TikTok sensation Chebbo's Burgers on why a ban would crush business
Chinese social media platform TikTok has become a marketing tool for many Australian businesses and a ban would severely impact operations, content creators say.
Ali Chebbani turned down a highly-coveted grad offer to become an accountant at one of the big four banks to run a burger truck. Today he earns a higher salary from brand deals alone.
The 23-year-old is one of Australia’s most popular TikTok creators, one of the 8.5 million regular users of the controversial Chinese-run social media platform that faces a potential ban in the US.
He is as an “overnight success” after he turned his Bankstown driveway burger operation, which he started during Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020 at the age of 20, into a 16-person burger truck operation in Roselands selling 1200 burgers a week. Soon it’ll expand again into a full-service restaurant in the inner city suburb of Marrickville.
But a ban of the platform, as could take place in the US, would severely jeopardise the success of the new shop, he told The Australian.
“It would create a massive disconnect between myself, my customers and our audience. I’m not sure how I’d be able to sustain that connection or even foster new connections,” he said.
“There are great burgers everywhere but what sets us apart is our brand and losing that avenue would create a big rift. We’d be left in the dark in terms of marketing, messagings and converting announcements to customers.”
Mr Chebbani hasn’t needed to market his business through traditional channels, having saved thousands of dollars that would have been otherwise spent on radio, broadcast and print newspaper advertisements. Instead he has, with the help of his 1.2 million followers, simply been able to get messages to customers and followers via TikTok.
He describes the platform as the “new town square”. “TikTok is word of mouth on steroids. People say word of mouth referrals are dead but I think they are more alive than ever,” he said. “You listen to people you follow and people you know for their recommendations and their advice.”
He has also been able to create a brand for himself separate to Chebbo’s Burgers, and the associated brand deals from that – where companies pay to advertise a product through a reel or social media post – pay him a salary higher than what he would have received had he taken Westpac’s graduate offer not including income from the 1200 burgers he sells which range between $12 and $20.
Social media has become essential to doing business in Australia, and TikTok is one of the few platforms that still offers a chance to go viral and reap the rewards and associated customer leads. For some businesses, posting content and responding to messages is a job in itself. Even politicians had used the platform to grow an audience ahead of the 2022 election before a ban no longer allowed the app on government devices.
When Mr Chebbani started his TikTok while working as an intern at Westpac, it took just weeks for his videos to be fed into the algorithms of thousands of Australians during lockdown. His first hit was a video of him recreating a burger from McDonald’s, where he had worked as a teenager.
“I’ve had no choice but to pursue a store. We’ve got such a loyal customer base and opening a bricks mortar venue is a natural step,” he said.
Mr Chebbani is now somewhat of a poster boy for TikTok, often brought in at its annual events alongside other popular creators and media, and he brings his truck to cook for everyone.
His business is one of the 350,000 who regularly post on the platform and use it to generate new leads, get messages to customers and attempt to go viral. TikTok knows how much Australian businesses rely on the platform, and that it is one of the few social media platforms to still offer a chance at going viral – which can offer sway businesses to turn to it over Instagram or Facebook.
A TikTok spokeswoman told The Australian the US Senate’s decision was not based in fact. “Action being taken in the US is not based in fact, and we are hopeful that the US Senate will consider the impact on the millions of small businesses and 170 million Americans who use the service,” she said.
“Any changes to TikTok in Australia would have a significant impact on the 350,000 businesses, and more than eight-and-a-half million Australians, who use the app to connect and grow their businesses.”
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