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This week in unlikely partnerships: TikTok inked a deal with Redbox to display videos from the app on the latter’s kiosk screens across the country.
More than 3,000 of the red kiosks will stream TikTok content, and brands will be able to buy ad space next to these videos. TikTok will choose which videos end up on Redbox screens.
Crackle Connex, an advertising platform owned by Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment—which also owns Redbox—will handle brand deals. According to Philippe Guelton, CRO at Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, the kiosks are located in high-traffic locations such as grocery stores or retailers.
Heider Real Estate, which has a TikTok account with 3.4 million followers that posts content featuring luxury homes in its portfolio, is interested in exploring these ads, according to its CMO, Sean New.
“I look at TikTok as skewed toward the younger generation who are more online web users. They’re into streaming services, and I don’t necessarily see them as the biggest audience for Redbox. On the flip, I see Redbox as catered toward more of the old-school generation that’s using DVD players and physically going to pick up movies,” he said.
Still, New said it’s an “interesting partnership in the sense that it’s a really good way to cross-promote and cater to both separate audiences.”
The Redbox deal is just the latest of TikTok’s efforts to expand, despite a potential ban in the US still being mulled by Congress (and an actual ban in Montana). TikTok is also reportedly launching an online store on the US version of its app next month that would position it as a direct competitor of companies like Amazon and Temu.
As for Redbox, the DVD rental company has faced an uphill battle due to the rise of streaming. Last year, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment acquired it for $370 million in an all-stock deal. Currently, it operates more than 30,000 kiosks in the US.