Less focus on awards, more focus on results. That’s the advice from Topham Guerin co-founder Ben Guerin, when asked what the corporate world can learn from political campaigns such as this year’s New Zealand General Election (October 14). The creative agency has not only worked on previous campaigns with the National Party, the Liberals in Australia and the Conservatives in the UK, but also has a roster of high-profile corporate clients such as Lloyds Bank and Rio Tinto.
“The story of Topham Guerin is how you can break new ground in the world of politics and take those lessons to the corporate world,” Ben says from the company’s London office. “A political campaign is a hub for innovation. Whether you’re talking Obama 2008, or Boris Johnson doing a ‘Love Actually’ remake in 2019 with yours truly, the focus and drive of a political campaign, combined with a really clear end goal in mind, actually helps you to achieve things that wouldn’t be possible in a traditionally always-on sales cycle.”
Another feature of a political campaign is it has to be results-focused, he says.
“We’ve got a real issue in our industry with putting people up
