Microsoft 365 became the first brand to introduce a community effect organically on TikTok, and it was built by the augmented reality creative department at VMLY&R.
The agency tapped the Effect House beta TikTok opened up to all creators earlier this month, which provides learning resources and tools to give creators access to intuitive design and development technologies, empowering them to craft immersive and dynamic effects for the TikTok community worldwide.
VMLY&R said its AR creative department came up with concepts for six effects and narrowed those down to two, adding that it has seen that effects drive engagement on TikTok, but brands rarely use them.
The effect for Microsoft 365 lets creators cycle through application icons that map to their face and craft funny, relatable content as if they were personifying Excel, OneDrive, Outlook, PowerPoint, Teams, or Word. They can move around, emote, and create custom backgrounds via a green screen.
VMLY&R said Microsoft would release more effects in the coming months.
