1. Ryan Air 

Nour Hamam, Freelance Digital Marketeer

With a 1.4 million follower base, Ryan air’s TikTok is going viral. The low budget no frills airlines are NOT the best, and they are not claiming to be. The admin of the page pokes fun at themselves, by using the face features and trending audios (for ex: I am Jose Mourinho)

In another TikTok the admin comments “one like and I will get a tattoo of Ryan air logo” and actually films getting the tattoo done. 

The self-deprecating humor is resonating with their audience so much that it’s being shared on other platforms. That’s how you create viral content! 

Building brand loyalty when your brand is not the best is sure not the easiest task so by poking fun at themselves they carved a unique brand voice that has nothing to do with pricing strategy or the way they position themselves. 

2. Duolingo, the language learning app

Duolingo’s tiktok is on fire, they use their owl mascot to run the show, and poke fun at google translate by saying anytime someone uses Google translate to learn a new language, the mascot loses a feather. 

In another TikTok, Duolingo shows the mascot as a single mom and as a second job she’s twerking for attention (This had me laughing out loud!).

They also refer a lot to the famous pop singer (Dua Lipa) and play on that for fun. They have over 1 million fans. I think the admin of this page surely deserves a raise for their creativity and thinking “outside the box”!  

3) Burger King Kuwait

They used a Cristiano Ronaldo look alike to launch their new plant-based Whopper. The idea is “as good as the originals” ; they rely on goofy and dramatic content creators to make a “Duet” feature with the Cristiano Ronaldo lookalike while they try the new plant-based burger. 

Burger King Kuwait collaborated with 5 different content creators to launch this campaign that generated positive sentiments towards the plant based burger. 

It’s hard to position a burger as plant based, especially the whopper which is known for being for meat lovers so the strategy with the Ronaldo look alike really worked. 

The use of the duet edit feature was relevant to this campaign. 

4) Uncle Fluffy

The Japanese cheesecake brand has 2.5 Million fans on TikTok, their strategy is simple, they use humor in their videos. In one video, Babushka, the owner of the brand, holds a really soggy looking carrot and asks what do I do with it?

In another video, a man pretends to be the owner of the business, cleans the tables and waits tables then gets away with taking a cake and running away. 

In another video shows Babushka with the audio of Jason Derulo and how arabs hear it “Allo enti Talle Talle Talle” (you are divorced!) had me laugh out loud.,  

Uncle Fluffy also follows the trends and keeps it simple. Their videos are a mix of influencers and funny videos that are short and snappy. Give babushka her own show! She really nails the tone of voice with her videos that are hilarious and relatable. It’s only very localized to the region. 

It made me go and try it for the first time (it’s a must try!) for those who love fluffy cakes. 

5) Gymshark

The bio is hilarious, it reads nothing to do with sharks, something to do with gym, its lighthearted, they have 3.7 million followers 

One video says “why does weights in Europe feel heavier”, another shows a funny video from POV “you brought the wrong person to the gym” 

In another video, a guy asks what would you change about yourself (Red flags) and the guy answers “calves” 

(This had me in tears). Another one showed the gym crush killing a spider in “proof that my gym crush is better than yours” 

They also create a lot of workout tutorials. They use trending audios and songs to relate to their audience. They are authentic in their brand voice. 

Some keys tips and tricks for creating a viral and popular TikTok strategy:  

  • Be authentic.
  • Use humor and trending sounds or audios.
  • Don’t claim to be the best if you are not.
  • Keep it snappy, short and shareable. 
  • It doesn’t have to be high end videography in the case of Ryan air. 
  • Don’t be afraid to jump on trends (I am Jose Mourinho really nailed it).
  • Localize as much as possible and stay relevant to your brand values. 
  • It’s all about brand loyalty, fans will not engage with content that always pushes sales, offers instead generate conversations