"Brands are adding TikTok to overall media plan": Sameer Singh

A chat with the head of monetisation of ByteDance India.

These are times when marketers are increasingly looking at the social space to connect with their audience. Social networking platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, amongst others are their top listed go-to platforms. While many of these decade old platforms have recently been under scrutiny for security and safety of both advertisers and consumers, the comparatively new entrant in the space - TikTok - has been emphasising on its commitment to brand safety for advertisers.

Launched in India in late 2017, the free to download app owned by ByteDance is a destination for creating and discovering short-form mobile videos. A go-to destination for 200 million+ Indians, the Chinese app caters to users from all over the country, across states, ethnicities, languages and city tiers.

We spoke to Sameer Singh, vice president, monetisation, ByteDance India, to get a sense of brand integration and advertising on the platform and to better understand the brand's safety policy for advertisers.

Sam, as he is fondly known as, joined ByteDance in August this year, after spending over three decades in the industry. Before this, he was chief executive officer, GroupM, leading their South Asia operations. In his prior stints, he has worked at Google, GSK, Procter & Gamble and IPG, across geographies including Palo Alto, Boston, London, Dubai and Guangzhou.

In his current profile, Singh works closely with ByteDance's partners and clients while leading the advertising, sales and marketing strategies across all of ByteDance's products in India.

Edited excerpts.

Also Read: TikTok: All you need to know about this hot new video platform