Naming a trendmaking cultural experience

Background & Challenge

As the home of music discovery where creativity and collaboration thrive, TikTok naturally sought to expand its celebration of music into the real world, bringing its “For You Page” to life with a star-studded, specially curated live event streamed globally. The annual event features performances, small business popups, and “creator activations” with genre-defining artists as well as emerging talent. 

The event needed a name that would excite fans, communicate to an international audience, and remain consistent with the TikTok brand and portfolio. Of course the name would need to be available worldwide, and the client needed it fast, with tickets set to go on presale in three months.

Naming the Brand

With several TikTok program names under our belt (including Effect House and Creator Next), we were well-immersed in the parent brand and its portfolio and were able to dive right into the event’s unique attributes. The name would be paired with TikTok (ensuring people knew creativity and tech-forward were part of its DNA), and context would make clear it was a music event, enabling us to focus on the real-world experience this event offered for the first time. After two speedy rounds and more than 2,000 candidates, In the Mix sang out. The phrase connotes both a live experience and multiple performances as well as amplified music (mixing vocals and instruments). Plus, it’s short and easy to understand and pronounce for a global audience.