A few weeks ago, Medieakademin (The Media Academy), together with Mynewsdesk, released its annual Maktbarometer (Power Barometer), a data-driven mapping of Sweden's most powerful brands on social media. As I went through the report, I found several of our clients, and one of them stood out a little extra: Wunder-Baum, ranked 17th of Sweden's 100 most powerful companies on YouTube and named "Rocket of the Year" on the same platform.
It's the result of us daring to take our TikTok content to a new platform, and of it delivering.
An iconic brand in unexpected company
Wunder-Baum hardly needs an introduction. The little scented pine tree that has hung in millions of Swedish cars for decades is one of the most recognizable consumer brands out there, so iconic that the product itself is often synonymous with the entire category. It's an old brand in a low-engagement category. Not something that would obviously evoke associations with success in short-form content.
And that's where it gets interesting.
For a little over two years now, we at ARCO have been producing TikTok content for Wunder-Baum. The entire format is built for the platform: vertical, fast, hooky. TikTok is the primary channel, and that's where the strategy has been directed.
What we did
Last autumn, we made the decision to broaden the playing field. We took the same strong content we were already producing for TikTok and started publishing it on YouTube Shorts as well. The threshold was low, same file, one more platform, but the decision was deliberate: good content deserves more chances to find its audience.
We uploaded clip after clip. Many clips. A whole lot of clips.
This is what built one of Sweden's most powerful YouTube accounts.
When I read the report and saw that Wunder-Baum had taken substantial positions on YouTube, mentioned in both press releases and clearly in the report as something that had stood out during the year, I went in and checked the numbers. Millions of views over the year, with very high engagement on many videos. Clip after clip: 150,000 views, 200,000 views, 300,000 views.
The investment had paid off. Our TikTok content broke through in a big way on YouTube too.
Why this isn't a coincidence
The Maktbarometer's methodology is deliberately designed to measure real influence in an increasingly complex media landscape, rather than accumulated follower counts or other KPIs that are irrelevant today. Reach and engagement, which I consider to constitute quality in organic content in today's media landscape. Follower count is not part of the calculation. As Medieakademin themselves write: it matters less and less to an account's influence.
That's a crucial detail. It means Wunder-Baum's ranking isn't about us having built a large YouTube audience over time. It's about the content engaging every time it's published, regardless of which platform it lands on. When the same short video that triggers reactions on TikTok is published on YouTube Shorts, it engages just as strongly there.
The algorithm's role is overrated. The content's is still underrated.
There are no shortcuts to beating the algorithm and going viral. Or rather, there are, but it's a waste to weight your focus on that.
The Wunder-Baum case is a reminder of where the work should take its starting point. Algorithms can change. The formats platforms favor get swapped out. What doesn't change, however, is that people engage with and are influenced by content they genuinely like, laugh at, and are inspired by. That's the underlying logic that all algorithms ultimately imitate.
When the content is good enough, you can break through on several parallel channels at once, even ones you don't primarily produce for.
A final reflection
We're proud of what Wunder-Baum has built on TikTok, and at least as proud that we took the step to broaden our reach to YouTube and made it land. It says something about how we think about channels going forward, and something about how more companies should think about their own investments in short-form.
Those who dare to take good content to more places have a great deal to gain.
All listings among our clients in the report
TikTok:
- ZOO.se - #27
- Hickap - #70
- Nils Oscar Bryggeri - #97
Youtube:
- Wunder-Baum - #17
- Turtle Wax - #92
Source: Maktbarometern: Företag 2025, produced by Medieakademin in collaboration with Mynewsdesk.
