What? TikTok is positioning itself as a strategic advertising partner for brands with three new formats unveiled at IAB NewFronts 2026.
Khartoon Weiss, VP and GM of global business solutions at TikTok, said:‘Our newest ad products make it easier for businesses to reach the communities that care about them and actually drive action, not just views.’
What’s the headline format? Logo Takeover is probably the one that will be most interesting to brands. It allows brands to appear alongside TikTok’s logo on the app’s launch screen, targeting users at a moment when they are focused, and turning a familiar loading space into an opportunity for brand exposure. Brands can co-brand with TikTok’s logo, creating a brief but prominent visual impression.
Launch screens are rarely offered as advertising real estate in mobile apps and offer almost undivided attention. By placing ads here, TikTok is giving brands an almost guaranteed first impression.
Have any brands trialled it? In the press release, TikTok said that Warner Bros was one of the first brands to take part. For the trailer release of Supergirl, the studio ran a Logo Takeover campaign, resulting in a 20% lift in ad recall and an 11.8% increase in brand awareness
What are the other formats? TikTok also unveiled Prime Time, a sequential ad format that allows brands to deliver up to three ads to a single user within a 15-minute window. The format is intended for live events, tentpole moments, or other high-engagement periods, letting brands tell a continuous story when users are most active.
Sequential storytelling on mobile platforms is still relatively rare. By delivering multiple ads to the same user in a short window, TikTok is testing whether more sustained exposure can increase retention and conversion.
Finally, TopReach combines two existing placements — TopView (the first ad users see upon opening the app) and TopFeed (the first in-feed ad in the For You Feed) — into a single purchase. TikTok says the combined format maximises one-day reach, particularly during major launches or cultural moments.
TopReach appears to respond to a common advertiser challenge: reaching maximum unique users without running multiple separate campaigns. This could simplify media buying while boosting efficiency for large launches.
