Northern brands are thriving on TikTok! Check out our free report, Northern Soul, to see how top brands are creating hits, engagement, and community.

We’re back from MAD//North and feeling invigorated by the wealth of talent, creativity and innovation coming out of the north.

No place was that more evident than the Social + Discovery Commerce stage, which we ran in partnership with TikTok.

The north is a powerhouse when it comes to brands on social. That’s why we’ve teamed up with TikTok to bring you a healthy dose of inspiration in our latest report, Northern Soul: The brands making hits on TikTok.

This FREE report delves into how some of the best and brightest brands on TikTok are building community, engagement, and sales on the platform.

CLICK HERE TO RECEIVE THE FREE NORTHERN SOUL: THE BRANDS MAKING HITS ON TIKTOK REPORT

Brands like Manchester-based Footasylum. The footwear retailer has become a must-follow brand for Gen Z and views its TikTok as an entertainment channel.

It behaves more like a broadcaster than a brand, and rather than posting ads, it produces shows.

Footasylum Chief Marketing Officer Howard Tattersall says it allows the brand to “connect and seamlessly be part” of their consumer’s lives. He says: “Footasylum wants to join in and be part of everyday conversations in an organic and natural way.”

Content creators are the stars of its shows, including big names such as Yung Filly (3 million followers), Chunkz (6 million followers), and GK Barry (4.1 million followers). Tattersall says: “We choose creators who not only have highly engaged communities, but who also genuinely align with our culture and share the same sense of community.”

It has created many hugely popular social content series, including dating show Does The Shoe Fit?, and Bad Bistro, where creators turn their hand at running a restaurant. TikTok is used heavily to drive engagement to its shows through short-form content such as funny clips, behind-the scenes footage, and cast announcements.

Locked In - now into its sixth series - has been particularly successful. The online reality show sees content creators locked in a house for two weeks with no phones and no contact with the outside world. 

They take on challenges such as eating disgusting foods, roasting fellow contestants, and even outrunning attack dogs, with the winner taking home £10,000. Posts about the show garner hundreds of thousands, and sometimes millions, of views on TikTok.

Tattersall says: “Not only does the series provide huge brand awareness at a key trading period, it allows us to showcase the latest and best products and drives mass app downloads with the viewer being able to have their say through voting. Each series has seen year-on-year uplifts across all KPIs from views to app downloads and incremental product sales.”

Such is the popularity of Footasylum’s content that many followers know it as content creator first and a streetwear retailer second. However, the brand’s former Chairman Barry Bown said it is fine with this as its social media content has been hugely effective in building brand equity among its target customers.

In fact, Footasylum CFO Nick Scott said its record-breaking financial performance last year was in part down to “the success of our creative content channels”.

Read the report to hear how more brands including Very, THG, P.Louise, Yorkshire Tea and more thrive on TikTok.

Discover:

  • Case studies into how these leading northern brands grow communities, capitalise on trends, win with creators, optimise campaigns, and build shopping empires
  • Insights from standout TikTok campaigns, including the results they produced
  • PLUS: Top tips from TikTok on how to get it right

👉 Download the report now and make sure you are capitalising on one of the most powerful search, discovery, and commerce channels brands have at their disposal.