For most New Zealanders, Census Day is not an exciting one. It’s a 54-question national survey required by law, that every household has to fill in, with little to no perceived payback for everyday people. In truth, the Census helps the government better understand and serve its people, especially underserved and underseen groups.

For the first time, the 2023 New Zealand Census was including questions about sexuality, gender, and variations of sex characteristics. Making it the most inclusive Census ever.

Our challenge was to find ways to make a forced government survey relevant for people from all walks of life, including disengaged youth.

Young people don't get excited about a government Census survey, but they do get excited about Harry Styles.

When we discovered that the champion of inclusivity himself, Harry Styles, was set to perform to 40,000 fans in Auckland on Census night, and should complete the Census too, we knew this was a Census story people could get excited about.

For our target audience, the thought of doing the Census together with Harry Styles, would provide a whole new perspective on it.

So we wanted to let people know that EVERYONE in New Zealand needed to do the Census - even Harry Styles.

Young people don't get excited by a government survey, but they do get excited by Harry Styles.

To create interest and excitement around the Census, we wanted people to know that EVERYONE in New Zealand needed to do the Census, even Harry Styles.

Our target audience for Census participation was all New Zealanders, but we especially wanted to engage young people, who would be active on social and could share and amplify the story - and build hype and anticipation around doing the Census together with Harry.

So as well as launching the story to reach this audience via social (through a fun tweet by government department Stats NZ) and key influencers who also happened to be Harry Styles fans, we also helped grow it by creating Census fan posters for the concert and a Census scarf for Harry's New Zealand guitarist Ny Oh to take on stage.

A week before Census Day, March 7, 2023, also the date of Harry's concert in New Zealand, a fun tweet by government department Stats NZ confirmed that yes, everyone in the country would need to fill out the Census, even former members of One Direction.

New Zealand-based ‘Shit you should care about’ then led the story on Instagram, which then blew up on TikTok, radio stations, and national and international news, from Billboard to CNN and the Guardian – creating a snowball effect of conversation around the world with 25.6 million impressions.

To further appeal to Harry to advocate for the Census, we had a Census scarf delivered to his Kiwi guitarist Ny Oh, for her to take on stage, and signs for eager fans to hold in the crowd and in front of news media.

On Census Day, in front of 40,000 ecstatic fans, with the curious 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, shared enthusiastically on multiple social media and news channels - and by the target audience themselves.

As the story headlined national and international news, online participation in the Census soared, with a 25% spike in logins directly corresponding to the news coverage. Many respondents confirmed they were motivated or reminded to do the Census ‘because of Harry Styles’.

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