Lights, Wins & Momentum
This segment is a recap of the panel session where we explored how publishers and media brands across Southeast Asia and beyond can build winning strategies on TikTok.
From creative storytelling to expanding the audience, we uncovered what works best in today’s digital landscape.
The panel was moderated by
Emil Gaffar
TikTok, Publisher Partnership Lead, Southeast Asia
and was joined by
Angga Dwimas Sasongko
CEO & Founder, Visinema
Nguyen Minh Dung
Head of Digital Media Sales, VTV
Sarun Ladawon
Chief Marketing Officer, Global Sport Ventures
Almudena Gómez Benito
LALIGA Delegate, International Development Team
Publisher Wins & Strategic Content Approach
Emil Gaffar
TikTok, Publisher Partnership Lead, Southeast Asia
Mas Angga, congrats again on Jumbo’s phenomenal success in Indonesia, and across Southeast Asia as well as the highest-grossing animation film. Could you explain your specific strategy on how Jumbo became a success, especially on TikTok? What do you think made it work?
Angga Dwimas Sasongko
CEO & Founder, Visinema
This year was very special: our film became the highest-grossing Indonesian movie of all time and the top animation in Southeast Asia. The film showed how Indonesian creators, storytelling, and TikTok partnerships can create cultural impact. Jumbo was more than a movie, it became a cultural movement.
We utilized TikTok not as just a distribution tool but as an extension of the film's universe. We used #JumboUntukSemua (Jumbo for Everyone) to make people feel part of the story, through the use of Indonesian culture, humor, and slang in short, relatable clips. The key ingredient was empathy, encouraging the audience to connect with the meaning, and giving the film back to the community and letting them own it.
Emil Gaffar
TikTok, Publisher Partnership Lead, Southeast Asia
So Mr. Minh Dung, we know that there’s a program called Hoa Xuan Ca - must-watch music show for Vietnam Tet New Year season. As a digital transformation leader, what makes the show so compelling for its audience, and what is the strategy behind it? Can you share more about the promotion strategy you put on TikTok?
Nguyen Minh Dung
Head of Digital Media Sales, VTV
VTV is Vietnam’s only national television, with 10 free-to-air and ~50 pay TV channels. We are quite traditional in a sense, but we are able to produce daily content: news, entertainment, sports, drama. At 55 years old, VTV long focused on traditional TV audiences. Now the challenge we face is connecting with younger audiences, especially teenagers. The solution we found effective is utilizing TikTok as the main method to reach and engage the youth.
Through TikTok's collaboration & campaigns: shows how tools (partners, creators, hashtags, new formats) can deliver content to young audiences. With this partnership, now VTV manages 38 channels on TikTok with over 100 videos posted daily, engaging fans with news, drama, sports, and more, and bringing them closer to the VTV ecosystem.
Emil Gaffar
TikTok, Publisher Partnership Lead, Southeast Asia
Mr. Sarun, moving on to sports in Thailand. Rajadamnern Stadium is known as the ultimate decision to experience Muay Thai. As we're particularly impressed by your efforts to revitalize the old tradition now to digital storytelling, could you elaborate more on what key strategies you implemented?
Sarun Ladawon
Chief Marketing Officer, Global Sport Ventures
Rajadamnern is the world’s first Muay Thai stadium, not just a sports venue, but a cultural landmark of Thailand. Our mission is bigger than hosting fights, but it’s about telling the story of Thai culture. We built an immersive experience: eight projectors on the dome, history, traditions, beauty, lifestyle embodying Muay Thai as culture, not just sport. Every day we deliver more than fights: adrenaline, the Wai Kru ceremony, the music, the atmosphere, and alongside this, we create content too, whether be it CG animation, drama-driven storytelling, focused on highlighting every elbow, knee, and kick.
With TikTok, it was a major gamechanger for our growth. In just 6 months, we grew our community from 90,000 to almost 700,000 followers organically. Our audience expanded worldwide, reaching the US, UK, France, Germany, and Spain, all discovered Rajadamnern through TikTok. This partnership opened new doors: ticketing, merchandising, and global recognition.
Emil Gaffar
TikTok, Publisher Partnership Lead, Southeast Asia
Mrs. Almudena, we also know that La Liga has its own campaign called La Liga Adventures. Can you tell more about this La Liga Adventures and how this was brought to life?
Almudena Gómez Benito
LALIGA Delegate, International Development Team
Like TikTok, we don’t see users or customers, we have fans. La Liga is a global sports and entertainment powerhouse, built around our fanbase and 42 collaborations worldwide. It’s not just about football, it’s very much about storytelling, culture, and roots.
Our campaign 'La Liga Adventures' was brought to life with local creators, even flying the first Vietnamese freestyler to Spain to perform at halftime. Creator collaborations amplified our campaign and the content far beyond our own platforms. So far, we’ve worked with 20+ creators across Southeast Asia and APAC, driving strong results in views, reach, and meaningful content.
Innovation & TikTok Partnerships
Emil Gaffar
TikTok, Publisher Partnership Lead, Southeast Asia
For our panelists, have you ever tried anything new on TikTok, for example creator collaborations, behind-the-scenes content, or anything that helps deepen fan creation?
Angga Dwimas Sasongko
CEO & Founder, Visinema
During Jumbo’s campaign, three things made a big difference. First, TikTok helped us find the right voices through creator matchmaking. For a market where animation is not well established (last animated hit only 500K admissions), this was crucial. We connected with family-oriented creators, teachers, and creative teenagers. Partnerships were not about follower numbers, but about finding voices that build a bridge between publisher and audience.
Second, TikTok provided valuable trend insights that inspired ideas and helped us move content quickly through the Entertainment Hub. Creator collaborators spread UGC at speed, and when we pushed our soundtrack, they combined it with K-pop and Japanese trends, giving us fresh momentum. Thirdly, TikTok has become the strongest platform to promote films, serving as the true backbone of film marketing. In the past five years, TikTok’s exponential growth in Indonesia has translated into the film industry. Ticket sales have surged, and local films now control over 70% of the market.
Nguyen Minh Dung
Head of Digital Media Sales, VTV
We produce TikTok content daily, trying everything from behind-the-scenes to inviting creators to show how content is made. Each year we focus on two big moments: New Year and music shows, broadcast on national TV and requiring at least three days of shooting. Since last year, we adopted a new vertical filming approach for the entire show. This gave us a dedicated vertical version, tailored for TikTok and young audiences. It’s special because TV has always been horizontal, but vertical brings a refreshing format that works for both traditional TV and TikTok.
Emil Gaffar
TikTok, Publisher Partnership Lead, Southeast Asia
Are there any TikTok tools or features that you found particularly effective for engagement or creativity?
Sarun Ladawon
Chief Marketing Officer, Global Sport Ventures
At the stadium, we host events every day, with the highlight program called the Muay Thai World Series. Live events are crucial in this sport and TikTok Live plays a big role. During live, fans experience the drama, highlights, action, callouts, trash talk, and rankings, making the event even more engaging.
Lives also generate viral moments: creators capture red and blue corner reactions, family emotions, opponents, and future challengers. Beyond fights, we focus on cinematic storytelling and editing to showcase culture, beauty, and traditions respectfully. We add entertainment with stadium cams like dance cam, bottom-up cam, even a single cam where people come alone and leave as couples. These elements make the live experience immersive, entertaining, and shareable.
Regional Learning & Cross Collaboration
Emil Gaffar
TikTok, Publisher Partnership Lead, Southeast Asia
What do you wish to accomplish collaboration with TikTok for your upcoming campaigns and initiatives?
Almudena Gómez Benito
LALIGA Delegate, International Development Team
Looking ahead to the upcoming season, our goal is to keep the momentum strong. Our key focus is to growing relationships with local creators to amplify messages and content on TikTok. Local creators become the faces of La Liga in each market, helping us reach broader audiences. Sports and authentic content drive emotion and fan connection. In this region, that emotional pull also makes La Liga especially appealing for brands to collaborate and amplify messages together.
Sarun Ladawon
Chief Marketing Officer, Global Sport Ventures
We see ourselves as the young destination that represents Thailand, offering cultural emotion like no other place. We want to welcome content creators from around the world with open arms. From the first step into the stadium to the last moment, fans feel excitement, drama, and unique emotions. The experience is designed to be TikTok- and UGC-friendly, with tools for everyone to capture and share. Opportunities include stadium tours, collaborations, meeting superstars, and creating shout-outs to show the world how awesome Muay Thai is.
Emil Gaffar
TikTok, Publisher Partnership Lead, Southeast Asia
What does your next campaign or regional partnership look like?
Nguyen Minh Dung
Head of Digital Media Sales, VTV
VTV is a self-funding national television and we have to fight to make money, relying on sponsors and advertisers. Audience reach is critical: how we connect and how many people we reach defines our success. TikTok has helped turn audiences into fans, so the next step is turning fans into customers and partners, real buyers and supporters. We see TikTok Shop as the next big move: building brand awareness, sharing information, and driving sales. This would be a major step forward starting today.
Angga Dwimas Sasongko
CEO & Founder, Visinema
TikTok is an integral part of our storytelling ecosystem, not just promotion, but world-building. As a strategic partner, TikTok helps us engage with creators, discover new perspectives, and understand our audiences better. Having TikTok in our storytelling journey has been powerful and transformative. Next week, we release our new movie, Panggil Aku Ayah, our first international co-production with CJ Entertainment Korea, based on the hit Korean IP Pawn. The trailer already reached 1M+ views in one week, driven by creator co-creation on TikTok.