just delivered quantitative performance metrics, but some of the more tangible way these campaigns have changed the companies that run them. This campaign was a standout example of that. They not only smashed targets, and benchmarks on a number of performance metrics, they have shifted purchasing decisions and behaviours as a result. Thinking not just about how to sell to a TikTok audience, but how to build for them across many parts of the business. That kind of impact and agility is great to see."
Greatest Branding
This award rewards a standout branding campaign that used an innovative campaign strategy to drive excellent upper-funnel results.
Winner: Dove - #TheFaceof10
Credits: Dove | Mindshare | Ogilvy UK
At the start of 2024, an unsettling phenomenon came to light as patrons and workers of the popular cosmetics store Sephora noted that there was a startling increase in children and tweens present in the store, with girls as young as 10 years old buying anti-aging products. Dubbed the ‘Sephora Kids’, the content went viral with vast amounts of noise surrounding this social commentary. Dove, a brand with a two-decade legacy of championing real beauty and building confidence, felt a deep responsibility to challenge this harmful trend and empower both girls and the adults in their lives.
#TheFaceOf10 wasn't just a campaign; it was a strategic incursion into digital spaces where audiences comes to consume content in a sound-on, full-screen environment, making them more leaned in and engaged. To complement this, the brand harnessed authentic voices in the form of creators to spread a powerful message: a 10-year-old's face is no place for anti-ageing products.
Diverse creators, from make-up and skincare enthusiasts to body positivity advocates, parents and even major celebrities were utilised to ensure Dove's message resonated with multiple demographics. The creators used visually captivating features such as interesting transitions to grab the audience’s attention before talking directly to camera to establish a strong connection, urging users to ‘Protect #TheFaceof10’. The brand also utilised Spark ads to deliver the most native experience possible for our audience and build credibility.
As well as sparking conversations, challenging perceptions, and empowering a new generation to embrace their natural beauty on TikTok, the campaign reached 7.8M unique individuals with the important messaging and overdelivered on planned impressions by 34%.
Dove’s #TheFaceof10 campaign won the Greatest Branding Award for its purposeful approach to a critical issue while staying true to both TikTok's unique culture and Dove’s distinct brand identity. From the outset, it was unmistakably Dove – not through traditional branding but through a tone and message that was uniquely Dove, resonating deeply with the audience they wanted to connect with. The campaign engaged in an authentic dialogue about beauty standards, addressing the pressures on young girls with a compassionate and impactful approach. Leveraging TikTok’s strengths, it used creator-led storytelling that was relatable and genuine, sparking meaningful conversations and inspiring self-love. Dove didn’t just promote a product; they championed a cause, creating a lasting impact that extended beyond the platform, while staying true to their commitment to 'Real Beauty from Real Care.’
Greatest Small Business
This award spotlights small businesses with less than 50 employees that leveraged TikTok ads to achieve their campaign goals and drive real-world results.
Winner: Zooki - Glutathione Zooki Campaign
Credits: Zooki
When looking to launch Glutathione Zooki exclusively on TikTok Shop, the mission was simple: to create a TikTok viral trend in the beauty community for Glutathione supplements by tapping into TikTok’s unique environment of trendsetting and product discoverability.
A test-and-learn approach was implemented, by producing inexpensive content created in-house, to decipher if the product might spark the interest of the beauty community – and it did. By positioning it as the secret to healthy skin, Zooki sold 2,000 bottles within just 6 weeks – stock originally forecasted for three months.
To tap into TikTok’s community-driven culture, a creator campaign was also planned, collaborating with key voices within the skincare community. Alongside in-house content, amplification was achieved through the use of Spark Ads and In-Feed Video ads. The strategy was to blend seamlessly into users’ feeds, showing authentic stories and educational content that felt like a natural extension of the platform rather than traditional advertisements, and promote product discoverability through TikTok Shops seamless shopping features and interactive add-ons.
By upskilling a dedicated team of Live hosts to produce TikTok content, costs were kept low and ROAS high, leveraging additional budget to collaborate with larger influencers recognised for their skincare expertise.
For every piece of content, Zooki leveraged TikTok Shops frictionless shopping journey, turning high engagement into immediate sales. This TikTok-first strategy not only drove the campaign’s success, but also established Glutathione Zooki as a trend within the beauty community that inspired users to join in and discover the benefits of glutathione.
The results far exceeded expectations, leading to an overwhelming surge in demand. As per the objectives, there was an 85.6% increase in ROAS, and a 63.56% decrease in CPA. The final KPI was the growth in TikTok Shop sales which saw significant growth, contributing to Zooki’s incremental growth in revenue and profitability. Since the campaign, Zooki have grown their operations team and moved into a larger warehouse to meet demand.
Here’s what Jury member Daisy Kelly, CEO and Founder @ Glow for it – and winner of Greatest TikTok 2023, had to say: “It was a unanimous decision between the judges that Zooki were the deserved winners of Greatest Small Business. They truly showcased the impact that this specific campaign and the TikTok platform in general has had on their business. We were particularly struck by the impact TikTok has had on product development, and how it is now the driving force for NPD. Thoroughly deserved and a wonderful campaign.”
Greatest TikTok
This prize is awarded to the best overall campaign: the campaign that has harnessed the creativity of the platform, driving impact through the clever use of ad products to smash objectives across the funnel.
Winner: Booking.com - Reasons to Book
Credits: Booking.com | We Are Social Amsterdam
Booking.com's goal was to set out a TikTok channel strategy that could successfully differentiate the brand, cutting through the noise to win the hearts of travellers everywhere as they go to TikTok to consume travel content.
Whilst most of their competitors' content was focused on the travel experience, Booking.com identified an opportunity to differentiate by owning the booking experience. By celebrating the diverse motivations for taking a trip (inspired by community and platform trends on TikTok), it set out to show that there is no bad reason for travel, making all corners of TikTok feel seen and validated.
Through two different strategies - Always On and Tentpole moments - Booking.com was able to have a two-pronged approach to its campaign. The Always On content was crafted to feel inherently TikTok, blending seamlessly with platform trends while driving strong engagement and follower growth. The brand used targeted paid campaigns to amplify key content, enhancing visibility and creating momentum that carried through into the organic content.
The tentpole moments such as Travel Proud and the Super Bowl allowed them to speak to audiences in key seasonal moments. A recent highlight of this was the 'Genius' campaign, a video views campaign designed to promote Booking's Genius loyalty program, featuring Brooklyn Beckham. This incorporated both video views and traffic (carousel) elements, complemented by lucky draw incentives. By also leveraging the appeal of organic videos, the brand successfully stimulated additional clicks and video views.
The results were a great success, with the Always-on Video Views Campaign achieving 40.6 million impressions and 20.30% for the 6-second view-through rate (VTR). The Genius campaign achieved 9.36 million impressions, almost doubling view-through rate benchmarks, with an engagement rate of 0.67%.
Here’s what Head Juror, Tamara Cross, Managing Partner, Head of Creativity @ Manning Gottlieb OMD had to say: “The debate around the greatest TikTok was fierce, but the judges chose the winner because it delivered on a variety of metrics. The creative routes were plentiful and leaned into trends, tropes and native behaviours of TikTok. They used every aspect of TikTok from creators to captions, filters and stitches. They tipped category expectations on its head and this helped them stand apart and genuinely entertain and also educate. The winner was a masterclass in how to win attention on TikTok, build brand love, drive business results and react at the speed of culture. These are ads that don’t feel like ads and that’s the highest praise you can receive when creating for TikTok!”
A heartfelt thank you to our wonderful jury:
Olly Gosling - VP, Strategy - Influencer
Daisy Kelly - Founder and CEO - Glow For It
Mark Elwood - Chief Creative Officer - Leo Burnett
Regan Warner - Executive Creative Director - McCann London
Claire Beale - Co-Founder - Creative Salon Worldwide
Melo Meacher-Jones - Head of Social & Influencer - Accenture Song
Kudzai Mubaiwa - Head of Performance - Spark Foundry UK
Robin Langford - Editor - Haymarket (Performance Marketing World)
Honor Baldry - Digital Marketing Director - PureGym
Monica Majumdar - Head of Strategy - Wavemaker
Melissa Orchard - Digital Marketing, Media, and Commerce Director - Unilever
Tamara Cross - Managing Partner, Head of Creativity, MG OMD (Omnicom)
And huge congratulations to our shortlisted entrants, who all delivered exceptional campaigns on the platform and helped us make last night so much fun; we're excited to see what you do next!
As the winning team of the Greatest TikTok UK, Booking.com and We Are Social Amsterdam will travel to Lisbon on 27th November to compete in the European Grand Prix against the best campaigns from Europe to see who will be named the absolute best of the best. We can't wait!