Top 5 brand TikToks you need to know about right now

This installment of Ad Age’s expanded “Creativity Top 5” series looks at the best TikTok videos posted by brands over the past few weeks. In this month’s lineup: Southwest Airlines exposes passengers’ weirdest checked items, Skims and Target turn to influencers and the NFL capitalizes on the Taylor Swift–Travis Kelce frenzy. Also read: 5 new TikTok trends that brands can follow Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs No. 5: Southwest Airlines reveals strange checked luggage Southwest Airlines struck gold on TikTok last month with a video featuring two of TikTokers’ favorite things—a touch of absurdity and a snappy compilation-style format (anyone remember the “things that just make sense” trend?). The airline shared a video giving viewers a behind-the-scenes look at some of “[its] favorite checked items,” ranging from a large stick to a duffel bag embroidered with the words “emotional baggage.” Though the video is a follow-up to a similar TikTok Southwest posted in September, this one performed far better than its predecessor, amassing 5.3 million views and nearly 600,000 likes in just over three weeks (the original garnered about 133,000 likes). Also read: Southwest Airlines tries to restore consumer confidence The video’s success also demonstrates the power of effective community management. Southwest created the TikTok partially in response to comments on its initial “favorite checked items” video, with one user writing, “This needs to be a series.” The airline posted the new video as a response to that specific comment. @southwestair Replying to @Krista Be careful what you ask for ‘cause I just might comply #part2 #ramper #ramplife #bts #fyp #reniassance #avgeek #ramp #airline #southwest #southwestairlines ♬ Careless Cbat - There I Ruined It No. 4: Bratz nods to its franchise lore in a clip from its TikTok series Like TikTok’s characteristic offbeat humor, appeals to Gen Z and millennial nostalgia are also running themes on the platform. In fact, #nostalgia is one of the most popular TikTok hashtags at 137 billion total views—and nearly 500 million of those views have originated in the last week. So, when Bratz included a reference to the franchise’s 2013 film “Bratz: Go to Paris the Movie” in its ongoing “Alwayz Bratz” TikTok series—and then posted a separate video setting that subtle nod against the movie clip it was alluding to—it wasn’t surprising that TikTokers ate that video up. Bratz’s video inserting the film scene into its TikTok series garnered 5.6 million views and 870,000 likes—more than the “Alwayz Bratz” episode it was cropped from, which received 529,000 views. The video excerpt also notably amassed more than 57,000 saves and nearly 20,000 shares, indicating TikTokers likely sent the video to fellow Bratz fans in their group chats or saved it to show to them in the future. @bratz Oui oui! 🇫🇷 Don’t forget to tune in to an all-new episode of *ALWAYZ BRATZ* tomorrow at 2:30 PM PST both here and on Instagram ( bratz ) 👄💕 #bratz #dolls #alwayzbratz #paris #emilyinparis ♬ original sound - bratz See also: How Bratz is trying to revive its brand No. 3: Skims flaunts its new bras with influencer reviews Last week, Kim Kardashian’s underwear and loungewear brand Skims announced the launch of its “ultimate nipple bra,” which, as its name suggests, includes a faux nipple on its cups. And the brand’s TikTok content promoting the new bras is already drawing in millions of views with the help of several influencer partnerships. The most popular of these sponsored TikToks has been one created by the creator Chelsea Jordan, a slightly trimmed and edited version of which was posted to Skims’ TikTok account. The video featuring Jordan trying on the bra and marveling at its faux nipples has garnered nearly 10 million views and 670,000 likes in just five days. On top of that, a series of videos from Skims’ other influencer partners—including Victoria Paris and Suede Brooks—reposted on the brand’s TikTok account have each racked up hundreds of thousands of additional views for Skims. @skims A total re-invention of the push-up bra. 🤍@chelseajordan #skimsbra #skimsultimatebra #skimsbrareview #pushupbra #underwirebra ♬ original sound - SKIMS See also: Kim Kardashian on Skims and building brands No. 2: Target recruits TikTok influencers to promote its fall fashion and decor For its fall social media campaign over the past three weeks, Target took an approach straight from “The Chronicles of Narnia,” sending a group of influencers massive bright-red trunks that transported them (through the power of editing) to “Fall Town,” rooms filled with Target’s various autumnal products. The three videos in the campaign feature creators Alicia and Alexa Montes, Kossi Tchenawou and Élise Osafo browsing through the retailer’s fall-themed clothing, decor and beauty products and each bringing their favorites back with them to the “real world” as they exit the trunk. Together, the three videos amassed 12.7 million views. @target #TargetDrop is BACK! This time @MONTESTWINS 💗 ♬ original sound - target @target Felt a breeze and suddenly it’s cuffing season🍂😍 @Plant Daddy Koss escapes to FALL TOWN to grab affordable #TargetDrop ♬ original sound - target No. 1: The NFL capitalizes on the Taylor Swift–Travis Kelce romance With the passionate Taylor Swift fandom that thrives on TikTok (the #TaylorSwift hashtag has 145 billion overall views), it’s unsurprising that the NFL’s slew of TikTok content surrounding the pop star’s highly publicized relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce drew the most eyeballs on the platform over the past few weeks. The video that attracted the most attention was an eight-second-long clip of Swift and Kelce walking through a hallway at Arrowhead Stadium after her surprise appearance in Kelce’s luxury suite during a game there went viral. See also: Inside the NFL’s Taylor Swift era Though the video is extremely short (the NFL’s video is actually a four-second-long clip looped twice) and simply features Swift and Kelce walking alongside each other, TikTok users flocked to it in droves, driving the video to 21.5 million total views, 2.7 million likes and tens of thousands of comments, saves and shares. The NFL has continued to leverage the new attention Swift is bringing to the league in its TikTok content, with subsequent videos featuring her cheering on Kelce consistently netting the NFL millions of views each over the past month. @nfl p solid day for the two of them 🫡 #taylorswift #traviskelce #kansascitychiefs #nfl ♬ original sound - NFL

Top 5 brand TikToks you need to know about right now

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