For most New Zealanders, Census is not exciting. It’s a 54-question government survey, held every 5 years. For the first time ever, the 2023 Census would include important questions about gender, sexual orientation, and sex characteristics. To accurately represent LGBTQIAP+ communities in New Zealand, we wanted high participation from all age groups, especially youth and young adults.

But previous Census data showed low participation numbers amongst youth, with only 75% of youth (15-29 year olds) filling out the 2018 Census, much lower than the overall population at 83%.

With trust and engagement amongst youth and diverse audiences at an all-time low, campaign research identified early that we needed non-traditional advertising to reach and motivate these audiences to participate.

Objective: We needed to excite and engage youth and rainbow youth to fill out the census form on Census Day, March 7.

While researching little-known Census law, we discovered that everyone in New Zealand on Census Day, including visitors to the country, should complete the Census. Which meant that even the megastar and champion of inclusivity, Harry Styles, scheduled to perform to 40,000 fans in Auckland on Census night, should rightfully do it too.

To ignite interest in the Census, we didn’t just want Harry to take part, we wanted him to use his influence to advocate for fans and the nation to join him.

So, we made sure the story reached key social influencers, like ‘Shit you should care about’, who had millions of followers passionate about current affairs and pop culture, especially Harry Styles. And we created assets to get inside Harry’s inner circle, providing his guitarist, New Zealand-born Ny Oh, with a Census scarf to wear on stage, along with signs for eager fans to hold in the crowd.

Key insight: To drive Census participation, we needed a trusted voice to make Census Day an experience youth would want to be part of.

Strategy: Make the 2023 Census an experience you’d want to tell your friends about.

We needed an approach that made the typically dry form-filling event an unforgettable experience. The strategic alignment of Census Day on 7 March 2023, with Harry Styles' concert in Auckland, provided an opportunity to create excitement and encourage Census participation.

If Harry Styles cared about something like the Census and promoted it on Census Day, we could increase Census participation amongst an audience that needed to feel motivated and engaged. However, to achieve this, we would need to capture Harry’s attention through fandemonium and do something unheard of – get the world’s biggest influencer to promote a boring government survey, for free.

After working behind the scenes for months to plan ‘fandemonium’, one week before Census Day and Harry Styles' sold-out concert in New Zealand, a fun government tweet confirmed that everyone in the country would need to fill out the Census, even former members of One Direction.

At the same time, we tipped off key social influencers, with New Zealand-based ‘Shit you should care about’ leading the story on Instagram with her 3.5 million followers. The story then blew up TikTok, radio stations, and national and international news, from Billboard to CNN and the Guardian – creating a snowball effect of conversation.

To further appeal to Harry, we contacted his New Zealand-born guitarist, Ny Oh, who agreed to carry a Census-themed scarf on stage. We also provided placards for eager fans to hold at the concert, and in front of media covering the event.

On Census Day, in front of 40,000 screaming fans, with an enthralled nation (and world) watching on, Harry answered the question on everyone’s lips – yes, he'd done the Census with us.

With the global megastar singing our campaign song and encouraging everyone to take part, the typically dry, low-interest Census became a cultural moment in history.

As the story headlined national and international news and was shared enthusiastically amongst our youth audiences on social media, online participation in Census soared, with a 25% spike in logins directly corresponding to the news coverage.

With many confirming they were motivated to do the Census ‘because of Harry Styles’, the Census saw a 10% lift in youth participation over the 2018 census, leaping from 75% - 85%.

The campaign reached over 25.6 million, in a nation of just over 5 million. And a global influencer advocated for the Census, for free.