This post was created in partnership with TikTok for Business
Media buying should be more than placing ads—it should help brands connect with audiences, navigate a changing media landscape, and make every investment count. Done well, it turns attention into action and helps shape how brands grow.
During an ADWEEK House Advertising HQ panel co-hosted with TikTok, Alexia Nüssli, head of product strategy and operations for TikTok, invited representatives from two agency winners in the inaugural TikTok Media Buying Excellence Awards to discuss how their TikTok-first strategies are driving outsized impact for their clients.
The fast-paced world of media buying
The TikTok Media Buying Excellence Awards recognize independent agency partners setting new standards in media buying through innovation, measurable business impact, and a commitment to helping brands succeed on TikTok.
Highlighting that commitment, Nüssli opened the panel by explaining how TikTok operates as a fast-evolving platform for brands to drive both cultural relevance and measurable media outcomes, and how independent agencies play an important role in making that happen.
“Brands turn to agencies not just for media performance; they turn to agencies to drive holistic business growth,” Nüssli said.
She then welcomed Zayit Bemmel, associate director of paid advertising, fashion for Power Digital, and Warren Jolly, co-founder and CEO of Adquadrant, to share some of their media-buying insights.
Bemmel shared how her agency uses TikTok’s advanced measurement testing tools to lean into incrementality. “We’re constantly ensuring that within our media mix models, with all of our clients, whether it’s fashion or CPG, that we’re pressure testing what we’re running on TikTok,” she explained. Rigorous testing helps Bemmel’s team determine when to increase or pull back on spend.
Next, Jolly spoke about his agency’s use of TikTok to leverage AI content. “I think there’s a lot that we can learn in the U.S. from what’s happening in APAC, and one component of that is AI content,” he asserted. “Even if you’re a brand that’s very anti-AI creative or conscious about it, leveraging AI-generated content as a construct to test narratives and to build at scale and meet the demands of the creative supply chain is a great opportunity for differentiation.”
Both agency leaders alluded to the breakneck pace at which TikTok introduces innovative new tools, and the incredible opportunity that gives to agile agencies and their clients.
“Part of the value that agencies can bring to brands is just keeping them at the cutting edge of an organization that’s evolving, shipping new product very fast, and is clearly a disruptor,” said Jolly.
Sharing winning strategies
Nüssli invited the panelists to share some advice on how to maximize their TikTok strategies. Bemmell encouraged brands to lean into the recommendations that TikTok and agency partners have.
“We are following their guidance in tandem with our best practices and expertise that we have across our entire team to lean into things like TikTok Shop or the new tools that they have,” Bemmel explained. “Once your clients trust you and you are that partner, they’re going to be way more bullish and willing to test into those tools.”
Jolly reinforced his belief about the need to stay relevant in the age of AI. “TikTok is probably the best partner to unpack what those opportunities look like and actually operationalize towards them,” he said.
