For people in Southeast Asia, TikTok is more than just a platform, it’s an expression of culture and creativity. In 2022, TikTok became the most downloaded social app in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, and is frequented by hundreds of millions of users and businesses every month.
The region’s vibrant culture has transformed TikTok from a social media platform to a cultural phenomenon, interweaving seamlessly with Gen Z’s digital reality. For him, like me, who is one of five Southeast Asians who make up this generation, TikTok is a way to build connections. Learn new things and connect directly with your favorite creators and brands.
This is why TikTok has turned to the “social media realm” in recent years, investing millions of dollars in training and advertising for small businesses, highlighted by the growing presence of TikTok Shops. At the height of the pandemic, TikTok helped set Gen Z apart as their own generation, but now it’s changing the game by influencing what Gen Z can do on the platform.
So what do companies need to know about my generation, Southeast Asia’s Gen Z?
SEA Generation Z sees the world through nanolenses
Over 500 million Southeast Asians spend 10 hours a week on social media, and influencers are the best for them. From #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt to #TikTokBudol, he’s been leveraging the combined power of TikTok and his Instagram shortform to help Gen Z validate their purchases.
Celebrity and brand accounts aren’t very useful to us. Any content posted by a celebrity is considered an advertisement, which is a big negative. “Influencers build their pages organically, unlike official brand accounts, which rely primarily on paid media,” says social media specialist Andrea Penaranda.
But size matters in the influencer realm, and smaller is better. Nano-influencers and micro-influencers are perceived as more trustworthy than influencers with more than 50,000 followers. Case in point: Vietnamese beauty influencer Linh Truong collects up to 500,000 views on a single video despite his less than 19,000 TikTok followers.
For Gen Z, the limited reach of these influencers isn’t a setback, it’s what makes their content authentic, niche, and trustworthy. Singaporean brands are increasingly hiring nano-influencers for their social media strategies, up from 62% in 2020 to 77% in 2022 due to nano-influencers’ honest, unfiltered reviews is increasing.
Shopee was also ahead of the curve by not only bringing in influencers, but encouraging all kinds of user-generated content. This brings #ShopeeFinds and #BudolFinds sponsored by Shopee to his total of 16.4 billion TikTok views.
SEA Gen Z makes interactive purchases
Convenience is not the only reason Southeast Asians shop online. We also do it to have fun and find community through livestream shopping and “live selling.”
Combining late-night Home Shopping Network viewing and listening to shopping mall salespeople, Live Sales promotes an innovative mop that “bridges the gap between online and offline shopping through a host of interactions. We’re attracting the digitally savvy Gen Z market with our audience,” says Manila-based Strategic Planning Director Marie Adriano.
Although the e-commerce market is still in its infancy, 31% of online sellers in Southeast Asia are already revolutionizing this trend. They live stream on a regular schedule to attract both loyal viewers and new customers. Next, the seller or their partner influencer displays the product in front of the camera. Items are reserved when a viewer comments “Mine.” This interaction excites Southeast Asian shoppers who tune in nearly every week, with 63% buying at least one item from her on each stream. The combination of e-commerce, entertainment, and lifestyle creates something called “shoppertainment.”
Discount offers, on-demand product showcases, real-time answers, and product discovery are some of the things that make livestream sales valuable to Gen Z. In fact, they embraced TikTok Shop because they were already using TikTok to find new items.
SEA’s Gen Z uses short-form content as an entry point to binge-watching
TikTok has driven a wedge between Southeast Asians and other streaming platforms. YouTube remains the most used video platform in the region, but TikTok is quickly closing in on it, with streaming hours increasing by 70% from 2021 to 2023. In fact, social apps have flattened VOD and SVOD platforms in the region.
On TikTok, full movies and episodes are available for free, and parts can be spliced and posted. 81% of Asians feel overwhelmed by too many subscription services on the market, and 82% of Indonesians have decided to stop paying for subscriptions altogether. This has led his Gen Z in Southeast Asia to watch less TV and his OTT, choosing only to access free videos on TikTok.
Some people use the platform to discover new content and passively watch it from their “For You” page. If something piques your interest, ask the original poster or other users for more information about the clip, then watch the full content on another platform. Due to the effect of content splicing, the account of Philippine media company ABS-CBN became his top TikTok entertainment account in Southeast Asia in the first half of 2023.
TikTok took notice of this Gen Z trend, leading to the release of the TikTok TV app. The platform hopes this will allow it to bring in other generations to sit in front of the TV with her Gen Z during family time.
“The advantage of TikTok over SVOD platforms is that it gives brands easy access to metrics and analytics,” said Penaranda. Those who want to make the most of TikTok’s cultural footprint with Gen Z can strategize and achieve long-term success by analyzing audience behavior and identifying patterns, peak hours of engagement, and popular content types. “We can refine our strategies for the future,” she says.
This article was written by Shom Mabaquiao, Analyst at Canvas8 Asia Pacific.