TikTok hires a senior executive to boost monetisation in India โ Quartz
What happened: TikTok owner ByteDance has hired former GroupM CEO of Asian operations Sameer Singh to be its vice-president of monetization for India. A statement by the company said that โSameer will work closely with ByteDanceโs partners and clients while leading the advertising, sales and marketing strategies across all of ByteDanceโs products in India.โ He will be based in Gurugram and start work in August.
Why itโs important: Despite being banned in India for a week in April, Indians still comprise a massive 40% of TikTokโs 500 million-strong user base, and according to The Economic Times, ByteDanceโs products have approximately 300 million monthly active users in India. As far as monetization, ByteDanceโs strategy for TikTok has so far revolved around advertising, and brands have already seen success reaching audiences in India by leveraging the appโs various social features. A hire with intimate knowledge of the countryโs marketing landscape should help ByteDance more effectively profit from its fast-growing market share.