TikTok hires a senior executive to boost monetisation in India – Quartz
What happened: TikTok owner ByteDance has hired former GroupM CEO of Asian operations Sameer Singh to be its vice-president of monetization for India. A statement by the company said that “Sameer will work closely with ByteDance’s partners and clients while leading the advertising, sales and marketing strategies across all of ByteDance’s products in India.” He will be based in Gurugram and start work in August.
Why it’s important: Despite being banned in India for a week in April, Indians still comprise a massive 40% of TikTok’s 500 million-strong user base, and according to The Economic Times, ByteDance’s products have approximately 300 million monthly active users in India. As far as monetization, ByteDance’s strategy for TikTok has so far revolved around advertising, and brands have already seen success reaching audiences in India by leveraging the app’s various social features. A hire with intimate knowledge of the country’s marketing landscape should help ByteDance more effectively profit from its fast-growing market share.