In 2023, TikTok officially opened the doors of TikTok Shop in the US, a marketplace that many industry onlookers said could rival e-commerce juggernaut Amazon. TikTok had already built an ad business reportedly worth close to $20 billion in a little over five years, reaching 1 billion monthly active users globally last summer. If people are using the platform, why not sell them stuff?

Nearly four months after the unveiling of its US marketplace, TikTok Shop is selling…something. If it’s the future of digital commerce, though, it might leave something to be desired.

When TikTok Shop debuted in the US, Bloomberg described it as an “Amazon copycat” full of “cheap Chinese goods.” Over the holiday shopping season, Marketing Brew found random gizmos and crass gag gifts galore available on TikTok’s marketplace, including:

• A clear ornament filled with green confetti labeled “Grinch Pubes” ($7)
• A pin of a cartoon ghost with breasts saying “booobs” ($.91)
• A Carhartt beanie sold by someone other than Carhartt ($0.01)
• A T-shirt that reads “I got pegged at Cracker Barrel” ($16.99–$23.99)

Several other items we spotted are too risqué to print, but would probably make you blush—or at least trigger some brand safety and suitability concerns. And well-known brands aren’t yet appearing in large numbers on TikTok Shop, save for a “featured brands” section that contains items from companies like PacSun and Scrub Daddy.

We’re not just clutching our pearls: TikTok Shop’s policy prohibits things like “sexually suggestive items,” counterfeits, and “any products which violate the intellectual property or proprietary right of a third party.” None of the products listed above were found to be in violation of the platform’s policies, the company confirmed to Marketing Brew.

Media buyers told Marketing Brew that the platform still faces hurdles pitching its social commerce offering, citing brand suitability, a lack of need, and complex supply issues.

“I think your feed is probably a good representation of how much interest there is today,” Kieley Taylor, global head of partnerships at GroupM, told Marketing Brew. “We’re not really reliant upon being in that Shop tab in order to drive sales on behalf of advertisers.”

Keep reading here.—RB

You know the rest. Life is about the journey. And when every customer is different, that adds up to a lot of unique journeys.

Salesforce decided to spotlight the bigger picture by highlighting 5 routes to successful customer journeys. Their interactive guide helps brands discover how to integrate marketing channels to foster real connection and results.

Study up on 5 sample customer journeys for growth, onboarding, engagement, retention, and support. The guide also includes use cases from marketing pros and insight from the latest industry tech.

Get the free guide—and happy travels.

Get that onion dip ready. The Super Bowl is one month away, which really just means the Super Bowl’s advertising news extravaganza is just now kicking off (...get it? Sorry).

While there’s still plenty of time for teases, celebrity announcements, and last-minute media buys, we wanted to compile everything we know about the game—and its ads—so far.

The game: The game will air on Sunday, Feb. 11 on CBS, which was reportedly asking advertisers to cough up between $6.5 million and $7 million for 30-second ads, according to Variety. Plenty of advertisers bit, and inventory was “virtually sold out” as of early November. In fact, it had sold 90% of its inventory by the end of August, which is unusually early.

In addition to airing on CBS, the game will also be simulcast on Paramount+, the NFL’s mobile app, and, for the first time, TelevisaUnivision, which will air a Spanish-language broadcast. Nickelodeon will air an alternative telecast of the game, with the aim of creating “a slime-filled festival that will bring a new and younger and even more diverse audience to the NFL,” CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus said last August.

The brands: Apple Music is again sponsoring the halftime show, and this year’s will feature a performance by Usher. Other brands committed to the game include BMW, M&Ms, TurboTax, and Pringles, according to Ad Age.

While we probably won’t see another celeb-filled Crypto Bowl, viewers can still expect to see plenty of celeb cameos. So far, Rob Gronkowski is expected to return in an ad for FanDuel, and Ice Spice will make her Super Bowl ad debut in a spot for soft-drink brand Starry, according to Ad Age. Uh, do Neanderthals count? Geico is currently running a campaign featuring its Caveman mascot, but wouldn’t confirm to Adweek whether it would extend to the Super Bowl.

First-timers to the broadcast include Drumstick, Etsy, Nerds, and *checks notes* Martin Scorsese, whom Squarespace tapped to direct his first Super Bowl ad.

Keep reading here.—RB

New year, same trendsetters.

As Gen Z’s purchasing power continues to climb, the demographic’s influence on culture and consumer behavior is only going up, according to a new report from Morning Consult.

The report, based on several surveys conducted in October and November, including two of about 1,000 Gen Zers each, offers marketers a look at that generation’s latest thoughts on several major cultural touchpoints in entertainment and tech headed into the new year.

Get social: Gen Z is, of course, intimately familiar with social media, dedicating hours each day to online pursuits. For 35% of them, that time amounts to more than four hours per day, to be exact. That figure is down slightly from 38% in 2022, but still represents a plurality of respondents, per the report.

YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat are the most-used platforms among Gen Z, according to Morning Consult. Gen Z’s usage of those platforms and more remained fairly steady from 2022 to 2023, per the report. There was one exception: X, which saw a drop-off of 8 percentage points in terms of the share of Gen Zers who said they used the platform in 2023 versus 2022.

Most Gen Zers turn to social media for entertainment or scrolling, Morning Consult found, while fewer use it to post themselves. “With posting behavior taking a back seat, a brand’s social media presence is more important than ever,” according to the report. Review videos can be a particularly powerful tool for brands: 53% of Gen Zers said that type of content has led to a purchase.

For your entertainment: Gen Zers are seemingly saving time for video streaming platforms, too. The report found that Netflix is the most used streaming service, followed by Disney+, Prime Video, and Hulu. Companies that license programming to multiple platforms as opposed to exclusive deals could reach a larger swath of Gen Zers as a result, according to Morning Consult.

While 43% of Gen Zers said they hadn’t gone to a movie theater in the month before they were surveyed, 69% said they’ve watched an entire movie or show on social.

Continue reading here.—AM

There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren’t those.

TL;DR: The ideal character count for social media posts depending on the platform, according to HubSpot.

Content cal: The biggest (and the smallest) events on the calendar in 2024, so you’ve always got something ~relevant~ to post on social.

Ps and Qs: An explainer that breaks down the nuances between RFPs and RFQs.

Rerouting for results: Salesforce maps 5 routes to successful customer journeys in its free interactive guide. Learn how integrated marketing channels compel customers to act and spark real results.*

^{*A message from our sponsor.}