DUBAI: TikTok For Business has announced the launch of a new advertisements format in the Middle East, Africa, and Turkey region.

Spark Ads is a native ad display format that enables brands and businesses to boost their own organic posts and amplify relevant content shared by the community.

Brands can also use two of TikTok’s popular features — Stitch, which allows users to pull together clips from other videos into their own, and Duet, where a new video can be created to play alongside existing videos from other users.

Shant Oknayan, general manager of global business solutions for TikTok in the Middle East, Africa, Turkey, and Pakistan, said: “With Spark Ads, brands can build long-lasting connections that are authentic and rooted in the community while also delivering sustainable and impactful business value.”

The most notable difference between regular ads and Spark Ads is that the latter allows advertisers to promote videos made by other creators with their permission.

Spark Ads also features additional functions such as allowing users to directly follow the account that created the video and click on the music/singer name and music disc to go to the designated music page.

According to TikTok’s data, Spark Ads delivered a 58 percent increase on two-second view through rate (VTR) and 66 percent on six-second VTR, as well as a 70 percent rise in paid comments, 100 percent increase in share, and 222 percent in likes compared to non-Spark Ads.

Oknayan noted that the new hybrid ad format combined organic content and advertising that provided “businesses across the region with even more opportunities to drive deeper engagement and connection with their audience.”