TikTok and DIVE Billboards have announced the launch of Out Of Phone, a new ad product that combines the two platforms.
Unveiled on Tuesday during Advertising Week in New York, the new product allows advertisers to extend their campaigns from TikTok to DOOH by adding user-generated social media components to their digital billboard campaigns globally.
Michael Girgis, cofounder of Canada-based DIVE Billboards, says Out of Phone provides a bigger canvas for advertisers beyond the mobile device and captures audiences as they move through their day. “We’re combining brand narratives and the best of Tik Tok engagement into the in the out-of-home space. We try to combine the brand message with creator content, making creators billboard famous. So those moments get shared back on platforms and that content, narrative and creative, get shared off platform.”
Netflix was the first advertiser to test Out Of Phone, booking an exclusive US TikTok campaign for the release of its series Your Place Or Mine in February 2023. The creative prompted passersby to shoot a photo with their crush and Netflix pulled the TikTok submissions into a New York Times Square billboard, making the campaign the first live TikTok billboard takeover for 24 hours. The product has been in beta test since and although there have not been any campaigns live in the Canadian market yet, the company says there are several in the works.
Girgis explains that DIVE curates the TikTok content, which is attached to a hashtag, creating a call to action that DIVE can then query and filter all the comments through that hashtag or channel. The target can be market specific or demographic specific.
“The big thing of this program is that the brand safety piece is very high. We work very closely with the TikTok team to curate creator content that makes it on the billboard, the right sentiment and the right message,” he tells MiC.
