BVG x GUD.berlin
Achieving outstanding engagement with a TikTok-native creative strategy
BVG's TikTok-first approach
BVG's first paid TikTok campaign built on its strong organic presence by using Spark Ads, In-Feed Ads, and a distinct "Brand as Creator" style, cutting cost per engagement 38%, lowering CPM 15%, and raising average play time 71%.
- Organic content centered on humorous "Berlin madness" had already built nearly 90K followers on @bvg_oeffiziel.
- Paid media focused on Berlin locals and visitors up to age 34, with ongoing testing across audiences, budgets, and run times.
- This is a TikTok case study for informational purposes only; past performance does not guarantee or predict future performance.
The objective
Building on a strong organic presence with TikTok native content
Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) is the main public transport operator in Berlin and has been moving millions of people across the city since 1928. Beyond its functional role, BVG has built a distinctive brand identity that reflects the character of Berlin, with a tone that is humorous, self-aware and rooted in everyday city life.
On TikTok, @bvg_oeffiziel takes a creator-first approach, using organic content as the core of its strategy. Rather than acting as a traditional advertiser, the brand produces native content focused on “Berlin madness”, using humour to reflect real situations such as delays, crowded transport and everyday moments across the network. This approach has helped build a strong and engaged following of nearly 90K users.
Having already established a strong organic presence on the platform, this campaign marked BVG’s first step into paid advertising on TikTok. Working with their agencies, GUD.berlin and Maintment GmbH, the campaign was launched with the objective of driving consideration, focusing on maximising video views and encouraging community interaction.
The solution
Leveraging a unique "Brand as Creator" approach to connect with their younger demographic
Wanting to drive consideration, Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) focused on strategies to increase ERR (Engagement Rate Reach), prioritising high-quality views that actively engage with the content.
To support this, the campaign targeted Berlin locals and visitors across all genders up to the age of 34, focusing on a younger audience more likely to respond to BVG’s native, platform-first tone on TikTok.
The campaign leveraged TikTok Spark Ads and In-Feed Ads. Spark Ads were used to amplify top-performing organic content directly within the feed, maintaining a native look and feel while extending reach and engagement. In-Feed Ads were used to deliver additional campaign content within the standard TikTok experience, supporting reach and consideration objectives.
Instead of relying on a fixed setup, the brand continuously tested and iterated across audiences, budgets and run times, treating each video as an individual test to understand what performed best in real time.
The creative approach followed a “Brand as Creator” philosophy. Rather than adapting to trends, BVG built its own content universe through the "BVG Puppenkiste", a set of custom-built, hand-operated puppets used to give the brand a distinctive and human personality. This was combined with more flexible formats when needed, ensuring each piece of content felt native, authentic and aligned with the platform.
The results
Outstanding increase in engagement while maintaining strong cost-efficiency
The campaign delivered highly impactful results, demonstrating the impact of BVG’s native “Brand as Creator” approach on TikTok.
Benefitting from their strategy to amplify high-performing content, the campaign saw strong results demonstrating cost-efficiency. Cost per engagement decreased from €0.21 to €0.13, a 38% reduction despite a lower overall budget. CPM also improved from €2.38 to €2.02, a 15% decrease, indicating stronger auction efficiency and healthier delivery performance.
In addition to efficiency, the campaign also excelled at capturing audience attention and inspiring action, with significant increases in video engagement. Average play time per user rose from 14.71 seconds to 25.08 seconds, a 71% uplift, showing that the 2025 content was significantly more effective at capturing and retaining attention.
Outside the core metrics, the campaign demonstrated the strength of BVG’s shift away from traditional advertising formats towards native entertainment-led content. By building content around the Puppenkiste universe and a consistent brand world, BVG was able to connect with Gen Z audiences in a way that felt natural to the platform and culturally relevant.
The campaign reinforced BVG’s position as more than a transport provider, showing how a public service brand can achieve strong cultural relevance on TikTok through storytelling, consistency and platform-native creativity.
This is a TikTok case study and is solely for informational purposes. Past performance does not guarantee or predict future performance.
On TikTok, we transformed the BVG into a creator. With our Puppenkiste, we prove that authentic humor and creative excellence are worth more than any classic ad placement."
Your questions, answered
Business Help CenterWhat was BVG trying to achieve?
BVG used its first paid advertising campaign on TikTok to build consideration. The focus was on maximizing video views, encouraging community interaction, and improving engagement rate reach with high-quality views.
How did the campaign combine organic and paid content?
BVG already had a strong organic presence through humorous, TikTok-first videos on its TikTok profile, @bvg_oeffiziel. The paid campaign used Spark Ads to promote top-performing organic posts and In-Feed Ads to add more campaign content and expand reach.
What results did BVG report?
The campaign reported a 38% lower cost per engagement, a 15% lower cost per thousand impressions, and a 71% rise in average play time per user, from 14.71 seconds to 25.08 seconds.
This case study is for informational purposes only, and past performance does not guarantee or predict future performance.