Hasbro is hosting its first-ever Nerf competition on TikTok. The so-called Nerf TikTok Tourney is calling all Nerf fans to submit videos showing off their Nerf blasting skills.
“We are constantly looking for innovative ways to get the Nerf community involved and engaged and bring on new members of Nerf Nation,” said Teresa Pearson, Vice President of Global Brand Strategy and Marketing for Nerf. “The Nerf TikTok Tourney provides fans with fun opportunities to interact with the brand in ways like never before. Our strategy behind the campaign revolves around TikTok and using some of the biggest creators on the platform today to get fans excited about the opportunity.”
The crowd-sourced three-part competition is open to anyone with a TikTok account. Users can tag the brand on the social network for consideration and eight winners will be announced on July 23rd. Winners will be revealed on September 24th. The team with the most likes or votes at the end of the tournament will win $15,000, NERF Hyper blasters and a trip to VidCon 2021 in Anaheim in October.
“We are targeting the next generation of top NERF content creators on TikTok and their audiences,” Pearson. “We want to help creators make great content, and by participating in the Nerf TikTok Tourney, we’re giving them the resources and the platform to reach more people.”
The judging criteria for the event is broken down like this: 15% Speed and Accuracy, 25% Energy, 30% Enthusiasm and Personality and 30% Entertainment. “We expect to see some epic content revolving around the NERF brand, and that will help us support the NERF TikTok overall,” said Pearson. “TikTok is the king of content right now, and we know that NERF NATION is already using the platform to create their own videos with our product. Our NERF HYPER collection is geared to those audiences on TikTok, making it the perfect social channel to host the tournament.”
The competition comes after Nerf hired its first ever Chief TikTok Officer, Sophie Jamison, in the spring, a move that illustrates the brand’s commitment to targeting millennials and Gen Z through this emerging social media channel. Jamison put out a call to the TikTok creator community for applicants as part of its promotion of the new Nerf Hyper blaster line.
“TikTok is no stranger to NERF,” said Pearson. “In March, we began the search for our all-new Chief TikTok Officer position, which was given to the fantastic Sophie Lightning. She helped us successfully launch the official NERF TikTok account with amazing content that she planned, developed and filmed all under her own creative direction.”
The brand has tapped influencers popular on the social network to participate in the competition.
“We wanted to make sure the creators we worked with were NERF fans already and have the fun and exciting energy it takes to get fans excited about the tournament,” said Pearson. “That’s why we were able to enlist in one of the most popular gamers today with FaZe Rug, athlete and Harlem Globetrotter Crissa Ace, music artist Drew Dirksen and Apex Pro Scooter Corey Funk as our team captains, along with professional skier and well known TikTok creator Billy Mann to act as official host.”
