NEW YORK – Keiko Mori, head of creative product marketing, North America at TikTok, said the social video platform’s latest ad formats aren’t here to quietly blend in. They are here to make an entrance, preferably the moment you open the app.
Speaking with Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan at the IAB NewFronts, Mori walked through a slate of new products designed for what she described as “maximum impact, first moment in the app.”
That includes logo takeover, which allows brands to share the very first visual moment users see.
“When you open your mobile and you click on TikTok… the first thing you see is the TikTok logo. But now the brands actually, they can share this moment,” she said.
Because nothing says subtle brand awareness like replacing the app’s own identity for a few seconds.
Prime-time ads turn commercials into mini-series
If logo takeover is about grabbing attention instantly, TikTok’s prime-time format is about holding it just long enough to tell a story in three acts.
“Primetime is where you can place up to three ads for the same user… for a window of 15 minutes,” Mori said.
Instead of a single ad trying to do everything, the format breaks storytelling into pieces. “The first video you’re gonna do the hook… the second ad you can dig into the story… and the third piece is where you have the final call to action,” she said.
It is advertising, but with a narrative arc, which is either progress or proof that marketers have always wanted to be filmmakers.
Top reach promises scale with fewer headaches
TikTok also introduced top reach, which combines its most prominent placements into a single buy. The pitch is efficiency without sacrificing scale.
“With one single buying, you can reach a lot of users in the platform,” Mori said.
For media buyers, this translates to fewer spreadsheets, fewer meetings and at least one fewer existential crisis about reach versus frequency.
Ads that join the conversation instead of interrupting it
One of the more delicate balancing acts discussed by Kaplan and Mori was how TikTok integrates ads into content without making the experience feel like a never-ending commercial break.
Mori emphasized that context and authenticity are the guardrails. “We are never placing the brand ads close to a topic that is not mentioning them,” she said.
Through formats like Pulse and post mentions, brands appear alongside conversations that are already happening. “You’re not just interrupting… the brand is arriving to be part of that conversation,” she added.
In theory, this means ads feel less like interruptions and more like contributions, which is a bold claim in any era of advertising.
Not just for giant brands with giant budgets
High-impact formats often come with the assumption that they are reserved for blockbuster launches and companies with very large marketing budgets. Mori pushed back on that idea.
“When people see those high impact formats… you instantly think about large brands,” she said, but added that mid-size advertisers can also benefit.
“It’s also a very good way for you to get the right message for the right audience at the right moment,” she said, framing the formats as tools for efficiency as much as scale.
So yes, you can dominate attention like a movie studio, even if your product is less cinematic.
Big reach, faster attention and a lot of expectations
Mori closed with a reminder that TikTok’s scale remains one of its biggest selling points. With more than 200 million users in the US, the platform offers both reach and what it calls attention quality.
“These premium formats… drive actually now 50% more attentive views,” she said, adding that users notice brands “41% faster than other platforms.”
Those are the kinds of numbers that make marketers lean forward and budgets follow. They also come with an implicit challenge: if you are going to capture attention that quickly, you had better have something worth saying.
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