Kleinanzeigen
TikTok Ad Awards Winner 2025: Greatest Creative
From personal stories to shared culture, how Kleinanzeigen built trust and relevance on TikTok through creator-led storytelling.
Creator stories built trust
Kleinanzeigen used a TikTok-first full-funnel approach with 12 German creators, scaling only the strongest organic videos through Spark Ads; the campaign reached 54M+ views, lifted ad recall by 5.4%, and showed that authentic creator storytelling can build Gen Z relevance and measurable business impact.
Objectives
Redefining second-hand for Gen Z through real stories
As the largest online classifieds portal in Germany, Kleinanzeigen set out to redefine what "second-hand" means for Gen Z.
On TikTok, the brand positioned itself as a warm, people-driven marketplace, where classifieds are built on real human encounters rather than anonymous transactions. The objective of the campaign was to build trust and relevance with Gen Z by making these moments of connection visible.
Instead of using creators as advertising space, Kleinanzeigen wanted creators to act as a voice for the brand's core beliefs while sharing authentic stories that reflect everyday experiences on the platform and, ultimately, drive activity on the platform.
Solutions
A TikTok-first and story-led full-funnel strategy
The Kleinanzeigen campaign followed a full-funnel strategy rooted in a simple insight: on TikTok, the best story wins, not the biggest budget.
To bring the strategy to life, Kleinanzeigen partnered with 12 highly aligned German creators and authentic platform users, including well-known creators such as Levi Penell and Malte Zierden. The role of the creators was not to promote features, but to share personal, humorous, and emotional stories about their most memorable classified ad encounters.
One story in particular morphed into a cultural moment. Levi Penell’s search for "Lea" sparked weeks of speculation in the comments, turning a personal classified ad story into a community-wide conversation. These stories became the heart of the campaign, creating closeness, everyday relevance, and trust.
Paid media, meanwhile, acted as a strategic amplifier rather than as a replacement for organic relevance. Only the most successful organic videos, measured by watch time, sentiment, and engagement, were scaled using Spark Ads. This ensured that paid spend amplified stories the community was already embracing, embedding Kleinanzeigen naturally into the TikTok feed.
Results
Deep resonance with Gen Z and measurable impact
The campaign achieved more than reach. Resonating deeply with Gen Z audiences, the campaign generated over 54 million views, including more than 5.5 million organic views.
Overall engagement was strong, including over 800,000 likes, 37,000 shares, and 4,000 comments. In addition, the cost per 15-second view performed 100% better than the industry benchmark, showing that the content was not only watched but actively shared.
A Brand Lift Study confirmed impact beyond engagement with ad recall increasing by 5.4% to 52.8%, while usage intention rose by 3.3%, marking a clear shift from awareness to tangible business relevance.
Notably, success was not driven by a single hero video. Instead, the success of the campaign was the result of a systematic mix of creator relevance, radical authenticity, and targeted Spark Ad amplification. Together, these results proved that when brands trust creators and community-driven storytelling, TikTok can deliver both cultural relevance and measurable outcomes at scale.
This campaign represents everything we believe in at Kleinanzeigen: openness, trust, and genuine human connection. We didn't tell creators how to talk about Kleinanzeigen, we asked them what they had experienced with it. That's what made the difference. Instead of polished advertising, we saw personal stories, quirky encounters, and raw emotion, as diverse as the people who use Kleinanzeigen. We created space rather than simply chasing reach, and in doing so proved that measurable brand connection emerges when you let go and trust the process.
Your questions, answered
Business Help CenterHow did Kleinanzeigen use creators?
Kleinanzeigen worked with 12 German creators and platform users, including Levi Penell and Malte Zierden. Their role was to share personal, humorous, and emotional classified-ad stories that reflected real experiences, rather than promote product features.
What made the paid strategy different?
Paid media supported, rather than replaced, organic momentum. Only the strongest organic videos, measured by watch time, sentiment, and engagement, were scaled with Spark Ads so paid spend extended stories the community was already responding to.
What results did the campaign achieve?
The campaign generated more than 54 million views, including over 5.5 million organic views, plus more than 800,000 likes, 37,000 shares, and 4,000 comments. A Brand Lift Study also showed ad recall up 5.4% and usage intention up 3.3%.