TikTok Creative Lab Projects
A suite of Creative Lab initiatives co-created with brands to translate platform-native insights into culturally relevant, format-driven executions that drive engagement, amplification, and business impact.
#TikTionary
Japanese strategy → Elevated cultural precision
Problem
Words feel universal, but their meanings shift across cultures, regions, and lived experiences. In a global platform like TikTok, this gap often leads to misunderstanding rather than connection.
Solution
ikTionary turned language into a participatory, video-first experience. People around the world were invited to define the same word through short videos, expressing what it meant to them personally and culturally. The project used TikTok’s native format to show how meaning changes depending on who you are and where you’re from.
Results
TikTionary became a powerful expression of TikTok’s role as a cultural connector, not just a content platform. It won Silver and Bronze awards at Spikes Asia 2021 across Digital, Mobile, and Brand Experience categories, recognized for using social video to foster global understanding through creativity.
Won three awards at Spikes Asia 2021:
– Silver in the Digital (Co-Creation & User Generated Content) category
– Bronze in the Mobile (Social Content for User Engagement) category
– Bronze in Brand Experience & Activation category
Case Study Video
#BPM100 Dance Project
Japanese strategy → Elevated cultural precision
Problem
Critical CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) knowledge had very low awareness among young people, yet timely CPR dramatically increases survival rates. Traditional education and training weren’t engaging or shareable enough to shift behavior at scale
Solution
We turned life-saving technique into social participation by translating CPR rhythms and steps into a dance challenge on TikTok. The choreography was built on 100 BPM, the optimal tempo for chest compressions, and combined music and movement into an accessible, participatory mechanic that invited users to dance, learn, and share. The challenge was powered by influencers and ambassadors, making education feel like entertainment.
Results
#BPM100 became a major public health edutainment moment on TikTok. It was recognized at Spikes Asia 2019, winning Silver in Entertainment and Bronze in Music for its breakthrough use of social video to spread life-critical knowledge. The initiative also achieved unprecedented engagement for a health education campaign on the platform, helping normalize CPR awareness through shared creative behavior.
Won at Spikes Asia 2019:
– Silver in the Entertainment category
– Bronze in Music category.
This was notable as the first TikTok-powered project to win international advertising awards.
Case Study Video
Problem
During lockdowns, people were socially isolated and traditional entertainment launches felt distant. Pokémon needed a way to connect emotionally with fans while introducing new titles in a participatory, at-home format.
#WannaplaywithPokemon
Japanese strategy → Multi-market cultural builds
Solution
We partnered with Pokemon Company to launch #WannaplaywithPokemon, using gesture mapping, body tracking, and branded AR effects to let people “play” with Pokémon in real time. The experience encouraged expressive, joyful UGC that felt native to TikTok rather than promotional.
Results
The campaign generated 168M total views, 86M effect usages, and 446K user-generated posts. Brand impact lifted +35% awareness and +18% purchase intent, with effect usage performing 5× above platform average, proving that playful interaction can drive both cultural and commercial impact.
Cast Study Video
6 Branded Effect Challenges
Anessa: Summer Photo at home
#アネッサおうちで夏フォトチャレン
Japanese strategy → Elevated cultural precision
Challenge Featuring Eliza Ikeda
A TikTok-native UGC experience that recreated the emotional peak of summer at home, while letting users physically experience ANESSA’s tone-up benefit through participation.
Problem
ANESSA needed to launch a new sunscreen with a tone-up function during a summer when travel, beaches, and outdoor activity were limited. The challenge was to prove everyday usability and product benefit without relying on traditional “summer” scenes or passive viewing.
Solution
We designed a branded TikTok effect that let users become the face of an ANESSA poster, striking poses to music and rhythm while their skin visibly brightened in real time. The challenge reframed summer as a participatory, at-home experience, turning the tone-up feature into a surprising, playful trial rather than a claim.
Results
The campaign became the most-posted TikTok brand challenge in Japan in the first half of 2021, generating 7,600+ UGC videos and 252 million views. It delivered strong experiential understanding of the product’s tone-up benefit and demonstrated how TikTok-native design can turn functional beauty messaging into large-scale cultural participation
Case Study Video
Launch Video
Maybelline Matte Ink Global Challenge
Japanese strategy → Multi-market cultural builds
Problem
Makeup brands needed a way to scale a single product message across diverse TikTok markets without losing cultural relevance or creative freshness.
Results
• 4.3 billion total views
• 4.6 million video posts
• +31% measured brand favorability uplift
• +125% ad recall uplift
These results demonstrate scale, social participation, and measurable shifts in brand perception across multiple markets.
Solution
We launched a Global Challenge around Maybelline’s Super Stay Matte Ink, using a modular mechanic that encouraged creators to showcase endurance and personality in short-form formats.
