Johnson is a seasoned tech professional, having spent 12 years at Facebook/Instagram before joining TikTok last year as head of marketing for its European global solutions business division. After the launch of its advertisers’ platform, TikTok for Business, in the midst of the pandemic, Johnson says he has been “blown away” by the response from brands of all sizes and sectors. The Chinese brand’s rise in Europe has been stratospheric. It has gone from an up-and-coming short-form video platform to a community of 100 million people across the region.
TikTok’s ambitions for Europe were underlined by its headline sponsorship of this summer’s delayed Euro 2020 football tournament. “We are now at the centre of some of the biggest cultural trends and social movements,” Johnson says.
He counts a personal highlight as helping the platform bring to life TikTok’s employee-led Black History Month initiatives. Johnson is optimistic about 2022 and is looking forward to collaborating more with his team in person and striking partnerships and working with new brands to help them use TikTok more effectively. He adds: “I’m just excited to see where we go from here – the next TikTok musical, the next #fetapasta, Little Moons or sea shanties.”