AdNews reporter Mariam Cheik-Hussein offers a lowdown on social media platforms in Australia.
TikTokk
Video-sharing app TikTok is about to open its first Australian office as it gains traction among users and brands, according to
industry sources.
The Chinese-owned company is said to be in the process of establishing a dedicated local team, most likely in Sydney, and is expected to be operational by the end of the year.
TikTok currently has more than 10 offices globally, including Los Angeles, New York, London, Berlin, Dubai and Jakarta.
The decision to open an Australian office highlights the importance of the Australian market to TikTok.
Interest from brands in the app has been ramping up recently, with hundreds of users queuing up to meet TikTokers at a store opening for fashion label Superdry.
The store used three TikTokers, including Ricky Chainz who has 3.3 million followers.
Pinterest has opened its first Australian office with Carin Lee-Skelton appointed as country manager.
Lee-Skelton had previously been at Facebook for more than six years, most recently as a business account manager. She was named country manager for Australia and New Zealand in April after serving as its partner manager in the UK for four years and has been building its local team.
The discovery social media platform currently has a team of less than 10 people and is currently recruiting for additional people for its sales team.
Pinterest recently posted a 62% increase in global revenue after rolling out its advertising business to more countries.
Since rolling its advertising business in Australia in 2017, Pinterest says its seen a steady increase in demand from advertisers in Australia and New Zealand.
Pinterest has 7.5 million monthly unique visitors in Australia and New Zealand according to Nielsen and has already been working with local advertisers across retail, home beauty and technology. Big brands such as Myer, Domain and Woolworths are already advertisers on the platform.
Instagram is upping its augmented-reality (AR) game by allowing users to create their own AR filters with Spark AR.
It comes as its rival Snapchat also amped up its play in AR play, rolling out its Marker Tech tool which was recently used by Big W.
Spark AR is Facebook’s AR platform that allows artists to produce their own effects. Now, in a move to democratise the technology, Instagram is allowing all users and brands access to it.
Effects, such as face-filers, created by a user automatically appear in their followers’ tray for them to use.
Users can also access niche effects created by artists on Instagram through the new Effect Gallery, as well as the new Browse Effects in their effects tray on the Instagram camera.
The program was previously in beta with a select few creators designing their own effects.
Instagram’s roll-out of Spark AR ventures further into Snapchat’s AR territory which it pioneered on social media.