Huge apologies but I have another theory.

TikTok and TikTok Shop are still booming – and within that boom, there are very clear clues as to what drives younger customers to engage with brands.

I’ll use one prominent example to make my point.

Khaby Lame is a TikTok creator who has amassed 360 million followers and, as a result, nearly $1 billion dollars from a Chinese company called Rich Sparkle Holdings who have, effectively, bought him.

They will now create an AI digital twin of Khaby to use to sell anything they want.

I won’t dwell on the insanity of this story in and of itself here – in terms of what it means for AI, advertising, or even the legitimacy and ethics of such deals.

But for now, I want to dwell on what it says about consumers today – because brands should be paying attention to what drew these 360 million people in.

So what does Khaby do? What’s at the heart of his journey to becoming the most successful TikToker to date?

Daft physical comedy. Watch a handful of his videos and you’ll get the complete picture rapidly. Primarily, his schtick is mocking “life hack” videos, and just being silly.

In short, one of the most significant new forces in the rapidly evolving space of livestreaming and entertainment-meets-commerce is a sweet man doing silly things in a totally DIY manner.

What does this mean for a world full of legacy brands that take themselves too seriously?

Why so serious?

When I heard the news of the Khaby Lame deal and considered what it means for retail, I immediately thought of the disconnect between the TikTok world and the legacy retail world.

And the best example of this is the fragrance sector.

The fragrance sector, the majority of which is dominated by a small handful of huge French conglomerates, looks the same today as it did many years ago. Ecommerce and social media haven’t changed it.

It’s gold and glittering installations at airports. It’s beautiful but inaccessible flagships around the world. It’s heritage and history, but told over and over again to the same people. 

And excuse my French, but it’s largely very fucking boring. That’s why, for the most part, many fragrance brands have struggled to reach the next generation of potential customers.

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