The Doers meets…GangGang
“If you think TikTok is just for kids then why are brands like Lotus or Burberry absolutely killing it on there? They’re building an audience for the future.”
GangGang has been firmly on our radar since they launched nearly a year ago. Made up of a trio of ex-TikTok creatives, Chris, Hannah and Steph are a content strategy consultancy working on some seriously cool campaigns. While at TikTok, they were part of the team who wrote the rule book on how to create content on the platform. We asked them to share more about their work and what’s happening in the world of TikTok and content strategy that we need to know about.
1. Tell us about GangGang and the work you do and who you all are
GangGang is a boutique content agency that was born out of our shared experience of all working in house at TikTok and cumulative years of working across brand partnerships, content creation; shooting and editing and design. At its core are our 3 founders Chris, Hannah and Steph who bring a massive resumé of working with some of the biggest agencies and trend leading brands.
2. What's been your proudest campaign to date? What was the brief, how did you tackle it, and what were the results?
Not a single campaign as such, but our ongoing work with Sweaty Betty has proven incredibly successful and showcased not only our versatility to shoot everything from behind the scenes to curated social content but dedicated campaign film too. It's been a great partnership that’s highlighted how fast we can turn around assets; often several edits within a week from a shoot, but also shows how our awareness as an agency has helped elevate content. Case in point being our content around the marathon that garnered almost 300k views.
3. Do you think all brands should be on TikTok? Are there any industries you think just wouldn't work?
I don’t think the platform’s exclusive in any way. Anyone can present themselves on there and with the right content can do well. I think if your brand’s not received well on TikTok then your content strategy is wrong. So many brands are apprehensive to launch on TikTok because they don’t feel that their audience is there or its too old. But that’s really where creating content for brand awareness rather than immediate conversion should be your consideration. If you think TikTok is just for kids then why are brands like Lotus or Burberry absolutely killing it on there? They’re building an audience for the future.
4. Who are your top 3 accounts to follow on TikTok?
It’s such a fast moving culture that the biggest players come and go so quick. Just look at the rise and fading away of 'tube girl' or how we don’t see so much of Francis Bourgeois any more. Some brands we love because they do well to stay on top of trends are Duo Lingo, Ryanair and Currys. I’d say they are good staple brands to look to for great use of TikTok.
5. What's your advice to brands who don't have the money to invest into working with an agency for content yet but want to start building up a presence on TikTok?
Chat to GangGang! You may not have the budget to use an agency for your content creation but what we're really good at is that initial inspiration session where we look at your vertical and pull out niche areas that allow you to widen your reach and broaden your story telling in a native way. We've done this for a few brands and it just allows them to then go off and plan out their own content without further costs. It’s a great way to get the ball rolling.
6. If GangGang could work with any brand, who would it be and why?
We're open to working with any brand - the dream really is a brand that allows us to truly flex our skills and totally entrusts us to deliver the content we think would work - especially if it was something really out there and left field. That would be great.
7. How do you stay on top of TikTok trends?
Whether we realise it or not we put in a lot of hours going down rabbit holes and general scrolling. The great thing is we can call that work now!
8. What's been your favourite piece of content created so far?
This isn’t even a client piece or even something that did a lot of views but our first monthly roundup we did where we'd record all our zoom meetings for a month and made a montage piece. It showed how much we enjoy what we do and how much fun we have together.
9. Is there a next big thing in social media we should be watching out for?
More brands will be engaging with communities and micro creators - in search of more authentic partnership. Community marketing is definitely the future in our eyes.
10. What's your favourite trend happening on TikTok right now?
The trend where brands are transitioning from videos of something or someone falling over and then hard cutting to the sales person on the floor. Or a coconut being cut open and the sales person getting splashed in the face. Those are great and are such a concise example of how if your brand fits in with the feed it will get views. They dont start with any branding or any CTA within the first 3 secs. It’s seemingly a totally irrelevant video at the start. So it should break all the rules we've been force fed for so long. It shows how much TikTok loves serendipity and randomness.
