CASE: Panda, Finland's most-followed candy brand on TikTok

Background

Panda is one of Finland's best-loved confectionery brands, but on TikTok it was practically invisible. Vesa Vainio had long felt the channel would suit Panda, but in a large corporate group the decision needed more than gut feeling.

"I'd been following the channel actively and had long been thinking that I wanted our brand there. Since we're a large group, we considered whether TikTok was the right channel and whether we wanted to stay there, but personally I felt it was really important."
Vesa Vainio, Panda / Orkla Finland

The challenge

For Panda, content production alone wasn't enough. It needed a partner who also understood the specific requirements of responsible marketing. Marketing confectionery to minors is prohibited, and that had to be built into the day-to-day work from the very start.

"On TikTok, we're not shown to under-18s. We have a setting that means under-18s don't see our videos and aren't targeted with ads. Given that, the results are really good."
Vesa Vainio, Panda / Orkla Finland

On TikTok it's tempting to jump on trending sounds, but Höyrymedia kept the brand on the right side of copyright:

"The good thing about Höyrymedia is that they've kept us firmly in line, so to speak, so that we don't end up breaking the rules with things like trending sounds."
Vesa Vainio, Panda / Orkla Finland

Working together

Day-to-day work revolves around a monthly meeting and a shoot day. Höyrymedia takes care of the rest:

"We know the brand so well that we don't need to bother the client with every little question. A typical month starts with an hour-long meeting where we go through the previous month and look at upcoming campaigns and new products. Then we do the shoot once a month."
Aleksi Laitinen, Höyrymedia

The clear division of responsibilities also shows in the time commitment:

"Working with Höyrymedia takes maybe a couple of hours of my time a month at most."
Vesa Vainio, Panda / Orkla Finland

Results & lessons

The starting point was zero. The goal was to overtake the company's other brands, and that's exactly what happened:

"One big success: we started from zero in March 2023, and now we're Finland's most-followed candy brand on TikTok."
Vesa Vainio, Panda / Orkla Finland

The digital visibility carried straight over into the physical world:

"People have come into the factory shop saying, 'I saw this on TikTok' or 'I came here because of TikTok.' Especially during the holiday season, we've had some great concrete examples."
Vesa Vainio, Panda / Orkla Finland

A genuine community has grown around the brand: not an ad audience, but fans:

"We've turned Panda into such a phenomenon that people come to comment on the videos as fans. They like them, rave about them and share them with friends. It's been really cool to see in the comments how people have embraced the Panda account." (Aleksi Laitinen, Höyrymedia)

Recommendation

"I recommend Höyrymedia to any company that's thinking about setting up a TikTok account or other social media channels and wants to make short-form video efficiently and quickly, with a great crew, at a cost-effective price."
Vesa Vainio, Panda / Orkla Finland

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