At a packed lunch during Cairns Crocodiles on Thursday, TikTok executives, strategists and creators urged marketers to stop chasing the latest social media craze, explaining that by the time you jump on a trend everyone is talking about, you’re probably already too late.
The TikTok-hosted session, Content Is Still King, Long Live Content, brought together Olympian diver and content creator Sam Fricker, Vaynermedia senior director of strategy Christina Malloch and TikTok’s creative business partner Smaran Jwochan for a discussion centred on creativity, AI, creator partnerships and the future of content on the platform.
Throughout the conversation, panelists repeatedly urged marketers to stop blindly following trends and instead focus on creating original, audience-first content that feels authentic to both the platform and the creator delivering it.
Malloch said brands trying to chase trends were often “already behind the cycle” by the time they acted.
“I think chasing trends is a terrible strategy for brands,” she said. “What’s trending on your feed is probably very different to mine. Trying to chase the single unicorn trend isn’t particularly effective.”
She said marketers instead need to deeply understand the audiences they are trying to reach, warning against broad demographic thinking.
“Don’t just go after a blanket Gen Z or millennial audience trying to find a blender. Go deeper than that and try and speak to why they’re on the platform in the first place.”
Malloch also warned brands against arriving late to viral moments, joking that if marketers had only just heard about a trend after the weekend, the opportunity had likely already passed.
“You guys have probably seen that meme that’s been going around, like the millennial advertising and the Gen Z advertising,” she said.
“If you haven’t done it yet, probably over the weekend – it’s too late, it’s done.”
The session highlighted how TikTok’s algorithm and creator ecosystem have shifted social media away from polished perfection and toward more authentic storytelling, with panelists arguing brands were still too rigid in how they approached creator partnerships.
Fricker – the Australian Olympic diver turned creator with nearly 10 million followers across social platforms – said audiences increasingly connected with raw, everyday content rather than highly produced videos.
“I try to document and share whatever I’m doing,” he said.
“A lot of the times you forget that things you guys do every day, none of us can do every day. Everyone’s got their own interesting life and things.”
The creator, who represented Australia at the and won Commonwealth Games silver before building one of Australia’s biggest social followings, said heavily produced content was no longer guaranteed to perform.
“I’m sure everyone’s had that experience, because so much effort into a video and it completely flops, and then you put minimal effort into another one and it goes viral,” he said.
Fricker said simpler “mic’d up” and direct-to-camera videos were increasingly outperforming polished edits, particularly as AI-generated content floods platforms.
“In a world where AI is going to come in and there’s going to be a lot more computerised videos, that one-on-one authenticity and that one-on-one connection with someone will be more and more important,” he said.
TikTok creative business partner Jwochan echoed the point, saying brands often overthink perfection instead of testing ideas quickly and learning from audiences in real time.
“When it comes to social media, you’re better off, rather than chasing perfection, testing, iterating, learning from your audience and seeing what resonates with them,” he said.
“No amount of craft is going to mask strategy or idea first.”
The panel also discussed the growing role of creators in shaping brand strategy, not just advertising campaigns, with Malloch arguing brands still needed to relinquish more control.
“Brands still need to be a bit more flexible. They need to let go of the guardrails so much more,” she said.
“You’re using creators for your stories, for your personal point of view. The more brands try to own that and guide that too heavily, the authenticity is gone.”
Despite the rapid rise of AI tools across the marketing industry, the panelists agreed the future of social content would still favour human storytelling over polished automation.
