From Our Print Edition

If TikTok is on its way to being banned in the U.S., what will it mean for retailers and brands that have found the popular app an effective way to connect with American consumers —particularly Gen Z and millennials?

GEN Z SAYS ‘NO’ TO A BAN

Our resident Gen Z-er is not happy with the state of things in the nation’s capital and neither are her high school classmates.

“Dad, did you know that they’re trying to ban TikTok? Why would they do that?”

She was referring to, of course, last month’s 352-65 vote in the U.S. House of Representatives to ban TikTok unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, divests its holdings in the video-sharing app within six months of the legislation being signed into law.

Before her eyes glazed over, I did my best to explain that national security and intelligence experts are very concerned that the Chinese government could require ByteDance to turn over personal information about the 100 million-plus TikTok users in the U.S. and use that data to harm Americans like her that use the app.

I was losing her at this point. She didn’t buy that TikTok would do anything out of sorts since our government was watching. She asked with mild alarm, “Wait, they’re not going to ban Snapchat, too, are they?”

Had we kept talking, I could have told her that many people, including politicians favoring banning TikTok, were conflicted about it, and it wasn’t a done deal.

President Joe Biden said he would sign a ban if the Senate approved the House bill. He previously signed a 2022 executive order that put TikTok off-limits to government workers using federal devices. Even so, Biden’s presidential campaign uses TikTok because — like retailers and manufacturers — it understands its draw for younger voters.

Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, issued an executive order in 2020 calling for a ban on TikTok if it did not sell to an American company within 45 days. Nothing came of that, even though a sale never happened. More recently, Trump met with Jeff Yass, a major donor to the GOP although not to the former president’s campaign, and switched his position on a ban. Yass is co-founder and managing director of Susquehanna International, which owns a 15% stake in TikTok.

MARKETERS USE TIKTOK ANYWAY

A new Capterra survey of more than 300 U.S. marketers finds that about three-quarters plan to increase their investments in TikTok messaging in the next 12 months. At the same time, 60% agree that national security concerns are justified. Nearly half (45%) believe TikTok spies on American users. Clearly, marketers are conflicted, too.

Should a TikTok ban go through, 82% believe it would have a moderate to significant impact on achieving their social media marketing or advertising goals. Of course, not all will be lost, as these marketers say they will diversify into other platforms, with Facebook (80%) and YouTube (79%) being the most likely beneficiaries.

Research by MorningConsult finds that YouTube is the top app for Gen Z, with over 80% using it, followed by Instagram (75%), TikTok (63%), and Snapchat (63%).

Do you have a transition plan should a ban occur? As the saying goes, forewarned is forearmed.