The 'Digi Kiwis' behind Tory's Love Actually parody say the video almost didn't happen

Sean Topham (left) and Ben Guerin, founding partners of Topham Guerin. Photo / Supplied

The two New Zealanders behind Boris Johnson's Love Actually parody have revealed the video almost didn't happen and that the team produced it in just 24 hours.

And, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, the new British Prime Minister did his part in just two takes.

The New Zealanders in charge of creative agency TG; Sean Topham, 28, and Ben Guerin, 24 – whom Johnson has dubbed the "Digi Kiwis" – pitched the idea in later November.

But, despite a highly successful test shoot that got the nod from Johnson himself, the planned video was put on ice after a Labour candidate posted her own, low-budget version, of the video.

However, with just days before Brits went to the polls, Johnson's campaign director Isaac Levido gave the green light as he was on the hunt for a high-impact video.

The video received millions of views and wall-to-wall coverage in the British press.

Given Johnson's gruelling pre-election schedule, the TG team had little time to make the video.

"As difficult as it was to pull off in 24 hours, we made sure we did a good job of it," Topham told the SMH.

"What we did with Love Actually shows that the most compelling content is creative. If you get the idea right, you don't need data, you don't need targeting. A good idea will sell itself," Guerin said.

The pair were given a pretty free rein on the content they could create for the campaign.
"Isaac [Levido] gave the team a blank canvas," Topham said.

"He was determined for us to be creative whilst sticking to the message, his view was that just because this was the Conservative Party, we didn't have to communicate conservatively."

Johnson did his part in the video in just two takes, according to Topham.

Speaking to the Herald, he said that Johnson pulled it off in a way that "probably only he could have".

Topham and Guerin credited much of their campaign's success to one phrase: "Get Brexit Done".

"'Get Brexit done' was a message that appealed to a broad audience," Topham said.

"Our role as a creative agency was to find new and interesting ways to communicate that message each day."

That message appears to have worked.

The Conservatives were returned with a landslide majority of 80 seats.