The launch of Grand Theft Auto VI, the growing power of creators and the hidden benefits of TikTok Shop are set to reshape digital marketing.
These should be the key focus areas for retailer and brands’ digital marketing strategy says ecommerce and growth consultant Dave Morrissey. And Morrissey should know – prior to starting his own consultancy Scéal (an Irish word for ‘story’ that is pronounced ‘scale’), he held senior roles at both Meta and TikTok.
At Meta he helped grow leading global retail brands such as Huel, Alibaba, Lego, Very, and Gymshark. While at TikTok he led the retail and ecommerce lifestyle team, overseeing the growth of businesses such as Represent, Adanola, The Hut Group, SharkNinja, eBay, Wonderskin, P.Louise, and Next, among others.
When James Knowles catches up with him he’s busy between meetings, travelling from Madrid to Barcelona, but still keen to discuss the changes he’s seeing in digital marketing.
Certainly, as retailers prepare for the crucial Black Friday and Christmas trading period, the digital marketing landscape is shifting. From the growing influence of content creators to the rise of social commerce, brands are being forced to rethink how they reach customers and measure the effectiveness of their marketing investments.
For Morrissey, three developments stand out: the potential disruption caused by the launch of action adventure game Grand Theft Auto VI, the growing importance of creator-led advertising and the wider commercial benefits of investing in TikTok Shop.
Each presents opportunities for retailers willing to adapt their strategies, he says, but also challenges for those still relying on traditional approaches.
Why retailers need a Grand Theft Auto strategy
With Grand Theft Auto VI scheduled for release on 19 November, Morrissey believes this year’s peak trading period could be unlike any other.
The highly anticipated video game is expected to launch just over a week before Black Friday (which falls on November 27), potentially diverting consumer attention and spending at a critical moment for retailers.
Morrissey is keen to point out that the Friday before Black Friday has become an increasingly important shopping day, rivalling Black Friday itself in sales activity in recent years.
“If I was a brand, I’d be having a Grand Theft Auto strategy this year,” he says. “I’d be having a Black Friday strategy and a Grand Theft Auto strategy.”
Morrissey predicts that the release could divert consumer spending, with some going towards developer Rockstar Games, while also creating wider economic disruption through lost productivity and changes in how consumers spend their time.
He believes retailers need to consider how the launch might influence purchasing decisions, rather than simply continuing with their usual promotional calendars.
For some categories, such as televisions, gaming accessories and headsets, it could create additional demand. For others, consumers distracted by the game may be less receptive to traditional Black Friday advertising.
“This is a pretty seismic moment in consumer culture that most brands, I don’t think, are really thinking about,” he says.
The opportunity, he argues, lies in recognising the cultural significance of the launch and adapting marketing messages, products and promotions accordingly.
Creators are becoming essential to paid advertising
While influencer marketing is nothing new, Morrissey believes the role of creators in digital advertising is undergoing a fundamental shift.
Increasingly, brands are using creator-generated content not just to build awareness organically, but as the basis for paid advertising campaigns.
A key driver is the growing adoption of Meta’s Partnership Ads, which allow advertisers to promote content through creators’ accounts rather than solely through their own brand channels.
Morrissey says some brands he works with are now allocating between 30% and 40% of their Meta advertising budgets to these campaigns.
More significantly, he reports that brands are seeing efficiency improvements of up to 70% when running the same creative content through a creator’s account rather than their own.
“Creators aren’t just a nice-to-have, they’re becoming essential for both your organic and paid strategies,” he says.
The shift reflects the growing importance of authenticity and the credibility that creators can bring to advertising, particularly when audiences are increasingly accustomed to traditional branded content.
For retailers, this means creator partnerships are more closely integrated with performance marketing, rather than operating as a separate brand-building activity.
It also changes how businesses should assess their influencer investments, with the value of creator content extending beyond organic reach to its ability to generate measurable sales through paid campaigns.
TikTok Shop’s demand generation halo
The third major trend Morrissey identifies is the growing importance of TikTok Shop, although he cautions that retailers should not judge the platform’s success purely on the sales it generates directly.
He acknowledges that achieving profitability through TikTok Shop can be difficult, particularly during the first 12 months.
Between the costs of producing content, platform fees and the discounts consumers expect, brands can struggle to generate attractive margins from transactions on the platform itself.
However, Morrissey argues that its wider impact on customer demand can make the investment worthwhile.
He says brands investing in TikTok Shop are reporting increases of between 20% and 40% in Amazon sales, alongside similar improvements in branded search activity.
This suggests the platform is influencing purchasing decisions well beyond its own checkout, with consumers discovering products through TikTok before completing transactions elsewhere.
Morrissey describes this as TikTok Shop’s “demand-generating halo” effect.
Another advantage is the volume of creator-led content generated through the platform, which brands can potentially repurpose across their wider marketing activities.
For retailers, the implication is that measuring TikTok Shop solely through direct sales and profitability risks overlooking its contribution to wider business growth.
The three trends highlighted by Morrissey reveal the increasingly complex marketing environment in which cultural events, creators and social commerce are reshaping consumer behaviour.
For retailers and brands preparing for peak trading and beyond, the challenge is not simply deciding where to spend their marketing budgets, but understanding how these channels work together within a complex web of demand generation.
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