TikTok Launches Logo Takeover and New High-Impact Ad Formats at NewFronts

TikTok unveiled a suite of new advertising products at NewFronts, making its first appearance at the annual event since surviving a potential U.S. ban and emerging under new ownership following a court-ordered sale. The presentation, delivered at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in Manhattan, centered on formats designed to pull advertiser dollars away from linear television by colonizing screen real estate that mobile apps have almost never sold before.

The new Logo Takeover ad format allows companies to co-brand with TikTok in a way that captures users' attention from the second they open the app, with TikTok saying the format showcases partnership, credibility, and cultural relevance while giving advertisers broad reach. Launch screens are rarely offered as advertising real estate in mobile apps and offer almost undivided attention. Logo Takeover gives brands an exclusive opportunity to co-brand with TikTok when users open the app for a powerful first impression.

In its press release, TikTok said 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. Dana Nussbaum, Co-Head of Global Motion Picture Marketing at Warner Bros., said the studio was "pursuing creative ways to engage directly with audiences" ahead of Supergirl's June theatrical release and called the brand "thrilled to be the first to have success with TikTok's Logo Takeover."

TikTok also unveiled Prime Time, a sequential storytelling ad that allows brands to deliver up to three ads to the same user within a designated 15-minute window on the For You Feed. That format is meant to make it easy for brands to tell stories during live events or tentpole moments. The mechanic is a notable shift for short-form video, where single-ad exposures have been the norm; sequential storytelling on mobile platforms is still relatively rare, and TikTok is testing whether more sustained exposure can increase retention and conversion.

A third format, TopReach, combines two existing high-visibility placements, TopView and TopFeed, into a single buy to help give advertisers maximum one-day reach. TopView is the first ad users see when they open the app, and TopFeed is the first in-feed ad that appears in the For You Feed.

Khartoon Weiss, VP and GM of Global Business Solutions at TikTok, framed all three products around performance rather than visibility alone. "Our newest ad products make it easier for businesses to reach the communities that care about them and actually drive action, not just views," Weiss said.

The formats arrive as TikTok works to reposition itself against television budgets. Amy Bradshaw, General Manager for Global Business Solutions at TikTok Australia and New Zealand, made the competitive argument explicitly at TikTok Spotlight, the platform's separate flagship industry event held in Sydney for brands, agencies, and marketing leaders across Australia and New Zealand. "Marketers have traditionally associated premium ad formats with TV or Broadcaster Video on Demand (BVOD), not short-form video platforms," Bradshaw said. "But in Australia alone, more than 10 million people come to TikTok to connect, share their passions, and find inspiration." She added that the audience represents "a powerful opportunity for brands to show up in high-impact moments that drive both cultural relevance and measurable business outcomes."

The NewFronts announcements mark TikTok's first NewFronts presentation since sealing a deal to keep operating in the U.S., following months of ban uncertainty. The launch landed the same day YouTube announced Creator Partnerships, its AI-powered rebrand of BrandConnect, at the same event. The simultaneous announcements reflect how directly the two platforms are competing for the portion of advertiser budgets historically allocated to linear TV during the annual NewFronts window. With Logo Takeover staking a claim on the one screen moment that has historically belonged only to the app itself, TikTok is signaling that no surface inside its product is off-limits to brands willing to pay for attention.