Australian brands look offshore as TikTok ad spend jumps 105%

If growth is becoming harder to find at home, perhaps the answer isn't fighting even harder for the same Australian consumer.

That was the key theme running through a TikTok global business event in Sydney this week, where the platform revealed Australian and New Zealand brands have increased their international ad spend on TikTok by 105% over the past year.

More than one in three major Australian and New Zealand advertisers on the platform are now investing overseas, as brands increasingly look beyond their home markets for the next phase of growth.

The US, UK and Europe are attracting much of that investment, as TikTok looks to position itself not simply as another advertising channel but as a route into international markets.

Australian businesses have always had to contend with the reality that they are building from a relatively small domestic market. What platforms such as TikTok are changing is the extent to which that needs to limit their ambitions. A product can still be built in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane, but its audience doesn't have to be.

TikTok Australia and New Zealand general manager of global business solutions Amy Bradshaw said businesses were increasingly using the platform not simply as another advertising channel, but as infrastructure for international expansion.

“We’re seeing Australian and New Zealand businesses use TikTok not simply as another advertising channel, but as a platform for international growth, that helps them understand new markets, build culturally relevant creative and turn demand into measurable business outcomes,” Bradshaw said.

“From software and apps to gaming and consumer brands, businesses are increasingly building for global audiences from day one, and TikTok is becoming a powerful part of the infrastructure that makes that possible.”

SEE MORE: TikTok Shop is booming globally. So why is Australia still waiting?

The shift was the focus of a TikTok event in Sydney this week, which brought together hundreds of Australian businesses to examine international growth across consumer intelligence, commerce, retail and marketing technology.

For some brands, that expansion is already producing substantial results.

Australian oral care business Hismile first launched on TikTok Shop in 2023 and now operates across 16 markets. The company expects to generate $50 million in gross merchandise value through TikTok Shop in 2026 alone.

Hismile general manager Justin Gaggino said the demand generated through TikTok had also helped the business secure physical retail opportunities in the US and UK.

“TikTok Shop helped take our business to the next level. Our content has created significant consumer demand, with our toothpaste becoming the number one top selling oral care brand in the US on TikTok Shop,” Gaggino said.

“This ability to generate online demand has unlocked real-world global expansion for us, disrupting traditional sales pathways and taking our Australian-born product to the world.”

For New Zealand-headquartered consumer goods company ZURU, the platform is playing a somewhat different role.

The company uses TikTok community behaviour and data to identify emerging consumer trends and inform product development, sometimes moving from an idea to market within three months.

Its Baddies plush range emerged after ZURU noticed TikTok users “Baddiefying” its existing Fuggler collectables. The resulting Fuggler content generated 177 million US hashtag views over 90 days, according to TikTok.

“Through TikTok we identified that our audience was 'Baddiefying' their Fugglers,” ZURU Toys chief marketing officer Brittany Oliver said.

“This direct consumer intelligence led to new product development, a real-life consumer event, and a genuine cultural phenomenon.”

Oliver said the platform had consequently become more than a distribution channel for advertising.

“For ZURU, TikTok has become a destination for consumer insights, and a vital pipeline for innovation and product development. It's absolutely where we are building our future,” she said.

For Bradshaw, the broader shift is lowering some of the traditional barriers between building a successful domestic business and taking it overseas.

What excites me most is that global growth is becoming more accessible to more businesses.

Amy Bradshaw

“Australian and New Zealand companies can now move from local ambition to international scale much faster.”