• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, March 2, 2022

Digital agency PMG has partnered with shoppable video ad-tech developer Kerv Interactive for what they claim is a first-of-its-kind integration with TikTok’s commerce suite, enabling retail brands to launch educational or commerce-oriented experiences directly from their TikTok videos.

The integration, which is one of the first built on TikTok’s commerce API (application programming interface), follows a series of similar ones developed by PMG utilizing Kerv’s technology on other popular online video platforms.

In a nutshell, Kerv’s technology is capable of identifying every object inside a digital video and tagging it to provide additional content -- often some annotated copy with a link for more information or to a commerce destination -- and the integration with TikTok now enables PMG’s clients to follow consumers to that popular video-sharing platform, says PMG Senior Director of Brand Media Natalee Geldert.

In terms of how PMG utilizes Kerv’s technology to do that, Geldert says, “It truly depends on the brand.”

Often, she says, it’s more of a soft-sell “education” of what the brand is offering (see example above) and how it is differentiated to users, and “if a conversion happens to take place, that’s icing on the cake.”

Other times, she says it’s a more explicit and direct selling experience (see below). Ultimately, she says it depends on the brands’ objectives and the nature of the video content they are distributing, as well as the audience watching it.