Marc Jacobs set out to grow an engaged Gen Z community on TikTok in 2024, utilizing the app as a brand platform for the first time. By strategically partnering with TikTok’s most viral, engaging and entertaining creators, we set out to push the boundaries of what brand marketing could be on the platform, via funny, unexpected and reactive content that centered Marc Jacobs products.
Underpinned by a shared value of fearless self expression, we harnessed the ingenuity, creativity and niche interests of TikTok’s most engaged entertainers spanning comedy, dance, fashion and music worldwide, in turn, appealing to a new Gen Z audience of Marc Jacobs fans.
We averaged 1.5M views per video with an engagement rate of 9.7% and grew the account by 362K followers – a highly engaged community of culture-savvy young people with Marc Jacobs front of mind.
The Marc Jacobs TikTok strategy is unique to the platform. Our goal on the platform started out to work with the most culturally-relevant, viral creators and to leverage the power of their community, bringing their followers to the Marc Jacobs account to see how their favorite creator was wearing the brand.
Given the trend-driven nature of the platform and the speed in which TikTok creators blow up, we needed to be reactive in order to create culturally-relevant content that drove awareness around Marc Jacobs brand values and product launches that resonated with an audience that’s highly plugged in to culture.
We started by commissioning TikTok’s most viral creators to insert Marc Jacobs products into their style of content, whether that was a viral dance, a comedy sketch, an impersonation, a bedroom DJ set or a guinea pig piano performance (yes, that’s right) – all of which broke through the TikTok algorithm appealing to a new audience. Key creators ranged from cult YouTube-Tik-Tok crossover comedy duo SlushyNoobz and “No Chick-fil-A Sauce” sensation Gina Lyn, to Sylvanian Drama, the account creating unexpected storylines as told by the miniature toy models.
Despite frequently hitting over 1M views on these videos, we soon realized that our brand voice was lacking in this ecosystem, so we started to add native TikTok trends, office-based content, founder-content and TikTok-native BTS campaign moments into our TikTok media mix. With comments like “Give the Marketing team a raise” and “We demand an admin reveal” a frequent occurrence, we also leaned into this lore, asking brand campaign talents like Cardi B (9.9M views) and Beabadoobee (1.4M views) to create fake “admin reveal” videos for us saying that they were the masterminds behind the account. Elsewhere, we filmed mini campaigns with TikTok-relevant talents like Alex Consani and Nara Smith. In August 2024, our video of Nara Smith baking a red Marc Jacobs Tote Bag in her signature asmr style which received over 17M views and generated $966,000 in media impact value (MIV).
The TikTok creator program set a new precedent for brand content and this winning balance of creator and brand content led us to our current strategy.
Over the course of 2024, Marc Jacobs’ TikTok grew from zero to 362K followers. We reached a new, highly engaged Gen Z audience via unprecedented growth, innovative creator partnerships and created reactive, timely, surprising content that cut through the algorithm. We posted 165 videos, averaging 1.5M views per video and an engagement rate of 9.7%, exceeding the industry benchmark by 100%. Our highest performing videos ranged from a behind the scenes video of Adriana Lima talking us through her favorite sandwich filling on the set of our Essentials bag campaign (29M views), to Nara’s Smith’s “cooking” video (17M views) and a comedy sketch of model Alex Consani “escaping” from a water tank on set (6.2M views).
Beyond this, Marc Jacobs inserted itself into cultural events such as The Met Gala and New York Fashion Week and the brand’s TikTok account was widely regarded as the blueprint for innovative TikTok brand storytelling, prompting articles discussing this on the likes of Vogue Business, HighSnobiety, Culted, BoF and more. We’re looking forward to continuing to drive advocacy for the brand amongst Gen Z consumers and educating and entertaining our followers via innovative creator partnerships in 2025 and beyond.