Background

TikTok is launching the TikTok Ad Awards competition (“TikTok Ad Awards”) to showcase best-in-class creatives and celebrate the most entertaining, inspiring and effective paid ad campaigns on TikTok.

The TikTok Ad Awards are jointly operated and promoted by TikTok Pte. Ltd., a company registered in Singapore, with its registered office at 1 Raffles Quay, #26-10, South Tower, Singapore 048583 and company number 201719908M (“TikTok”/“We”/“Our” “Us”). TikTok and/our affiliates own and operate the entertainment platform known as ‘TikTok’ (“Platform”).

These terms and conditions (“Terms”) govern the TikTok Ad Awards. By participating in the TikTok Ad Awards, all participating businesses (“Business(es)”) and/or representatives of Business (e.g. an employee or director) ("Representative(s)") (together “Participants”, “Entrants” or “you”), agree to these Terms. Businesses agree that if a Representative participates in the TikTok Ad Awards and accepts these Terms, this will constitute agreement to these Terms by the Business. Any Representative that accepts these Terms on behalf of a Business warrants and represents that they have full power and authority to do so. Representatives acknowledge that any prizes (if any) will be awarded to their Business and not to them individually.

Any personal data processed as a result of your participation in the TikTok Ad Awards will be processed in accordance with our TikTok for Business Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”) and Section H of these Terms below. In the event of any conflict between the Terms with any other communications, including advertising or promotional materials, these Terms shall prevail.

Terms and Conditions

A – Timeline

Campaign submissions to the TikTok Ad Awards (“Entries”) will be accepted between 28 March 2024 at 12:01am (according to the local time of United Arab Emirates) – 7 September 2024 at 23:59pm (according to the local time of United Arab Emirates)(“Competition Period”) and within the following territories: Qatar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan, South Africa, Kazakhstan and Cyprus (the “Local Markets”). Entries must be submitted on tiktokadawardsmetapee.com (“Site”) during the Competition Period. The date of submission for each Entry is calculated using the date stamp applied to the Entry on the Site. Any complaints on missing or delayed submissions will not be considered.

Judging will take place between 8th September – 18th October 2024, with the winners being announced at the award ceremony.

B – Eligibility

Eligibility requirements for the Business and Representative

1. Entries can be made by brands, creative agencies, media agencies and marketing partners.

2. Representatives must be aged 18 years or above. We may request proof of your age at any point following submission of your Entry.

3. Representatives must be full time employees of the Business and have authority to enter the TikTok Ad Awards on behalf of the Business.

4. Officers, directors and employees of TikTok and its Affiliates [means any entity that directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with the subject entity] connected to the TikTok Ad Awards are not eligible to enter the TikTok Ad Awards as Representatives.

5. In addition to the above, to the extent any officer, director or employee of TikTok and its Affiliates has any direct or indirect relationship with a Business, they must first disclose the relationship to Youssef Gadallah who will determine whether such Business is eligible to participate.

6. Non-disclosure of any relationship by a Business can result in disqualification and/or forfeiture of any prize.

7. Businesses shall ensure that they, and their Representatives, comply with these Terms and any applicable laws, regulations and fiduciary obligations applicable to their Entry, including but not limited to anti-bribery and data protection laws.

Eligibility requirements for the Entry

8. The Relevant Campaign must be part of a paid media campaign that has run on TikTok between 1st January 2023 - 7 September 2024.

9. Submissions must be entered correctly, in accordance with these Terms and any instructions on the Site and within the Competition Period in order to be valid.

10. We are unable to accept any Entries submitted outside of the Site, for example by way of e-mail or via any social media platforms including the TikTok platform. Entries automatically generated by a computer programme or other automatic method will not be eligible. Entries that are incomplete of all required information will not be eligible.

11. The Relevant Campaign must comply with the TikTok for Business Commercial Terms of Service, the TikTok for Business Advertising Terms and all applicable TikTok Advertising Policies and Community Guidelines (“TikTok Terms”).

12. The Relevant Campaign must not contain any content or material that violates or infringes upon any music copyrights, trademarks, rights of privacy, publicity, moral rights, and/or other rights of any person or entity.

13. The Relevant Campaign must not contain, incorporate or otherwise use any content or material that is inappropriate, obscene, defamatory, libellous, discriminatory, unlawful or otherwise in violation of TikTok Terms or applicable laws and regulations.

14. TikTok reserves the right to verify eligibility requirements and all determinations will be made at TikTok’s sole and absolute discretion, acting reasonably.

15. Subject to the eligibility requirements stated above, no other purchase, payment or consideration of any kind is necessary to enter or win the TikTok Ad Awards.

C – How to enter

16. Provided that you meet the eligibility requirements as set out above, you may, during the Competition Period, submit via an online form on the Site:

a) Submissions for the It’s the Creative For Me category;

b) Submissions for the Community Core category;

c) Submissions for the Bougie on a Budget category;

d) Submissions for the Sound on Please!; and/or

e) Submissions for the Trendsetter.

17. You may submit multiple Entries for different Relevant Campaigns during the Competition Period on the Site. We highly recommend that you enter each Relevant Campaign into only one of the above categories so that your Entry is tailored to the category criteria set out below.

18. All data provided during the registration process on the Site and in any subsequent communications with TikTok in relation to the TikTok Ad Awards must be complete, accurate and correct.

D - Judging

19. After the Competition Period, the Entries will be quality checked by an internal team at TikTok who will rule out Entries that do not meet the eligibility criteria and other requirements set out in these Terms, including removing Relevant Campaigns that do not comply with the TikTok Terms.

20. The remaining Entries will be passed on to a panel of independent judges (“Local Jury”), who will evaluate all the entries from all Local Markets in accordance with the eligibility requirements and the criteria set out below.

21. Local Jury will review the Entrants for submissions in accordance with the following criteria and overall campaign strategy, execution and results. Local Jury will award points with each criteria representing an equal percentage of the overall point scoring:

a. It’s the Creative For Me focuses on the idea and its strategy, and celebrates the brands and agencies that dared to push the boundaries of creativity with campaigns that were built TikTok-first, and showcased impactful results. We're looking for campaigns that:

i. The big creative idea is the central reason why this campaign is engaging and powerful;

ii. Go native and entertain with content that feels authentic in the For You feed, and lean into creative tools and partners like TikTok Creative Exchange, our Creative Partner Ecosystem, TikTok Creator Marketplace, creators, CapCut and/or the Creative Centre to create engaging ads;

iii. Go sound ON and engage the TikTok community through the power of sound; tap into trending tracks, lean on our library of pre-cleared commercial songs, or create your own bespoke sound to create a TikTok-native sonic identity

b. Community Core celebrates the best use of creators and the community. Shows how creators can use their unique voices and content styles seamlessly within your campaign idea. We're looking for campaigns that:

i. Demonstrate true collaboration and natural fit between brand and creator;

ii. Show the strategy and effectivity of community management to build a dialogue between the content and audience;

iii. Prove that a creator's unique voice, perspective and style impacts the quality and effectivity of the overall campaign.

c. Sound On Please! celebrates campaigns that use sound as an entry-point to the creative idea. We're looking for campaigns that are successful in:

Push the boundaries of sound in a way that uniquely showcases your brand, and feels truly native to the platform;

ii. Demonstrate how sound is central to the storyline of the campaign;

iii. Prove that by thinking sound-first, the campaign successfully engaged the audience

d. Bougie on Budget  is the category for campaigns with the most creative use of modest production budgets and resources through both paid and organic content with community management to create maximum impact. We're looking for campaigns that:

i. Push the boundaries of creativity to make the most of your modest budget

ii. Demonstrate impressive and real results by providing tangible evidence of campaign effectiveness

iii. Make the most of TikTok native features, or entertainment nature to engage audiences without the traditional budget

e. The Trendsetter reimagines advertising through TikTok - showcasing your innovation and ability to captivate audiences and drive bold effective ideas through the unique utilization of ad products with a measurable impact on the platform. We're looking for campaigns that:

i. Show how you created an effective and entertaining campaign by using TikTok features in a unique way;

ii. Demonstrate innovation on the platform, using features, techniques or tools in an unusual or unexpected way;

iii. Showcase real impact and effectiveness of the campaign through this innovative strategy.

f. The People’s Choice celebrates campaigns which are chosen by those present at the ceremony. They will be judged live, but will be judged according to:

i. Wow the audience with creativity that excites and entertains;

ii. Demonstrates impressive effectiveness for the brand;

iii. Uses TikTok as the core platform to create a truly inspiration campaign that grabs the attendees' attention.

g. The GOAT is what it says on the tin: The Greatest Of All Time. This award can be won by any campaign that is also awarded in additional categories. It cannot be entered directly, instead, every entry will be eligible to win the GOAT, and will be decided at the discretion of the jury, and awarded to the campaign that stands out head-and-shoulders above the rest.

i. Push the boundaries of creativity to the next level, proving that real tangible change can be made using the power of creativity on the platform;

ii. Demonstrate impressive results and audience engagement;

iii. Use TikTok to achieve wider business objectives and showcase the unique impact of your campaign on the brand, and the audience.

E – Prizes

22. There will be Bronze, Silver and Gold winners in each category except The People’s Choice and The GOAT which each have a single winner. In total there will be 17 winners.

23. TikTok will have discretion to award any of the following prizes to winners of the local TikTok Ad Awards (subject to change at TikTok’s discretion):

a. TikTok Ad Award trophy;

b. Ad Credits: Any ad credits awarded hereunder will expire at 11:59pm on 31 December 2025 (if not used);

c. Paid media partnership celebrating winners;

d. TikTok Ad Awards badge to promote the win on social media and in client decks; and

e. Two GOAT Winners will attend TikTok Events and pop-ups at the Cannes Lions with travel and accommodation covered by TikTok (subject to a budget to be communicated by TikTok to the winners).

24. All winners will be emailed and publicly announced on TikTok For Business owned channels (socials and website) and potentially in our paid media partnerships.

25. TikTok reserves the right to request evidence of the winner’s eligibility to participate in the TikTok Ad Awards or claim the prize(s) (i.e. the winners may have to provide a copy of their passport or ID, visas, Covid-19 vaccination status, health insurance and any other mandatory paperwork for travelling purposes).

26. Subject to any applicable government-imposed travel restrictions, the winners are responsible for ensuring their representatives’ availability to travel and attend the Cannes Lions at the location and on the scheduled dates (to be confirmed by us), together with related promotional and publicity activities to be advised.

F – Intellectual Property

27. As between TikTok and you, you retain ownership of the pre-existing underlying intellectual property rights in any content or material submitted by you as part of your Entry. By submitting an Entry, you hereby grant TikTok and its affiliates a non-exclusive, irrevocable, sub-licensable, worldwide and royalty-free licence (without any obligation of attribution or consent) for the duration of 10 years from the date of Entry in the Entry to broadcast, publish, promote, copy, reproduce, transmit, display, edit, adapt, modify (including engaging a third party company to add subtitles to the video embodied within the Entry on your behalf), create derivative works of and/or otherwise distribute or use the Entry (in particular the video embodied within the Entry regardless of whether you are a winner or not) both on and off the TikTok platform (i) in connection with, or promotion of, the TikTok Ad Awards; (ii) for the purpose of showcasing or exhibiting any of the Entries (for example by way of exhibition on the TikTok platform via a ‘hub’ or at any events which may be in front of an audience and also livestreamed or posted on the TikTok platform or any other third party social media platform (including on the TikTok For Business social media channels and in promotional materials) (iii) in any other manner, format or media, in any part of the world, on online platforms including without limitation Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram; (iv) for any advertising, promotional or marketing purposes (whether organic, paid or out of home advertising) of TikTok; (v) other forms of media, whether online or offline as online articles and blog posts, electronic newsletters and other electronic marketing materials. You irrevocably grant all consents and waivers necessary in connection with the above, without further compensation to you.

28. Through your acceptance of these Terms, you confirm that you have obtained any and all necessary third-party clearances to enable you to submit the Entry for the TikTok Ad Awards and for TikTok’s use of any Entry in accordance with these Terms. At TikTok’s request, you must provide evidence of the same, and if you are unable to provide evidence when requested, then TikTok has the right to disqualify your Entry. Acceptable evidence may include (i) a registration certificate (ii) a licence or assignment agreement (iii) a power of attorney (iv) or other relevant materials, documents or statements that demonstrate you are the copyright owner of the Entry or have been authorised by the copyright owner of the Entry to make the entry.

G – Limitation of Liability

29. To the maximum extent permitted by law, TikTok (including its respective officers, employees, agents and affiliates) is not responsible for and excludes all liability (including negligence), for any personal injury; or any loss or damage (including loss of opportunity); whether direct, indirect, special or consequential, arising in any way out of (i) the TikTok Ad Awards (including in respect of any winners, (ii) any technical difficulties or equipment malfunction (whether or not under TikTok’s control); (iii) any theft, unauthorized access or third party interference; (iv) any Entry or prize claim that is late, lost, altered, damaged or misdirected (whether or not after their receipt by TikTok) due to any reason beyond the reasonable control of TikTok; (vi) any tax liability incurred by a winner or Entrant; or (vii) use of a prize.

30. Nothing in these Terms will exclude or limit the liability of TikTok (including its respective officers, employees, agents and affiliates) for death or personal injury as a result of the negligence of TikTok (including its respective officers, employees, agents and affiliates), fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation or any other liability that may not be excluded or limited by applicable law.

31. TikTok (including its respective officers, employees, agents and affiliates) shall not be liable under or in connection with these Terms (whether in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise) for any loss or profit or indirect or consequential losses suffered or incurred by you (whether or not any such losses were foreseeable or within the reasonable contemplation of the parties).

32. Subject to this section G, TikTok’s (including its respective officers, employees, agents and affiliates) total aggregate liability to a Participant under or in connection with these Terms (whether in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise) is limited to £1000.

33. TikTok shall not be responsible for any force majeure event (including but not limited to natural disasters, cyberattacks, pandemic, actions taken by governments or actions of third parties (other than our subcontractors) including government prohibitions of TikTok across any territory), which results in: (i) loss, damage or disappointment suffered by you as a result of your participation in the TikTok Ad Awards; or (ii) a postponement or cancellation of the TikTok Ad Awards. In such cases, TikTok shall not be held liable for fulfilling any prizes or other obligations as set out in these Terms.

34. Insofar as permitted by law, we will not assume any responsibility or liability for any inaccurate or failed electronic data transmission, technical faults, failed entries nor any inaccessibility or unavailability of the internet or the Site.

35. You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless TikTok (including its respective officers, employees, agents and affiliates) from any and all claims, allegations, liabilities, costs, and expenses, including, reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses, brought or asserted against TikTok (including its respective officers, employees, agents and affiliates) arising out of, or relating in any way to your Entry or your breach of these Terms.

H – Reservation of Rights

36. For the avoidance of doubt, the Entrant agrees and undertakes not to take part in any fraudulent activity relating to the Entry (or the TikTok Ad Awards generally), this may include creating (or engaging a third party to create) bots to obtain viewing data for the Entries or interfering with any Entries in a fraudulent or dishonest manner. TikTok reserves the right, to disqualify any Entry that has breached this paragraph. If there has been a breach of this paragraph, to the extent it undermines the integrity of the TikTok Ad Awards, TikTok reserves the right to postpone modify or suspend the TikTok Ad Awards, as appropriate. TikTok also reserves the right to moderate any Entry, and to disqualify any Entry in breach of these Terms.

37. If, for any reason, the TikTok Ad Awards are not capable of running as planned, TikTok may, at its sole discretion, cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the TikTok Ad Awards or any element thereof.

I – Privacy

38. TikTok will collect and process personal information about the Entrants, including name, email address, telephone number, country of residence and any personal information contained within the Entry or otherwise provided to TikTok during the course of the TikTok Ad Awards such as proof of age documentation when specifically requested.

39. Personal information provided by Entrants will only be used and processed by TikTok for the purposes of conducting the TikTok Ad Awards and in accordance with these Terms. Entrants’ personal information may be disclosed to the TikTok’s agents, affiliates and third party judges (including those outside of the jurisdiction you reside in). If the information requested is not provided, the Entrant may not be able to participate in the TikTok Ad Awards.

40. All personal information collected in connection with the TikTok Ad Awards will be processed in accordance with the Privacy Policy.

41. Each Entrant understands that by participating in the TikTok Ad Awards they may receive electronic communications from TikTok or be contacted by telephone in relation to the TikTok Ad Awards, to the extent permitted by law and/or upon the Entrant’s consent where applicable.

42. In cases where Businesses provide TikTok with personal data, Business will ensure that such personal data is collected and shared with TikTok in compliance with local data protection laws and can be processed by TikTok as envisaged under the Privacy Policy.

J – Promotional Activities

43. Each Entrant agrees (i) to take part in any and all marketing, promotional, publicity requests from TikTok with respect to the TikTok Ad Awards, (ii) that TikTok may use the Entrant's name, voice, photograph, likeness or other personal identifiable information in any media for the promotion and publicity of the TikTok Ad Awards, (iii) and grants TikTok all consents and waivers necessary for TikTok to run and promote the TikTok Ad Awards, including in respect of any promotional photographs and/or audio/video recordings taken of the Entrant at any of the Events (or any additional events that the Entrant may attend (as invited by TikTok) as a result of an Entrant winning the Prize.

44. Entrants shall not, without the prior written approval of TikTok, speak to the press or any other media, or give any interviews or comments relating to the TikTok Ad Awards without the prior written permission from an authorised representative of TikTok.

K – General

45. You are responsible for any and all expenses incurred in entering or participating in the TikTok Ad Awards. You will not be reimbursed for any expenses incurred in participating in the TikTok Ad Awards.

46. If any of these clauses are found to be illegal, invalid or otherwise unenforceable then they shall be deleted from these Terms and the remaining clauses shall survive and remain in full force and effect.

47. You shall not assign, sell, transfer, delegate or otherwise dispose of, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, by operation of law or otherwise, these Terms or any of its rights or obligations under these Terms without prior written consent.

48. These Terms will be governed by the laws of the Dubai International Financial Centre (“DIFC”) and any disputes will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the DIFC courts.