Sean Topham (left) and Ben Guerin, founding partners of Topham Guerin. Photo / Supplied
Sean Topham (left) and Ben Guerin, founding partners of Topham Guerin. Photo / Supplied
Depending on your attitude to the rom-com "Love Actually," and to the British Prime Minister, your verdict on Boris Johnson's spoof of the film in the closing days of the UK election campaign will be "brilliant" or "gross".
One thing that can't be debated, however, is how effective it was– reaching seven million views online alone. That does not count the times it was viewed on television, both in allocated broadcasting time and in news bulletins.
The creatives behind it were the young Kiwis who work at Topham Guerin (TG) and who despite their relative youth, have amassed a wealth of experience and success in digital election campaigns in New Zealand, Australia and Britain.
Sean Topham, a 28-year-old former president of Young Nationals, and business partner Ben Guerin, aged 24, were the creative and digital directors of the Conservative Party campaign.
The clip of Boris Johnson flipping through cards on the doorstep to communicate with an apartment-dwelling woman with Silent Night playing on the cassette player was done in two takes.
Topham was there directing as it was filmed, he confirms in a phone call from London, but he is economic with any details of how it was to direct Boris Johnson.
"He pulled it off in a way that probably only he could have," says Topham.
The Conservatives were returned with a landslide majority of 80 seats, with Johnson campaigning largely on the simple message "Get Brexit done".
The slogan appealed to both Brexiteers and to remainers who were fed up with the arguing over Brexit. It implicitly presented Labour as the party that would delay and debate more.
"'Get Brexit done' was a message that appealed to a broad audience," said Topham.
"Our role as a creative agency was to find new and interesting ways to communicate that message each day."
The Topham Guerin team produced videos in a range of styles – some with high production values, such as the Love Actually spoof, and others with a deliberate sense of amateurism, such as one called "ending the argument".
It drew together ordinary voters in selfie-style videos, and was wrapped up with a piece to camera from Johnson with the red recording button visible.
Then there was the video of Johnson walking to an office kitchen to make a cup of tea while being questioned about something or other.
TG Partner Sean Topham watches as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson takes a selfie during the Conservatives' campaign. Photo / Supplied
Like most successful digital media messaging, it gave Johnson double the exposure because the debate that ensued about how not to make a cup of tea sent the video viral.
A simple ad with the words "Get Brexit done. Vote Conservative" got people going as well simply because of the font it had used - an apparently uncool font devised by Microsoft named "Comic Sans".
Sean Topham, third from left, and Ben Guerin, eighth from right, with some of the digital team in London, in front of a billboard using the Comic Sans font. Photo / Supplied
Topham graduated from Auckland law school in 2013 but his passion was in digital graphic design and websites. After a conversation with Barack Obama's digital director, Teddy Goff, Topham decided to have a crack at digital marketing campaigns and was joined by Guerin in 2015.
Most of the company's work is not political but the political campaigns are the most public ones. Topham has worked with John Key, Bill English, Malcolm Turnbull, David Cameron, and Scott Morrison's re-election campaign in May.
That campaign was notable for some of its ingenious digital work including a graphic of Morrison as Obi Wan Kenobi which ran on May 4, Star Wars Day and a Game of Thrones-inspired Facebook poster of former Labor leader Bill Shorten.
After the Australian campaign, Topham told the Herald he and Guerin had always envisaged their company as being international and they have now set up offices in London and Sydney.
The Conservatives' campaign to return Johnson was a chance to reunite with some of the Australian election campaign team that helped Morrison.
The Conservatives' campaign director Isaac Levido, a 36-year-old Australian, had been one of two deputies to Andrew Hirst in the Liberals' campaign in May.
The Times reported at the weekend that Levido was a protégé of Sir Lynton Crosby, a principal of the Crosby Textor political research and strategy company.
It also said that Levido was so much in control of the Conservatives' campaign in Britain that Boris Johnson's most senior adviser, Dominic Cummings, deferred to him.
It is clear that Topham, like Downing St, has huge respect for the Australian.
"Isaac is an open-minded leader who set a clear direction for the campaign and encouraged the team to think outside the box," said Topham.
Topham is non-committal about whether he will be involved in the New Zealand election campaign, assumed to be in late 2020.
"The team's priority will be to catch up on some sleep over the summer break."
The economy is strong with this one. #StarWarsDay #MayThe4thBeWithYou
