How Topham Guerin’s 17-million-view video push powered National’s 2023 NZ campaign
Speaking to the New Zealand Herald, Topham Guerin co-founder Sean Topham said the party’s use of video on Facebook and TikTok was vital to National’s 2023 win. National and Luxon drew four times Labour’s Facebook video views (1.6 million vs 383,000) and a claimed 17 million-plus TikTok views in three months.
- Publication
- New Zealand Herald
- By
- Alex Spence
- Published
- 15 October 2023
- Type
- Press coverage
- Topics
-
- political campaigning
- TikTok
- social media strategy
What we did
- Topham Guerin ran National’s 2023 social/video strategy; co-founder Sean Topham called it vital to the win
- National + Luxon had 4x the Facebook video views of Labour + Hipkins (1.6M vs 383k)
- Claimed 17 million+ TikTok views in three months, reaching ~75% of 18–34-year-old Kiwis on the platform
Read the full article at New Zealand HeraldNational racked up hundreds of thousands more video views on social media than Labour as it sought to use sometimes off-the-wall viral trends to energise its election campaign.
They decided early in this campaign that video would be crucial to National’s messaging, Topham said. Over several months, their output has combined US-style attack adverts accusing Labour of being soft on crime and gangs with more intimate and upbeat posts showing Luxon spending time with his family and doing relatable things in the community.
On Facebook, the accounts for National and Luxon have had four times as many video views (1.6 million) as those of Labour and outgoing Prime Minister Chris Hipkins (383,000 combined) since their respective campaigns launched in early September, according to an analysis of data collected by CrowdTangle.
In this campaign, TikTok was also an important platform, particularly for reaching younger audiences. Topham claims videos posted by National and Luxon on the platform collectively had more than 17m views in the past three months, reaching about three-quarters of 18 to 34-year-old Kiwis on the platform.
“It was a fun campaign and a good result.”
Sean Topham
“I think the campaign did a fantastic job on social and digital media, and we can point to a number of metrics that indicate that.”
Sean Topham
- 17M+ National/Luxon TikTok views in three months
- 1.6M National Facebook video views (Labour: 383k)
Questions & answers
How did National’s social media compare with Labour’s in 2023?
National and Luxon drew four times Labour’s Facebook video views (1.6 million to 383,000) and a claimed 17 million-plus TikTok views in three months, reaching around 75% of 18 to 34-year-old New Zealanders on the platform.
Who ran National’s 2023 social media strategy?
Topham Guerin ran the party’s video-led social and digital strategy; co-founder Sean Topham called it vital to National’s 2023 win.