Let’s help your brand conquer TikTok in a best-practice way.
I spend hours on TikTok every week. I create content for the platform, I study its algorithm, and I genuinely believe it’s one of the most powerful marketing channels we’ve ever seen. My TikTok consumption is for business purposes, honestly, guv! My ability to spot the next trend and trending sound before they peak has become an unexpected party trick that even amazes my kids.
But here’s what I’m not doing: I’m not advising my clients to abandon everything we know about brand building in pursuit of TikTok’s native style. And frankly, I’m concerned that our industry’s current obsession with “going full native” is leading us down a path we’ve travelled many times before. One that ends with brands realising they’ve sacrificed long-term equity for short-term engagement.
My Love Affair with TikTok (And Why That Makes Me More Cautious, Not Less)
I’m not writing this as a TikTok sceptic. Quite the opposite. I’m writing this as someone who understands the platform’s extraordinary power precisely because I use it, live it, and breathe it daily. I’ve watched brands explode overnight through clever TikTok strategies. I’ve seen products sell out because of a single viral moment. I’ve witnessed the platform’s algorithm work magic that would make traditional media planners weep with envy.
But I’ve also been in this industry long enough to recognise the pattern of platform hysteria that precedes many of marketing’s biggest mistakes. And right now, the advice echoing through marketing conferences and LinkedIn feeds sounds worryingly familiar: “Forget everything you know. This changes everything. Go native or go home.”
That’s not strategic thinking. That’s butterfly chasing.
The Uncomfortable Truth About TikTok’s Lifecycle
Here’s what I tell every client who asks me about TikTok strategy: we’re still in the early days of understanding this platform’s complete impact on brand health. TikTok launched globally in 2018 – we’re barely six years into comprehending how native-style content affects long-term brand perception, customer loyalty, and sustainable business growth.
In brand-building terms, six years is nothing. I’ve worked on campaigns that took longer than that to show their full impact. Yet the current advice suggests we should completely reimagine brand identity based on a platform whose long-term effects we’re still learning about.
I’m not saying we should wait for a decade of data before engaging with TikTok; that would be commercial suicide. I’m saying we should be smarter about how we engage, learning from our platform mistakes rather than repeating them.
When Platform Pressure Overrides Psychology
What frustrates me most about the current “go native at all costs” movement is how it ignores fundamental human psychology. I don’t care how revolutionary TikTok’s algorithm is; it hasn’t rewired human brains. The way we form memories, create brand associations, and make purchasing decisions hasn’t changed because of a social media platform.
Let me give you two real examples that perfectly illustrate this dangerous trend.
Example One: The Milton Keynes Taxi Disaster
I recently watched a local Milton Keynes taxi company create TikTok content that made me genuinely cringe. They filmed an interviewer asking a customer in the local shopping centre: “What’s your worst taxi experience?” The interviewee proceeded to tell a story about a friend being sick in a cab and having to pay both the fare and cleaning costs. To add insult to injury, the interviewee was standing there holding an electric scooter. I know this taxi company well, and those very scooters have been decimating local taxi revenues as young people increasingly choose them over traditional cabs.
It’s a brand disaster on multiple levels. Not only are they associating their service with vomit and additional charges, they’re literally giving airtime to their biggest competitor whilst doing it. The TikTok metrics might have looked decent, but from a brand psychology perspective? Catastrophic.
Here’s what they should have done instead: Ask the same person, “If you could take a free taxi journey anywhere in the UK right now, where would you choose and why?” Imagine the response: “I’d go visit my uncle in Northampton, who hasn’t been well recently. It would be wonderful to surprise him and cheer him up.” Now you’ve created positive emotional associations. Take it further – actually provide that taxi journey and film the heartwarming reunion. Suddenly, you’ve crafted highly engaging content that people will talk about and associate with your brand in an overwhelmingly positive manner.
Example Two: The Travel Agent’s Demographic Disaster
The second example comes from a local Milton Keynes travel agent whose TikTok content is equally baffling. I watched them create a video where they’re baiting a Gen Z employee into answering a landline telephone, with the caption: “POV: Working With A Gen Z.” They’re literally mocking one of their target demographics. The very people they need to convert into customers.
The psychology here is staggeringly flawed. Do they genuinely believe that by poking fun at a particular demographic, people from any demographic will find it amusing enough to book holidays with them? It defies every principle of behavioural science and psychological response we understand about brand affinity.
Here’s a far more effective approach: Have that same Gen Z team member arrive at work dressed in beach clothes, carrying a company-branded beach towel and inflatable, wearing sunglasses and a sun hat. Caption it: “When Gen Z takes their passion for holidays too far.” Make it part of a series built around the core principle of passion for travel – the one key attribute that customers booking face-to-face with a travel agent actually seek, and something no online travel website can authentically provide.
This isn’t my opinion; it’s an established psychological fact backed by decades of research. The availability heuristic shows us that people judge likelihood based on how easily examples come to mind. If your brand consistently associates itself with negative scenarios for the sake of “native content,” those negative associations become the most available memories when consumers make decisions. Exactly why insurance companies use fluid devices, such as meerkats, nodding dogs, and opera singers, to deliver highly engaging ads that leave a positive impression on viewers’ minds.
My Strategic Approach: Creators as Your TikTok Insurance Policy
This doesn’t mean I advise brands to avoid TikTok, quite the opposite. I spend significant time helping clients develop TikTok strategies. But I approach it strategically, not recklessly.
Creators exist for a reason. They understand platform nuances intuitively, they’ve built authentic audience relationships, and they can experiment with content styles that might damage a brand if attempted directly. Rather than trying to become creators themselves, I advise brands to leverage these relationships strategically.
I help my clients work with creators who align with their brand values, letting them handle the raw, experimental, deeply native content whilst maintaining clear guidelines about brand representation. This approach allows for platform-appropriate content whilst protecting the brand equity that took years to build.
Finding Your Brand’s TikTok Sweet Spot
The most successful approach I’ve developed involves finding the combination of platform requirements and brand protection. I challenge creative teams to discover how their brand story can be told engagingly within TikTok’s native style, but with appropriate safeguards.
Can you be authentic without being unfiltered? Can you be engaging without being reckless? Can you embrace platform culture without abandoning brand science? Absolutely – but it requires more sophisticated thinking than simply “going native.”
Your brand guidelines shouldn’t be constraints; they should be the foundation upon which creative innovation builds. The brands I’ve seen thrive long-term on TikTok are those that find creative ways to honour both platform culture and brand integrity.
My Commitment: Platform Expertise, Brand Protection
I love TikTok. I believe in its power, I understand its potential, and I’ll continue investing time in mastering its nuances. But my primary duty will always be to sustainable brand building, not platform appeasement.
Those advocating complete brand transformation for TikTok success are asking you to head down a road where the destination remains unknown. They’re asking you to discard decades of proven consumer psychology in favour of metrics that may not translate to long-term brand health.
Throughout my career, I’ve watched countless marketing fads come and go. The brands that endure aren’t the ones that chase every trend – they’re the ones that adapt thoughtfully whilst maintaining their core strength. They understand that whilst platforms come and go, strong brands endure.
That’s where my focus remains, and that’s the advice I’ll continue giving – no matter how many butterflies are fluttering past.
At TREC Digital, we combine deep platform expertise with proven behavioural science to deliver sustainable growth. Because in the end, it’s not about following every trend – it’s about building brands that last.
Let’s help your brand conquer TikTok in a best-practice way.