TikTok to mark UAE launch with Emaar partnership
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Rebecca Hawkes
| 26 December 2018

Asian short-form mobile video platform TikTok is to officially launch in the UAE on New Year’s Eve with a one-minute light show preceding Dubai’s annual firework display.

TikTok, which is also known as Douyin in China, has also announced it is working with UAE entertainment and leisure company Emaar – which puts on the fireworks – to offer its “memorable, world-class experiences” to users.

Emaar, whose attractions include the Dubai Mall, At the Top, Burj Khalifa and the Dubai Aquarium, said a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two companies will allow it to “unlock the immense potential of TikTok and access tis highly engaged, international audience” through destination marketing and digital content creation.

The first joint initiative will see five couples from China, India and the Middle East flown in to Dubai for the New Year’s Eve event, for which TikTok has created and activated an in-app challenge.

TikTok will also promote Dubai’s end of year event in China, India and the Middle East through a home-screen display and banner advertising.

TikTok, which merged with musical.ly in August 2018, allows users to watch musical clips, lip sync to songs, as well as shoot and edit short videos before uploading it to share on the platform.

Launched by China’s ByteDance in September 2016, TikTok is now available in 150 markets and in 75 languages. The social media app now claims to have more than 500 million users around the world.