Stanley Cups, Charli XCX‘s Apple dance, Duolingo’s “unhinged” green owl mascot, and being “very demure, very mindful.”
Some things are simply synonymous with TikTok, including the brands that have used the platform to boost themselves into the stratosphere via paid and native content.
From January 19, TikTok will be banned in the U.S. after the Supreme Court squashed a last-ditch legal bid from its Chinese owner, ByteDance. As America looks to a future without a For You Page (FYP), TikTok darlings are working out how to fill the hole in their social strategies.
Among them is Duolingo. Over the last three years, the language learning app has used TikTok to build a dedicated Gen Z fanbase. Front and center of this strategy is its owl mascot, Duo, a bona fide Gen Z icon who ruffles the feathers of 14.5 million followers.
The character has found fame interacting with trending audio and memes on the platform. See: showing up at Charli XCX and Troye Sivan’s Sweat tour and relentlessly trying to capture Dua Lipa’s attention.
In days before the ban, Manu Orssaud, Duolingo’s CMO, told ADWEEK the brand was still posting organic content on TikTok in the U.S., but it wasn’t buying ads there. “However, we rarely do an ‘always-on’ spend on any social platform, opting instead to focus on creating content that resonates with our audience,” he explained.
Orssaud described TikTok as having been a “pivotal platform” in helping Duolingo connect with people through entertaining, relatable content, but noted the brand has intentionally been diversifying its efforts across Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts.
Where spend is shifting
Duolingo isn’t alone in shifting spend.
Melissa Sierra, evp media integration at independent media agency USIM, which works with brands including Crunch Fitness and Buffalo Wild Wings, said in the hours before the ban, about “half, and in some cases, more” of clients’ TikTok spend was being funneled into YouTube Shorts.