TikTok's latest service takes advantage of the app's ability to act as a discovery engine for other media, a feature that users already leverage by sharing short clips of movies and TV shows. The company today partnered with studios like Warner Bros. to launch a feature that lets users discover movies and TV shows through the short-form video app.
Called “Spotlight,” the new feature will appear on videos related to a movie or series and direct users to a dedicated landing page where they can find additional information about the title, such as plot summary and cast, as well as short video content from the creator. From the landing page, users can watch the title on a streaming service (such as Max), rent it on demand, or purchase a movie ticket to see it in theaters.
Spotlight links require creators to have a certain number of views and a significant following to be eligible for the campaign. Creators who participate in Spotlight campaigns can win a variety of rewards, including exclusive profile picture frames, filters, merchandise, movie tickets, and even access to red carpet events.
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Warner Bros., with its vast IP library of popular titles, is using Spotlight to promote Season 2 of “House of the Dragon.” The company is currently rewarding creators who post videos about the show (reviews, funny skits, makeup tutorials, etc.) with an exclusive profile frame for their preferred house (Team Green or Team Black). Eligible creators must post a 60-second video (using the hashtag #HOTD) that does not violate TikTok's policies.
The entertainment giant first tried out the feature while promoting “Dune Part Two” on the platform in February, which resulted in more than 260,000 fan posts being created in the two weeks leading up to the film's premiere, according to TikTok.
At launch, Spotlight will only be available to a limited number of studios.
Over time, the feature could not only serve as a tool for finding new things to watch or stream, but it could help solidify TikTok's position as the first place for media-focused discovery, ahead of Google. With recent antitrust rulings against Google and the rise of AI, with companies like Perplexity and OpenAI building their own search tools, TikTok's latest move represents a further threat to Google's dominance in the coming months.
To date, TikTok has offered marketing solutions for movie studio marketers, including Showtimes, a movie trailer ad that displays a “Get Showtimes” button to help users find nearby cinema options and showtimes.
The company previously partnered with ticketing companies Ticketmaster and AXS to allow users to buy tickets to concerts and other live events directly through TikTok.