How Teletubbies is leveraging TikTok to bring back Gen Z audiences

When the children’s TV series “Teletubbies” premiered in 1997 in the U.K.—and a year later in the U.S.—the oldest members of Gen Z were just being born. Many Gen Zers grew up alongside the show’s four colorful creatures, Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po. More than two decades later, the series’ parent company, WildBrain, is harnessing social media to reach that same audience at a new stage in their lives.  

In January 2022, WildBrain launched a TikTok account for “Teletubbies” to strengthen the series’ connection to “kidults,” or adult audiences with a soft spot for children’s media, as well as parents of young children who currently watch the series, said Kara Segedin, the company’s digital marketing director. The series’ TikTok account has since developed into a key platform for community building among these consumers, she said. Over 1 million people now follow the account, and tens of thousands of TikTokers regularly tune into videos of the Teletubbies set to popular audio clips or platform trends. The emergence of the TikTok account coincided with Netflix rebooting the series in the fall of 2022. 

WildBrain has also since launched TikTok accounts for other children’s series owned by the company, including “Strawberry Shortcake.” 

Also read: 20 brands catching Gen Z's attention right now

Segedin, who leads the team creating social media content and growing online communities around these shows, sat down with Ad Age to discuss her team's strategy.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. 

How do you and your team create social content? Is it planned out far ahead of time or typically more reactionary?

We plan both in the short- and long-term with a 12-month digital editorial calendar that covers key beats, partnerships and tentpole moments. Our activations and partnerships provide a rich source of content for social, which really allows us to be creative and tap into the Teletubbies' playful tone. Our recent appearance at Miami Swim Week with The Blonds to launch a swimsuit collaboration, for example, gave us some really strong visual content that perfectly captured the joy of the brand. 

We also leave plenty of room to jump onto spontaneous trending moments—for example, the recent “Girl Dinner” trend, which for the Teletubbies meant giving Po and Laa-Laa the spotlight to explore their love of Tubby Toast. That video has gotten over 1 million views each on TikTok and Instagram so far. And we tie our social media strategy into our ongoing strands like our “Belonging” campaign, which brings the Teletubbies to global Pride and DragCon events and generates some really stand-out moments for our audience.

Which social media platforms do you create content for? Are there any platforms you prioritize or that you usually see better performance on?

TikTok has been a stand-out platform for us in terms of building up community among our adult fans. We launched our official channel in January 2022, and since then have gained over 1 million followers and over 17.5 million likes, mainly in the U.S. TikTok’s format of quick clips and trending sounds has been such a perfect fit for the brand, and the teams spend a good amount of time identifying and jumping onto the next viral moment. It’s also a great platform for community building, which has been key to engaging directly with our fandom and other brands. 

Gen Z were the very first target audience for the Teletubbies. They were the babies and toddlers when the original series launched in 1997. The importance of connection—of interacting directly and authentically with our audience—is something we prioritize, whether it be at live appearances or in the comment section of our socials, and it has given the Teletubbies a surge of popularity on the platform.

Alongside TikTok, Instagram remains a strong force for showcasing our activations and partnerships to our audience.  When the Teletubbies partnered with Pride in London in 2022, for example, we shared multiple stories and posts to our larger audience on Instagram to offer our non-U.K.-based fans a virtual front-row seat. 

When it comes to trends or pop culture moments, how do you decide where to engage and which ones to pass on?

Having a global team and people of different ages is an advantage when it comes to spotting the latest trends and brainstorming content ideas. And because we work closely with teams around our content and consumer products businesses, we find they bring new ideas and perspectives. We constantly share our favorite social finds and brand inspiration with each other. 

Our social accounts are run for an adult audience who may have encountered the Teletubbies when they were growing up, so we stay true to the Teletubbies DNA of joyful innocence, wonder and discovery, all while embracing their individuality.  We carefully research trends and creators to ensure they align with our brand values. 

The Teletubbies are definitely experiencing a pop culture moment and continue to bring in new audiences, alongside new content for kids on Netflix and YouTube. We’ve had some great partnerships and activity that we have been able to tap into across our channels: a recent fashion collaboration with designer Christian Cowan saw a pair of eye-catching green Dipsy boots go viral, for example, and the Teletubbies recent appearances at RuPaul’s DragCon created some strong engagement from fans.

The Teletubbies have been such a part of the zeitgeist, with Naomi Campbell, Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner, and Lil Nas X all posting Teletubbies content to their own social platforms. Celebrities such as Taylor Swift and Niall Horan have also shared nostalgic photos from when they were little, dressed up as their favorite Teletubby. We’ve seen fans wearing Teletubby onesies “in the wild” at sporting events and stadium tours, such as Harry Styles' “Love on Tour.” There is such a nostalgic pull for the brand, and sharing that love on our channels is a great part of the job.

How does your team find creators/influencers to work with? What role do they play in your social strategy?

TikTok is such a forum for discovery and community, and we find creators through watching and interacting with content from our brand and personal accounts. When we respond to trends and creator audio, we’re likely to get the attention of the original creator. There is no greater thrill than seeing them commenting on your post. In March, we created a video with the “everybody’s so creative” audio from @TanaraDoubleChocolate, which was going viral at the time, and I was delighted to see that she commented. Another “I can’t believe my job” moment that is front of mind is “girl dinner“ creator Karma Carr commenting on the Teletubbies and Strawberry Shortcake remixes of her trending audio.

What is the biggest way the social media manager role has shifted in the last few years, from your perspective?

I’ve been working in social media and digital for 13 years, and it has never stood still, which is what I most love about it. One of the biggest changes has been the growing importance of social media in marketing campaigns. It started as an afterthought, tacked onto planning and running on fumes. Now, social channels are often the center of the wheel, setting the agenda and leading from an audience-first approach. At WildBrain, we are embedded into all levels of the business from franchise to licensing and beyond.

On a role-specific level, I have been blown away by the increased professionalism in the field of content creation, particularly in entertainment, where traditional marketing, production and creative teams recognize the importance of digital-first campaigns. This means the standard for digital assets is higher than ever before. The range of knowledge and skill sets now needed to work in social marketing and media is astonishing.

What is the biggest risk you’ve taken on social media, and did it pay off? 

There is always a risk when you are working with a brand that has its origin as a children’s TV show that you could get it wrong. After all, no one wants to see a beloved character from their childhood altered from what they remembered as a kid. But we’ve found that staying true to the brand DNA, which hasn’t changed over the course of the franchise’s 26 years, has been key. We want to bring new fans in, and remind older generations why they fell in love with Teletubbies in the first place.  We lean into the playfulness and cheekiness, and as a result have extended the brand into new areas. 

There’s a new trend on TikTok popping up nearly daily–and with our vast library of content, we can almost always find a Teletubbies moment that fits.  In December, SZA’s “Big Boy” video launched on “Saturday Night Live” and went viral on TikTok.  We immediately featured a clip of Dipsy dancing, also including an “if you know, you know” wink to the height of the Teletubbies in the post.

We racked up over 11 million views, with tons of shocked comments when people really thought about how tall a Teletubby would be if they encountered them in real life. We aren’t afraid to lean into the more unhinged nature of the characters for our fandom.  

But for every TikTok or Reel that makes it to our platforms, there are versions that never see the light of day.  Our marketing and franchise teams have a rigorous, quick-turn approval process to ensure we’re hitting the right tone and that our content stays true to the joyful innocence of the brand.

What would make your job easier? 

Better comparative analytics on the social platforms themselves are a personal bugbear of mine. There is still such a discrepancy between the data points that are available from TikTok, Meta and YouTube that taking a picture of your performance, even with third-party tools, is an incredibly manual process. But, honestly, that is a tiny gripe in the grand scheme of things. What I love about my role, my team and the company is that people just want to do good work, and we get to do that while working with brands and properties that are just so joyful. I love feeding off the world-building of our franchise, creative and production teams and sharing that vision to some of the nicest fans in the world.