Toy World spoke to Timothy Armoo of Fanbytes, a company which works with online influencers across all major social platforms.

“Fanbytes exists to help brands reach younger audiences in the most organic ways and drive results. Since 2017, we’ve helped everyone from McDonalds to Deliveroo, to more traditional organisations like the BBC and the government, reach younger audiences through innovative influencer marketing on Snapchat, Instagram, and more recently on TikTok.

In a world where younger audiences are blocking ads and have massively reduced attention spans, brands come to us because they want to cut through the noise and drive action. We’re fortunate enough that, through our expertise, we’ve gained investment from the founders of Boohoo and PLT which is testament to our work in being able to help brands reach younger audiences.

Fanbytes has recently launched a new ByteSized division, which focuses on the TikTok platform. Our whole premise has been to be the best place for reaching younger audiences. We started running TikTok campaigns at the start of the year and received many requests from TikTok stars who were looking to be managed. Fast forward, and we now have over 30 of the biggest TikTok creators spanning over 25m followers on the platform – our influencers span families, gamers and even pets. Right now, TikTok is where YouTube was six years ago, and is where the new “PewDiePies” of the world are being created. Consequently, support for this new crop of influencers is needed. Under the management arm of the business, we represent talent on everything from licensing and brand partnerships to IP development.

For those who don’t know, TikTok is what would be created if Instagram Stories and Vine had a baby. It’s a short video platform, where users can create amusing skits and videos. Starting off initially as Musically, the platform has morphed into a global phenomenon with over 1b installs and is currently a faster growing platform than Instagram.”

Tim goes on to explain why TikTok matters to toy retailer and marketers; demonstrating how Fanbytes can help toy brands to creatively reach and engage the next generation of consumers and offering advice to toy companies looking to engage with platforms such as TikTok. He stresses that there is still time to activate campaigns in time for Christmas.

To find out more, and to read the full interview in Toy World’s November issue, click here.