Disney Knows Best: Disney100 on TikTok
Published on November 29, 2023, 9:37 p.m.
by Alison Reed.
Disney has a long-standing history of creatively meeting the needs of its audiences. In fact, for the past 100 years, the Walt Disney Company has been highly regarded for its innovation in entertainment, music, branding and connection with the public.
In honor of the 100th anniversary of Disney, the company has announced various brand collaborations. From high-end jewelry lines to exclusive merchandise, Disney’s centennial anniversary is being celebrated in many ways by audiences worldwide.
One of the most innovative partnerships Disney announced to observe the occasion was the Disney100 activation on TikTok.
A whole new world
TikTok has not only revolutionized content creation but has also become a powerful tool for public relations. The platform serves as a space where businesses can create meaningful connections with their target audiences.
Companies are leveraging TikTok to tell their stories creatively. Brands are actively participating in consumer dialogue instead of merely pushing out one-sided messaging as they have done in the past.
TikTok provides a strong sense of community and interaction because it puts users and companies who create organic content on the same playing field.
In order to create paid media opportunities for companies on the platform, TikTok recently launched the TikTok for Businesses. On this platform, businesses are able to reach audiences in a variety of ways. From hashtag challenges to branded effects, companies are tapping into the platform’s playful spirit to enhance brand visibility.
As TikTok continues to evolve, companies are able to capture the attention of audiences in innovative forms while also building stronger relationships with their audiences.
Faith, trust and character cards
The Disney100 activation began on Oct. 16 and was available to users for exactly four weeks. To be part of this interactive experience, users simply had to search for “Disney100” within the TikTok app. A Disney100 banner then appeared, where users could click to access the game-like page.
The goal of the experience was to unlock character cards that grant users access to exclusive, Disney-themed profile frames.
Each week, users were able to complete tasks that rewarded them with a certain amount of character cards. They would have to reveal each card to see if they unlocked one of the characters.
You see, not every card guaranteed a new character card. Some cards turned out to be empty or repeats of characters that had already been unlocked. Therefore, users had to continually collect cards until they earned each character for the week.
The tasks, such as posting a video and following a Disney official TikTok page, reset daily, giving the audience more opportunities to earn cards.
Users also had the option to share cards with others. For example, if one user was unable to unlock the Minnie Mouse card but found another user who had an extra Minnie Mouse card, the user with the extra card could share it with the user who needed it to unlock that character.
This feature not only helped more users reap the benefits of collecting all the character cards, but it also increased the community-building aspect of the campaign. By incentivizing users to share cards, the Disney100 campaign became more widely shared on the app.
Once a user collected the six characters for the week, they were rewarded with a Disney-themed profile frame that displays their profile picture. In the first week, users were adorned with a Woody hat frame. In the following two weeks, users earned frames
featuring the droid BB-8 and Marvel villain Loki, allowing users to infuse their profiles with the essence of these beloved characters.
However, the best frame, in my opinion, awaited those who could successfully unlock all the characters in the initial three weeks. The exclusive silver Minnie Mouse ears frame became a digital badge of victory for those who were invested in the Disney100 game for the month.
The activation is no longer available to users, but those who participated are able to use the profile frames until Dec. 13. Whether you are looking at someone’s profile directly or simply scrolling through the “For You” page, you can easily see who played the Disney100 game alongside you on TikTok.
Happily ever after
According to The Walt Disney Company, videos with #Disney100 have gained over 7.2 billion views, and 18 billion character cards were collected.
Since one of the task options was creating a video, the trend quickly went viral amongst users. I know I couldn’t scroll on my “For You” page without seeing Disney100 content every day.
Not only did the challenge build Disney’s online following, but it also strengthened the online community of Disney fans — both new and old.
This collaborative activation between Disney and TikTok unveils a new form of interactive marketing for companies.
