The One Club for Creativity sits at the heart of the global creative industry, championing outstanding ideas, talent, and craft across disciplines and borders. As a non-profit organization, it channels the energy and revenue of its awards and programs back into the industry, supporting education, access, and the long-term growth of creative careers worldwide.
Now, the Club has expanded its ongoing partnership with TikTok with the launch of a new Best Use of TikTok award as part of The One Show 2026. Sponsored by TikTok, the special award comes with no entry fee.Created in response to the growing influence of short-form video and creator-led content, the new category will recognize brands that use TikTok in a truly native way, leveraging the platform’s behaviors, tools, and storytelling formats to drive cultural relevance and deliver measurable impact.
Winning entries will meaningfully lean into one or more of TikTok’s core pillars:
- Community – Showing up authentically to engage, activate, or celebrate a TikTok community and turning participation into momentum.
- Discovery – Turning exploration and insights into ideas that resonate with people.
- Sound – Leveraging or creating original audio or trending sounds to drive discovery and creative expression.
- Co-Creation – Using duet, stitch, challenges, or other collaborative tools to spark user-generated content and invite participation.
- Entertainment – Delivering joyful, surprising, or culturally relevant storytelling that feels native to TikTok’s creative ecosystem.
- Impact – Creativity backed by performance, generating ideas that drive tangible business growth.
Applicants in the Best Use of TikTok category will be asked to submit a written overview covering the campaign background, creative idea, key insights and strategy, execution, and results. Case studies are strongly encouraged. Submissions should clearly demonstrate cultural and/or commercial impact, supported by metrics such as engagement, earned media coverage, video views or completion rates, brand lift, and sales performance.
“We’re excited to deepen our relationship with The One Club for Creativity by introducing the Best Use of TikTok Award at The One Show,” said Krystle Watler, Head of Integrated MarComms, NA, TikTok For Business. “Building on three years of collaboration through the ONE Creator Lab, this next chapter will celebrate standout campaigns from brands and agencies pushing creative boundaries and driving tangible business impact on TikTok.”
Judged by the The One Show 2026 Social Media and Creator Content jury, the new special award is free to enter until the February 20, 2026 deadline. It is open to a wide range of entrants, from global brands to small businesses and independent creators. Eligible work must have launched between January 1, 2025 and February 20, 2026. Finalists will be announced in early May 2026, with the Best Use of TikTok winner revealed live on stage at the The One Show 2026 awards ceremony on May 15, during Creative Week 2026 in New York.
The new award is the latest chapter in The One Club for Creativity’s ongoing partnership with TikTok. The collaboration also includes TikTok’s role as founding partner of ONE Creator Lab, the industry’s first free training initiative designed to help creators transition into roles at agencies and brands.
Launched in 2023 and sponsored by TikTok, ONE Creator Lab was created to help agencies and brands address the growing talent gap and rising demand for culturally relevant branded content. To date, more than 120 emerging creators have completed the program through cohorts in New York and Los Angeles. Led by experts from agencies, the creator economy, and the tech industry, the curriculum evolves continuously to reflect changes in platforms, tools, and consumer behavior.
For more information on The One Show 2026 Best Use of TikTok award and to enter, visit the competition’s official entry page.
