Marketers are calmer about TikTok’s future in the U.S. — even as its ads team thins out
Just weeks ago, the mood among marketers was one of mild crisis. The prospect of a TikTok-less future — unthinkable yet suddenly plausible — had them sketching out fallback plans, hedging bets and recalibrating campaigns. But as the April 5 deadline looms, when TikTok must find a non-Chinese buyer or risk being banned on national security grounds, the panic has curiously subsided.
In its place is something more measured: a composed, almost serene confidence, bolstered, perhaps, by recent meetings with TikTok reps who are still standing. Despite a noticeable thinning of the app’s advertising ranks in recent weeks, those who remain have done their best to project business-as-usual, even as the ground beneath them continues to shift.
“TikTok said they were ‘feeling very optimistic’ about their future in the U.S., but could not share any additional information on what will happen,” said one ad exec, who each exchanged anonymity for candor on their discussions with the platform in the U.S.
Similarly, two other execs echoed the same sentiment.
“While there was nothing new to report, TikTok said that they’re confident about the future of the platform in the U.S,” concurred another exec.
The gist, at least to these marketers, is that TikTok likely isn’t going anywhere. Up until this point, execs at the platform have been tightlipped about its future, opting instead to talk around outcomes that were seemingly on a knife-edge. The fact that they’re discussing it directly now suggests that’s no longer the case.
Added to that, President Trump and Vice President Vance are becoming increasingly vocal that a deal will be struck by the April 5 deadline — the deadline marks an end to the 75-day extension which had been announced by President Trump on his first day in office on January 20, following TikTok’s 14-hour blackout between January 18 to 19, when the platform was last expected to be banned in the U.S., having not successfully sought a U.S. buyer by then.
It’s been reported that Vance, for example, has claimed the foundations of a deal will be in place by April 5. Trump has further suggested he isn’t averse to extending the deadline again and that he is also open to lowering the 20% tariffs on China to get buy-in.
Put it all together, and it’s not hard to see why marketers are far more calmer around this deadline than they were the first time around.
“We’re pretty confident with their operations and how they’re shepherding their presence forward,” said Shamsul Chowdhury, evp paid social at Jellyfish.
That sense of stability, however, belies the growing turbulence within TikTok’s own walls. Over the past several weeks, a number of senior advertising and partnership leads have quietly exited the company — departures that, while not publicly acknowledged, have not gone unnoticed by agency execs and industry observers.
Since Digiday’s last check-in at the half way point of this extension, TikTok has lost another major exec in the U.S. as well as two others for Europe.
Blake Chandlee, president, global business solutions is reportedly stepping down from his role today (April 1), and moving into an advisory role. From then, Chandlee’s staff will report into Will Liu, who currently leads the platform’s global monetization product technology team.
In Europe, Lucy Banks (head of partnerships solutions, global business marketing, Europe), reportedly resigned, while Stuart Flint (European lead of global business solutions — Chandlee’s European counterpart) announced his departure from the platform himself on LinkedIn. Neither Chandlee, Banks or Flint responded to Digiday’s request for comment.
These moves are in part due to the company restructure which aims to merge TikTok’s ads and marketing unit, with its global monetization product technology team. And while these moves are likely to try and not only appease the U.S. government amid whatever deal is being forged, but also to create a more efficient work process (the latter, explained by Chandlee himself in his note to staff about his role transition), it could create issues down the line for its advertiser clients.
“As TikTok’s leadership team becomes more lean, they are keeping inbound contacts very close to the vest, which I believe will create a larger delta between agencies and brands in terms of the access they receive to TikTok in the future,” said another of the U.S.-based ad execs. “It could stifle investment growth on TikTok.”
TikTok declined Digiday’s request for comment.
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