Musikhjälpen's New TikTok Strategy
“I think this is very logical - to adapt the content to the platform and let the platform decide the content.”
What You’ll Learn
Behind-the-scenes photos 👀
The new TikTok strategy,
Hero Film 📺 vs. Daily Content 📱Gear checklist for agile content 📝
This was the third time (2021, 2023, and 2024) that I joined the campaign production for Musikhjälpen (Serious Request) as the director of photography. Musikhjälpen is a Swedish week-long live radio and TV broadcast. Its mission is to raise awareness and funds for a different catastrophe each year.
Check out a selection of past campaign materials here—click!
Behind the scenes
Pre-light vs. Final Cast: ☝️
The crew behind the camera vs. the cast.
Gallery of BTS images shot by Albin Karlen – click to enlarge. ⬇️🖱️
The new TikTok strategy,
Hero Film 📺 vs.
Daily Content 📱
The production setup has always been the same since i joined 2021: one day for prep and pre-light, and then one day of shooting.
Back in 2021, we made a traditional TV ad that was 30 seconds long. Later, it was shortened to 15 seconds and shared on social media. This was a pretty standard way of doing things back then and still is now.
But, In 2023, a new strategy was introduced by Parastoo Saeidi, which we followed in 2024. This time, the production aimed to reach a younger audience and expand to a new platform, TikTok.
Instead of shooting one traditional commercial to launch the entire campaign, the goal in 2024 was to produce a large quantity of content. This provided the campaign crew with material to post daily on social media, helping build hype and stay connected to the audience. Instead of making one film with a beginning, middle, and ending, we created small clips where the cast appeared in the very first second.
If you look at how Generation Z (kids and young adults aged 11-26) use the internet, you’ll see they search for information like older people (like me, almost 40) use Google.
But on TikTok, the information is based on videos.
That’s why Musikhjälpen made lots of short videos, each video answering a different topic or purpose and featuring artists with stronger brands than Musikhjälpen in the first frame to grab the viewer’s attention. This way, they expanded the brand to reach the TikTok audience.
I think this is very logical - to adapt the content to the platform and let the platform decide the content. It's like letting the marathon runner run the marathon and the sprinter run the sprint, etc.
If your brand awareness isn’t strong with an audience on a platform, you can get noticed by working with another brand the audience already knows. That’s why Musikhjälpen used artists in the first frame to excite Generation Z on TikTok.
My expertise isn’t in marketing strategy - it’s in making content (great images, films, and photos).
But understanding how my work will be used or what purpose it serves helps me be more effective and reach my client’s overall goal.
Gear checklist for agile content 📝
To move quickly and allow the production to capture as many high-quality clips as possible, I chose the following gear setup.
We used the Red Komodo X and shot in 6K to get lots of pixels, so we could crop and fit both 16:9 and 9:16 ratios.
I used the Canon K35 zoom lens (24-125) so I could stick with one lens all day and save time. I liked this zoom because it gave a softer, vintage look.
The whole setup was on a GF dolly with a mini jib instead of a regular tripod, which helped us quickly try out different framings and move around.
(Except when I was shooting handheld - Haha!)
Filming in both 16:9 and 9:16 at the same time can be tricky.
It requires good resolution, but it’s hard to fit everything into both frames at once. I solved this by adding guide lines on the monitor and zooming in the 16:9 frame by 10-15%.
Quick tip: Usually, it's the 9:16 frame that requires more space and ruins your 16:9 framing. However, if you zoom in the 16:9 guidelines by 10-15%, it's easier to feel in control of the framing on set.
Set guidelines for 16:9 and then zoom them in by 10-15%.
End note
It’s inspiring to see how the mediaworld is changing and to follow the people behind Musikhjälpen as they try new strategies to get different results. I can only hope to keep being part of such an amazing production, team, and purpose.
You can also check out my LinkedIn newsletter or watch my tutorials on YouTube.
- Mattias Andersson, Director & Photographer