Election 2026: What makes a political campaign work? – The Front Page

But in the lead-up to Election 2026, it’s not just the big parties fighting for our attention.

So what actually makes a political campaign work? What makes a slogan, a speech, an image, or a campaign ad stick in voters’ minds – and what can make a campaign fall flat?

University of Auckland marketing professor Bodo Lang told The Front Page that strong, consistent branding helps make a party and its promises recognisable and likeable to voters.

“National, Labour, these are brands, and they are particularly salient right now, just a few weeks out from the general election. And really, if you think about politics, it is essentially marketing.

“The worst thing that can happen to a brand is for their campaign promises or their slogan to be completely interchangeable. So if I took your logo away and put somebody else’s logo on, would that still be recognised as being from that party?

“So therefore, having really clear visuals, having colours, having voices, having the whole design speak the language of the party is very, very important,” he said.

Social media provides an even playing field for all parties to reach voters, given that minor parties may not have as big a marketing budget as the larger ones.

“They might not have the ability to rent out very large venues across the whole country, but they can do really slick productions online. And so it, in a way, that’s where social media and digital marketing is really a godsend for smaller parties.

“Social media is incredibly powerful. We see this not just in politics, but in all sorts of things.

“Having something that’s recognisably you as the party, something that has virality built into it, so something that’s unusual, novel, there’s maybe suspense or humour, so you really need to tap into emotions.

“Those things are really, really important, and they allow those smaller parties to really reach the audience and reach also people who may not have naturally been exposed to that party,” he said.

While social media has changed the game, traditional marketing tactics such as holding in-person events are still a mainstay in political campaigns, Lang said.

“We call it in marketing ‘personal selling’. Again, you need to be target market appropriate.

“So New Zealand First probably has a slightly older demographic of voters compared to the Greens. And what are those voters used to? Are they on digital media or are they on TikTok and Instagram?

“The chances are that they’re less likely to be on those channels, and that they’re much more likely to remember times when town hall meetings were common, and when public discussions were common.

“Going to Act, I think getting Paul Henry on board was a stroke of genius. I think he is clearly not loved by everybody in New Zealand, but he has what we call in marketing a very high Q score. So he has very high awareness, and the people that are of interest to the Act Party would most likely like him because he’s very outspoken.

“There’s a fine balance there that needs to be in place as well. So, digital channels work really well for some smaller parties, but probably less well for other parties that might want to substitute it with more in-person events,” he said.

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The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5pm. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.

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