NEW YORK (AP) — If content creators and corporate executives made TikTok videos about the platform’s possible U.S. demise, disco diva Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” could supply the soundtrack.
Sure, businesses that built strategies around TikTok and promote products there would prefer not to seek eyeballs on another app. Smaller firms and solo entrepreneurs are bound to feel more pain in the event of a breakup. But if the popular video-sharing service remains under Chinese ownership and Congress bans it, many companies would learn to get along.
A lot of “What ifs” still surround a bill the U.S. House passed this month that would mandate TikTok′s Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell its stake in the platform within six months or face a nationwide ban. It’s unclear when the Senate will take up the legislation or if it will approve a ban when it does.
Big brands that have relied on TikTok to reach younger consumers do not appear to be panicking as they wait to see what happens in Washington. But they also have started planning. Some are retooling promotional campaigns that were originally intended just for TikTok. Many are testing alternatives and prioritizing work with influencers who have sizable followings on multiple social media platforms.
“I’m not the kind of marketer who wants to put all their eggs in one basket anyway,” said Jeremy Lowenstein, chief marketing officer for the makeup brand Milani Cosmetics. “We can always pivot. And like any technology, there will always be something new to try.”
To be sure, brands like Los-Angeles-based Milani will lose a valuable tool if TikTok isn’t welcome in the U.S. anymore. Last year, sales of a new Milani mascara spiked after an influencer couple known as The Lipstick Lesbians posted a TikTok video about it, Lowenstein said. He’s already looked at alternative apps like Flip, a little-known shopping platform that allows users to earn money by reviewing beauty items and then buying them from featured brands.
AP correspondent Jackie Quinn reports on the impact that a TikTok ban might have on U.S. businesses.
Another cosmetics company, Oakland, California-based e.l.f. Beauty, created a viral sensation with a 2019 TikTok campaign that used an original song to explain the company’s name stood for “eyes. lips. face.” E.l.f. also was one of the…