Justin Robert Lees | Creative Producer

THE BRIEF

General Mills and their fruit snack Gushers, set out to establish a meaningful presence on TikTok by creating content that felt native to the platform rather than like traditional advertising. The goal was to build a visual and editorial language that matched the spontaneity, humor, and pacing of the feed while still expressing the brand’s playful identity. The campaign needed to move at the speed of culture, respond to trends, and feel creator-led, even while being produced at a brand and agency level.

Partnering with the agency Martin Williams, we developed a content approach built around short-form, performance-driven videos designed to live naturally in the For You feed. Much of the work was shot specifically for TikTok, embracing handheld capture, in-camera effects, and platform-native framing. As the story producer and editor, I worked closely with agency creatives from concept through final delivery, helping shape the tone, rhythm, and comedic timing of each piece. My role was to translate creative intent into finished posts that felt immediate, unpolished in the right ways, and authentically “of the platform,” while still maintaining brand clarity and consistency.

THE BRIEF

General Mills and their fruit snack Gushers, set out to establish a meaningful presence on TikTok by creating content that felt native to the platform rather than like traditional advertising. The goal was to build a visual and editorial language that matched the spontaneity, humor, and pacing of the feed while still expressing the brand’s playful identity. The campaign needed to move at the speed of culture, respond to trends, and feel creator-led, even while being produced at a brand and agency level.

Partnering with the agency Martin Williams, we developed a content approach built around short-form, performance-driven videos designed to live naturally in the For You feed. Much of the work was shot specifically for TikTok, embracing handheld capture, in-camera effects, and platform-native framing. As the story producer and editor, I worked closely with agency creatives from concept through final delivery, helping shape the tone, rhythm, and comedic timing of each piece. My role was to translate creative intent into finished posts that felt immediate, unpolished in the right ways, and authentically “of the platform,” while still maintaining brand clarity and consistency.

THE BRIEF

General Mills and their fruit snack Gushers, set out to establish a meaningful presence on TikTok by creating content that felt native to the platform rather than like traditional advertising. The goal was to build a visual and editorial language that matched the spontaneity, humor, and pacing of the feed while still expressing the brand’s playful identity. The campaign needed to move at the speed of culture, respond to trends, and feel creator-led, even while being produced at a brand and agency level.

Partnering with the agency Martin Williams, we developed a content approach built around short-form, performance-driven videos designed to live naturally in the For You feed. Much of the work was shot specifically for TikTok, embracing handheld capture, in-camera effects, and platform-native framing. As the story producer and editor, I worked closely with agency creatives from concept through final delivery, helping shape the tone, rhythm, and comedic timing of each piece. My role was to translate creative intent into finished posts that felt immediate, unpolished in the right ways, and authentically “of the platform,” while still maintaining brand clarity and consistency.

THE Results

The campaign’s first wave of content generated over 12 million organic views in its first four weeks and rapidly grew the Gushers TikTok account from a few hundred followers to well over 150,000, establishing the brand as a credible and entertaining presence on the platform. The work was recognized for its editorial craft and platform fluency, earning shortlist nominations from AICP and the Shorty Awards.

Editorially, the success came from treating each piece less like a traditional ad and more like a piece of native content. Through close collaboration with Martin Williams, I owned the pacing, structure, and final storytelling of the edits, shaping performances, sound design, and visual rhythm to land jokes, emphasize reactions, and keep each video feeling scroll-stopping but effortless. The result was a body of work that not only drove measurable reach and engagement, but helped define how the Gushers brand could live credibly inside TikTok’s visual language.

THE Results

The campaign’s first wave of content generated over 12 million organic views in its first four weeks and rapidly grew the Gushers TikTok account from a few hundred followers to well over 150,000, establishing the brand as a credible and entertaining presence on the platform. The work was recognized for its editorial craft and platform fluency, earning shortlist nominations from AICP and the Shorty Awards.

Editorially, the success came from treating each piece less like a traditional ad and more like a piece of native content. Through close collaboration with Martin Williams, I owned the pacing, structure, and final storytelling of the edits, shaping performances, sound design, and visual rhythm to land jokes, emphasize reactions, and keep each video feeling scroll-stopping but effortless. The result was a body of work that not only drove measurable reach and engagement, but helped define how the Gushers brand could live credibly inside TikTok’s visual language.

THE Results

The campaign’s first wave of content generated over 12 million organic views in its first four weeks and rapidly grew the Gushers TikTok account from a few hundred followers to well over 150,000, establishing the brand as a credible and entertaining presence on the platform. The work was recognized for its editorial craft and platform fluency, earning shortlist nominations from AICP and the Shorty Awards.

Editorially, the success came from treating each piece less like a traditional ad and more like a piece of native content. Through close collaboration with Martin Williams, I owned the pacing, structure, and final storytelling of the edits, shaping performances, sound design, and visual rhythm to land jokes, emphasize reactions, and keep each video feeling scroll-stopping but effortless. The result was a body of work that not only drove measurable reach and engagement, but helped define how the Gushers brand could live credibly inside TikTok’s visual language.