The Power of Profile Frames
Short-form social media platform, TikTok, is unveiling new ways for brands to entertain and engage their audiences. To increase advertiser investment and enhance users’ in-app ad experiences, TikTok has introduced several interactive ad formats to the platform. According to TechCrunch (2021), the company promised these changes would make advertising more user-friendly, interactive, and creative.
This blog post will cover TikTok’s newest digital offering: TikTok profile frames. Read more to learn about how our team can help your brand use frames to enhance your ad experience.
Early Interactive Add-Ons
At an online conference in 2021, TikTok launched “super likes.” When a user likes an advertisement, surprise visual elements and icons will appear on the screen. Brands also have the option to add an optional custom pop-up window that will take viewers to the ad landing page after the “super like” display finishes playing.
TikTok has continued to deliver on their promise: they now offer standard add-ons such as stickers, download cards, and countdowns. Premium ad options such as shake surprises, pop-out showcases, and other interactive ad formats are also available to brands. Standard add-ons drive clicks and conversions, while premium add-ons build community and brand awareness.
What are TikTok Profile Frames?
Move over super likes—we’re saying hello to TikTok profile frames! TikTok profile frames are exclusive, limited-time displays featured on a user’s profile. As part of an ad campaign, brands can publish custom designs that wrap around, or “frame,” a user’s profile photo. Users can unlock these frames by completing interactive tasks or engaging with an advertisement.
Rising pop star Sabrina Carpenter partnered with TikTok to unveil an in-app experience to promote her “Short n’ Sweet” album. The #ShortnSweet in-app experience invited Sabrina Carpenter fans to participate in five interactive tasks in order to unlock an exclusive profile frame. This frame allows fans to showcase their love for the star and to signal to other TikTokers that they are members of Carpenter’s fanbase, “the Carpenters.”
Source: TikTok
Gladiator II: A Case Study
Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II, the sequel to Gladiator I, is an epic historical action film. The movie premiered in theaters November 22, 2024. The team at Paramount Pictures asked us to create a TikTok profile frame to promote the release of the movie.
We created three different designs for Paramount Pictures. Paramount provided Jackie (Creative Manager) and Chihiro (Senior Animator) with detailed design guidelines, references, and assets from the movie to work with.
Our team created mockups of the designs overlaying them over a TikTok profile template, so our clients would have a visual understanding of what the final product would look like in the application.
To unlock our frames, TikTok users had to post a video containing a Gladiator II green screen and the hashtag #GladiatorII.
Benefits to Brands
- Enhance brand visibility: when users apply branded profile frames, they are sharing content that reflects the brand’s identity. Users become brand ambassadors and organically promote the brand to their followers.
- Drive engagement: customizable, limited-edition elements invite interaction. When users personalize their profiles with branded TikTok frames, they are engaging with a brand in a creative way.
- Encourage virality: unique and visually appealing content generates conversation. A well-designed profile frame can be an important element in making a brand’s marketing campaign go viral.
How We Play a Role
The battle for attention is nothing new; however, TikTok profile frames and other interactive ad formats are essential for stopping the scroll and cutting through the noise. Users benefit by enjoying experiences that reflect their interests and encourage personal self-expression, while businesses benefit from increased visibility and engagement.
With the right combination of experience, skill, and guidance, your brand can use TikTok profile frames to captivate the attention of your audience. To learn more about how we can be a part of your next marketing campaign, contact us at info@baretreemedia.com or visit our website.
Interested in something unique for your brand? Reach out to our team!
Bare Tree Media is a full-service creative studio and digital publisher creating super slick, mobile-facing content! As an official Branded Effect Partner for TikTok, we would love to bring your brand’s ideas to life on TikTok using our design and AR expertise.
AWE 2023 Recap
The Augmented World Expo (AWE) is an annual conference and expo centered around augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and wearable technology. Our Augmented Reality team flew out to California for the expo and participated in exciting events.
Effect House x BTM Fireside Chat
In conjunction with the AWE conference in Santa Clara, California, we had the wonderful opportunity of co-hosting an event with TikTok Effect House. This event featured a fireside chat between our AR Manager/Effect House designer Vedika Bhasin and Effect House community lead Greg Feingold. We loved getting to connect with over 100 people and share our love of AR and all things Effect House.
SnapAR AWE Feature
Our latest Snapchat Lens “Nebula Dance” was featured at the SnapAR Lounge at the 2023 AWE conference in Santa Clara, California. We enjoyed watching AR creators, designers, industry leaders, and those interested in the space get groovy in the galaxy. If you did not make it to AWE, our lens is available on Snapchat. Click here to try it out.
Winter 2023 Newsletter
In this issue of our quarterly newsletter, we are excited to recap all the creative content we made and shared throughout the Winter. As always, we would like to thank our clients and business partners for their endless support and flexibility.
Augmented Reality Meetups
We would like to thank everyone who attended our SnapAR-sponsored meetups at Workbar Boston in January and February. This was a great opportunity for members of the AR community and those interested in AR to connect and learn more about this industry. We would also like to thank Naomi Eberle, an official Snap Lens Ambassador, for sharing her knowledge and expertise on Connected Snap lenses and Behavior Script.
Check out our socials or the next edition of our newsletter to hear more about our March 2nd Meetup, “Lens Fest Extended.” We are looking forward to connecting with new and familiar faces in NYC and cannot wait to hear Maya Pruitt’s presentation on machine learning (ML) models for object tracking.
Branded Likes
The ending of Super Bowl LVII was crazy but the ads were even crazier! Our design team had the opportunity of designing Twitter Branded Likes and Hashtags for some of the game’s most popular ads. Our lead animator, Chihiro, even had his Doritos animation featured in their ad during the commercial break!
Pepsi Co. and Doritos wanted to engage their viewers not just on the TV screen but on Twitter. To help them out, we designed a branded like for each of them that went live for 24hrs the day of Super Bowl LVII. Fans of Pepsi and Doritos could trigger the design on Twitter by liking posts with the following hashtags: #RealorActing or #DoritosTriangleScheme. It was truly amazing to witness how many Twitter users engaged with our branded likes throughout the game.
February Favorites
Looking to up your Valentine’s Day game? Our AR, Design, and Social Media teams worked together to launch multiple Valentine’s AR and design experiences across various platforms.
We released three new AR lenses: Be My Valentine (Instagram), You Light Me Up (Snapchat), and 1 MSG from Valentine (TikTok).
Show some love to your special someone (and the Smurfs) via Samsung. We had the opportunity to design this Samsung Theme for Galaxy users—just in time for Valentine’s Day! Spread love all year round by downloading this theme from the Galaxy Store.
Eye on AR - SnapAR Lensathon
Our AR team submitted a connected lens for the SnapAR Lensathon contest. With “Chaos Hoops,” users can play a game of basketball with friends from all over the world in real time. We’ve loved getting to watch users embrace their inner Lebron and Tatum with this lens. Click the Snapcode to try out “Chaos Hoops” on Snapchat. We cannot wait to see all the cool work AR developers and designers created for this contest!
Eye on AR - Fall 2022
A blog post dedicated to the people who know how to make communication with friends and family less boring! Our AR team has been busy this quarter working on creating new, innovative experiences for brands and their audiences. Keep reading to learn more about the *many* exciting projects they have been working on.
Lens List Fashion Month
Digital AR marketing company Lenslist held another challenge and our AR team just had to participate! We felt as though the Snapchat x Lenslist AR Fashion Month Challenge would be a perfect opportunity to experiment with Lens Studios’ newest features and to design a lens for the fashion/makeup market—a market where AR and its technologies are rapidly transforming the ways companies engage with customers.
The Snapchat x Lenslist AR Fashion Month Challenge called upon creators to “design original fashion and beauty lenses to help [the] AR community get dressed, made-up, and ready for the most stylish events of the year” (Lenslist).
Our lens, Elemental Euphoria, captures the beauty of nature with a fashion twist. The AR team designed three unique lenses inspired by the elements: earth, fire, and water. Each one contains wearable jewelry and makeup that incorporate custom 3D assets and 2D motion graphics. For example, for the earth, emerald jewels were used; for fire, gold, and designs that looked like the sun’s rays; for water, rain clouds, and other images associated with water.
The Elemental Euphoria Lens is a try-on lens that takes advantage of Lens Studios’ newest technologies including voice activation. When users speak, the lens will change to a different element. Try out “Elemental Euphoria” by clicking here, and congratulations to all the creators who participated in this contest!
Branded Effects for Instagram
Our AR team loves Instagram as much as Snapchat and TikTok! This September we designed and published 2 branded effects for Instagram Camera.
Have you ever wondered what tool you are, or what Mr. Men, Little Miss character you are? These two simple randomizer lenses we created for Snap-on and Mr. Men Little Miss allow users to engage with their favorite brands in a fun, interactive ways. Click the links below to test out the effects and share your results with us @baretreemedia.
Vote for Change
November 08, 2022 marked midterm elections in the United States. This Instagram camera effect encourages not just our fans but everyone to get out and vote. To vote for a change, every voice matters. Find our “Vote for a Change” filter on Instagram Camera or on our effects page.
Ugly Sweater
For National Ugly Sweater day on December 17, our AR team created a voice-activated, interactive try-on lens featuring four different ugly sweaters designed by BTM team members. We even created a BTM-themed sweater that features our company colors. Our team loved getting to create assets unique and personal to them.
Interested in something unique for your brand? Reach out to our team!
Bare Tree Media is a full-service creative studio and digital publisher creating super slick, mobile-facing content! We would love to bring your brand’s ideas to life through digital animation and AR. Check out our Augmented Reality page to see branded experiences we created for TikTok, Snapchat, & Instagram.
Eye on AR - Summer 2022
Our AR team has been busy this quarter working on creating new, innovative experiences for brands and their audiences. Keep reading to learn more about the *many* exciting projects they have been working on.
Lens List Snapchat Selection
Lens List wanted to join the Smurfs for a game of soccer! Our hyper-casual gamified lens, “Smurf Soccer,” was featured on Lens List’s June Snapchat Selection for its complexity and user-friendliness. It’s been an honor to be featured alongside so many other talented AR designers and studios. See Lens List’s Instagram for the feature post and try our “Smurf Soccer” Lens by clicking the snapcode!
This is not the first AR experience we created for the Smurfs. We also designed a gamified lens where users can help the Smurfs keep our beaches clean. This effect was created for the Smurfs’ larger sustainability campaign.
Baller Lenses
Bleed Green or The Dubs? Our AR designer, Wayne, created Celtics and Warriors “Final Spinner” Lenses for Snapchat and TikTok. Users were able to embrace their inner Tatum & Curry and support their favorite team during the NBA Finals. The Celtics and Warriors lenses had over 794,000 views and 630,000 views respectively on Snapchat.
As a Boston-based studio, we may be a bit biased, but we would like to offer up a congratulations to both teams on all their hard work and effort throughout the season. The 2022 NBA season has ended but show your support to two all-star teams next season by following us on TikTok!
Summer Fun
What better way to welcome Summer than with an AR experience? Pool float, palm tree, and ocean designs transport users to a place of tropical paradise and challenge them to put their beach ball volleyball skills to the test.
Using full-body tracking, users can hit a beach ball into the air. The lens also has multi-user capabilities, meaning you can play with your friends in the same frame. Try our Summer Beach Party Lens by clicking here.
Interested in something unique for your brand? Reach out to our team!
Bare Tree Media is a full-service creative studio and digital publisher creating super slick, mobile-facing content! We would love to bring your brand’s ideas to life through digital animation and AR. Check out our Augmented Reality page to see branded experiences we created for TikTok, Snapchat, & Instagram.
Winter 2022 Newsletter
In this issue of our newsletter, we are excited to recap all the creative content we made and shared throughout the winter. As we move into Q2, we would like to spread the love to our clients and business partners by thanking them for their endless support and flexibility.
New Partnership Announced
In case you missed it on our socials, we are beyond excited to officially announce a new partnership with WildBrain CPLG and Azerion.
Bare Tree Media is collaborating with WildBrain CPLG to welcome the Teletubbies into the Habbo and Hotel Hideaway metaverses. This partnership comes just in time for the brand’s upcoming 25th anniversary. Under this partnership, we will manage the launch of Teletubbies-branded avatar onesies and other virtual goods into the metaverse. Read the details here!
“We are thrilled to bring the Teletubbies into the metaverse in the form of virtual goods for avatars and virtual spaces within Habbo and Hotel Hideaway. The nostalgia that the Teletubbies evoke as true pop culture icons is a perfect fit for the game demographics and we look forward to furthering releases throughout 2022” – Robert Ferrari, President of Bare Tree Media
We are also thrilled to announce that we are working with Sanrio do Brasil and Azerion to launch Hello Kitty into Latin American metaverses. Habbo and Woozworld users will have access to holiday-themed Hello Kitty furniture, clothing, and other virtual goods. For more information about this partnership, click here!
#BettyWhiteChallenge
In honor of #BettyWhite and her dedication to animal welfare, Bare Tree Media and its employees have accepted the #BettyWhiteChallenge by donating to numerous animal causes throughout the country. All employee donations have been matched by the company furthering our collective impact. We challenge you to make a donation to your local animal cause and make Betty proud on what would have been her 100th birthday!
Donations Made To:
- Potter League
- Medfield Animal Shelter
- Quincy Animal Shelter
- MSPCA-Angell Boston Adoption Center
- Friends of Attleboro Animal Shelter
- PAWS New England
- Animal Rescue League of Boston
- Boston Animal Care and Control Shelter
- Santa Barbara Humane
Source: Today Show & Guide Dogs for the Blind
Betty White would have turned 100 years old on January 17, 2022. She had a wonderful career entertaining us, and a personal life dedicated to helping animals. Bare Tree Media is honored to be the designers of The Golden Girls animated messaging stickers available on the Apple App Store. To further honor Betty White and her lifelong dedication to animal welfare, we pledge to donate our profits from the January 17th, 2022 sales of these fun and engaging messaging stickers to the American Humane Society. For more than 100 years American Humane has been first in promoting the welfare and safety of animals and strengthening the bond between animals and people.
KIA Robo Dog
Many of you were first introduced to Robo Dog within Kia’s Super Bowl advertisement. Bare Tree Media was thrilled and honored to have created a 3D model and TikTok AR experience to accompany Kia’s #fullycharged campaign.
Kia has also made Robo Dog available as an NFT via Sweet, and 90% of the proceeds are donated to the Petfinder Foundation—a national nonprofit that exclusively gives grants to animal shelters and rescues. We are excited to be partnering with companies who support animal causes.
Source: PRNewswire
Bare Tree Media and TikTok Expand AR Partnership
Boston, MA — September 3, 2020 — Bare Tree Media, a leader in the design and creation of branded augmented reality (AR) experiences, has expanded its partnership with TikTok. The two companies will work together under the company’s recently announced TikTok for Business Marketing Partner Program to connect advertisers with trusted creative and technology providers who can help scale success on the TikTok platform.
“With the launch of the TikTok For Business Marketing Partner Program, we’re building new opportunities for marketers to be creative storytellers and meaningfully engage with the TikTok community. We’re thrilled to collaborate with some of the most strategic and trusted leaders in the advertising industry and continue giving marketers access to more tools to successfully create, measure, and optimize ad campaigns on TikTok. We can’t wait to collaborate with partners to bring a creative and joyful experience to our brand partners and the broader TikTok community.” — Melissa Yang, Head of Ecosystem Partnerships, Global Business Solutions at TikTok
Bare Tree Media will be creating branded 2D and 3D AR effects for clients of TikTok, as well as introducing new clients to the TikTok platform.
“Bare Tree Media has been strongly positioned to leverage its leadership position of helping brands engage consumers through creative and interactive experiences. We are excited to broaden our partnership with TikTok and to bring our clients added value through marketing opportunities within the TikTok platform.” — Robert Ferrari, President of Bare Tree Media
About Bare Tree Media
As a pioneer in the digital creative and technology sector, Bare Tree Media enables brands to reach, engage, and entertain consumers through the creation and digital publishing of branded emojis, messaging stickers, GIFs, digital collectibles, metaverse virtual goods, and augmented reality experiences within popular messaging platforms. Interested brands can learn more at www.baretreemedia.com or contact Bare Tree Media at info@baretreemedia.com.
About TikTok
TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. Their mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. TikTok has global offices including Los Angeles, Mountain View, New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo. For more information, please visit www.tiktok.com.
Bare Tree Media Partners with TikTok to Bring AR to Brands
Boston, MA — June 25, 2020 — Bare Tree Media has been selected by TikTok as a preferred AR (Augmented Reality) design agency partner. As part of the TikTok Branded Effects Partner Program, Bare Tree Media will be assigned to strategize and design TikTok AR effects for brand campaigns.
“With the digital landscape always evolving, we are consistently investing in our interactive competencies such as augmented reality. We are honored to be selected into this partnership to create branded AR experiences to engage audiences within the popular TikTok platform.” — Robert Ferrari, President of Bare Tree Media
Through TikTok’s technology and Bare Tree Media’s in-depth expertise in 2D and 3D AR design, this partnership will help to scale creativity and production of AR effects for brands. This partnership builds on TikTok’s newly launched Branded Scan, which activates certain visual effects after recognizing a flat image as a branded product.
“Branded Effects give brands the opportunity to interact with TikTok users in a way that’s engaging and fun. We’re thrilled to partner with the most creative leaders in 2D and 3D development to bring this playful, immersive experience to our brand partners and the broader TikTok community.” — Melissa Yang, Head of Ecosystem Partnerships, Global Business Solutions at TikTok
About Bare Tree Media
As a pioneer in the digital creative and technology sector, Bare Tree Media enables brands to reach, engage, and entertain consumers through the creation and digital publishing of branded emojis, messaging stickers, GIFs, digital collectibles, metaverse virtual goods, and augmented reality experiences within popular messaging platforms. Interested brands can learn more at www.baretreemedia.com or contact Bare Tree Media at info@baretreemedia.com.
About TikTok
TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. Their mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. TikTok has global offices including Los Angeles, Mountain View, New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo. For more information, please visit www.tiktok.com.