Publicis Groupe partners with TikTok on social commerce

Publicis Group is the latest holding company to ink a global partnership with TikTok, the companies said Tuesday. 

Under the partnership, Publicis Groupe’s clients will gain early access to test new e-commerce products on TikTok and gain access to exclusive research on the social commerce space. 

Publicis Groupe will also participate in an incubator program called Community Commerce Sprint, which will help inform brands’ TikTok campaigns ahead of the holiday shopping season. 

“TikTok is still a very young platform, despite its prominence,” said Jeremy Cohen, VP and head of global content partnerships at Publicis Groupe. “We identified TikTok commerce as an area of focus very early on in conversations.”

The partnership comes as TikTok doubles down on social commerce efforts. Last year, the tech platform partnered with Shopify to enable users to make purchases through the app. 

At it NewFront presentation in May, TikTok also emphasized to marketers that the #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt trend turns impressions into purchases. Sales from social commerce are expected to rise nearly 35% this year to more than $36 billion, according to eMarketer. 

As for the benefit to TikTok, Cohen said “Publicis Groupe has large brands, medium-sized brands and smaller brands in every category you can imagine.”

TikTok has also partnered globally with WPP to gain early access to products and partner on brand safety initiatives. The platform has also partnered with IPG Mediabrands with a focus on creators. 

TikTok signed its first partnership with a U.S. agency in November when it teamed up with Horizon Media to provide the agency and its clients with first looks at products, media incentives and opportunities for co-product development