TikTok in collaboration with IOL has announced the launch of its first-ever in-app talent competition in South Africa, which calls upon local creators to battle it out for the top spot across various categories including dance, fashion, comedy and sport.
Aptly named SpiritsUP Battle, the competition builds on the SpiritsUP campaign, which was launched last month and saw award-winning musician Sho Madjozi release a hot single to encourage locals to remain positive in these unconventional times.
Now, as the nation moves into 100+ days of lockdown, TikTok wants to continue keeping spirits alive by inspiring its community of creators to express their most creative selves through dance, fashion, comedy and sport.
Boniswa Sidwaba, TikTok content operations manager, Africa, said that TikTok’s mission has always been to inspire creativity and bring joy to its users, which is why a talent battle is a perfect fit.
“Through this battle, we want to encourage creativity through easy-to-use video capturing and editing tools, allowing creators to develop innovative content.
We want to support the immense local talent and provide a platform for the community to present their creativity to a wide audience.”
@kefilwemabote Well, a little dress up has never hurt anyone! Wanna ##SwagUp with me?!
♬ ROCKSTAR - DaBaby, Roddy Ricch
At the end of the competition, two creators within each category will be awarded an online voucher to the value of R5000.
In addition to the awesome vouchers up for grabs, winners will also be promoted in-app via dedicated campaign banners, helping to grow their profiles even more.
Sidwaba added that some local celebs have also jumped on board to lead the campaign, calling on their followers across various social media platforms to keep their Spirits UP and show off their talent.
This includes dancer - Kamogelo Mphela, comedian - Lasizwe, fashionista - Kefilwe Mabote and sports star - Wayne Parnell.
@kamomphelaxx ##Danceup if you’ve got what it takes . Join the challenge. Post a video of you dancing to this song & ##danceup let’s go 🚀
♬ original sound - kamomphelaxx
Between 16 July and 14 August, the top 10 creators within each category – based on video views and an increase in followers – will make it onto the leaderboard, and from there the TikTok community will decide who takes the crown for the week based on how much they engage with the creators and their content.
Do you want to join in on the fun? All you have to do is choose a category and create the most innovative content you can to be the winner of this battle.