You did read that right. Redbox, the little kiosk at the grocery store where you go to rent movies, now has TikToks.
We’ll explain.
It All Started With Chicken Soup For The Soul
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Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment bought Redbox last year for $375 million in a deal that mainly consisted of the acquisition of its debt. Bogged down by streaming and the lessened foot traffic of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chicken Soup had to figure out a way to turn the failing business around and, like many others, has turned to alternative, more short-form media, for help.
While Redbox had already expanded into streaming and FAST services, but they’re hoping that partnering with TikTok will help them in a new way: By giving them ad revenue.
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To be clear: Redbox is not giving you the ability to rent TikToks. That wouldn’t even make any sense. They’re putting TikToks on screens on around 10% of Redbox kiosks across the US, interspersed with advertisements, which will bring in additional revenue to the company.
CRO Phillippe Guelton said:
“This new partnership provides advertisers a unique opportunity to reach new audiences and drive engagement. Our Redbox kiosks are in high-traffic locations where millions of people frequently shop, such as grocery stores or value retailers.”
This means that TikTok is now entering the “real world.”
Redbox Creates a Whole New Kind of Exposure for TikTok
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Now it’s not just people with the TikTok app who see them shared elsewhere or those who watch compilations on YouTube who will be seeing TikTok videos regularly – now people will simply see them passing by at the grocery store or convenience store.
This will provide a wide level of exposure that TikTok has never had before – it’s impossible to calculate the level of exposure that this will give to the app. Still, it’s certain to have a huge impact on the brand, which up until now was almost purely based on voluntary views. People could avoid TikTok.
There’s no telling how exactly TikTok will choose which videos are shown on Redbox kiosks, nor how varied the selection will be. We also don’t know if or how they plan to compensate those whose videos are chosen to garner this new advertising revenue.
One thing is for sure: Grabbing a Redbox movie is about to get much more distracting.
What do you think of this development with TikTok and Redbox? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments below.