The Campaign Company

• Business / Trading Name: The Campaign Company Limited

• Company Number: 8257633

• NZBN: 9429050044078

• Entity Type: NZ Limited Company

• Business Classification: M696275 – Public affairs consultant service

• Industry Category: Advertising Services (per LinkedIn)

• Year Founded: 2021 (incorporated 04 Nov 2021)

• Addresses: Registered Office & Service Address: Unit 6, Shed 24, 143 Quay Street, Auckland Central, Auckland 1010, New Zealand (the initial registered address at incorporation was Floor 14, 41 Shortland Street, Auckland Central)

• Website URL:

https://www.campaign.company

• LinkedIn URL: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-campaign-company-nz

• Company Hub NZ URL: https://www.companyhub.nz/companyDetails.cfm?nzbn=9429050044078

• NZ Companies Office URL:https://app.companiesoffice.govt.nz/companies/app/ui/pages/companies/8257633

• Social Media URLs: Data Not Found (no official public Twitter/Facebook identified; principal social media presence is via LinkedIn)

• Ultimate Holding Company: None (no ultimate holding company)

• Key Shareholders:

• Bermuda Corporate Trustee Limited – 980 shares (98%). (This corporate trustee holds the majority stake; it is co-owned/directed by Williams and associate Emily Hughes.)

• Jordan Henry Williams – 10 shares (1%)

• Emily Elizabeth Hughes – 10 shares (1%)

• Leadership:

• Jordan Williams – Founder, Owner and Chief Executive (sole director).

• Ani O’Brien – General Manager.

• Staff: Approximately 7 employees (as of 2023). Notable staff include Senior Art Director Paul Ballard and Full-Stack Developer Isuru Upeksha, among others. (Williams and O’Brien listed under Leadership.)

• Staff with Previous Government Roles: Data Not Found (no staff publicly known to have held governmental office or parliamentary roles).

• Past Employees: Data Not Found (no notable former staff publicly documented, given the company’s recent establishment).

• Clients: Major clients (disclosed or reported) include:

• Groundswell NZ – A lobby group for farmers; engaged The Campaign Company for digital campaign services.

• Hobson’s Pledge – Don Brash’s advocacy group opposing Māori co-governance; The Campaign Company runs websites and campaigns on its behalf.

• NZ Taxpayers’ Union – A politically active taxpayer lobby (co-founded by Williams); has purchased campaign and advertising services from The Campaign Company.

• 2022 Auckland Mayoral Campaigns – Candidates Leo Molloy and Viv Beck hired The Campaign Company for social media and digital campaigning during the 2022 mayoral race.

• “Save Our Stores” Tobacco Campaign – Commissioned by tobacco companies (Imperial Brands NZ and BAT NZ) to run the “Save Our Stores” petition drive against smokefree laws.

• (Other known engagements include the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance and other ad-hoc issue campaigns)

• Industries/Sectors Represented: The firm’s campaigns span multiple sectors:

• Agriculture & Rural Affairs: (Groundswell NZ – farming and environmental regulations).

• Local Government & Infrastructure: (Rates and water services campaigns, e.g. Three Waters).

• Constitutional & Māori Affairs: (Anti-co-governance campaigns via Hobson’s Pledge).

• Health & Tobacco: (Opposition to Smokefree 2025 retail limits via “Save Our Stores”).

• Law & Order: (Justice policy – e.g. organised submissions on the “Three Strikes” law).

• Economic/Fiscal: (Taxpayer advocacy and anti-spending campaigns in tandem with the Taxpayers’ Union).

• Publicly Disclosed Engagements:

• NZ Herald “Sponsored Story” (July 2023) profiling The Campaign Company’s work (a case study on Groundswell NZ).

• Auckland Council election expense filings (2022) – Viv Beck’s campaign paid The Campaign Company $32,415 for digital marketing (also noted: Leo Molloy’s campaign engagement, later terminated).

• Registered Third-Party Promoter returns (2023 General Election) – Groundswell NZ, Hobson’s Pledge, and the Taxpayers’ Union each disclosed significant payments to The Campaign Company for campaigning services.

• Domain name records – e.g. the “We Belong Aotearoa” site belatedly added a disclosure naming Hobson’s Pledge (and by extension The Campaign Company) as the creator; WHOIS records list The Campaign Company as administrator for multiple campaign domains.

• Affiliations: The Campaign Company is deeply enmeshed in a network of right-leaning advocacy groups:

• New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union (NZTU): Williams co-founded NZTU and remains its Executive Director; The Campaign Company operates in parallel and often in coordination (shared personnel and strategies).

• Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance: Another Williams-founded lobby (now absorbed into NZTU) that has overlapping leadership and objectives.

• Free Speech Union: Williams is a co-founder and council member; The Campaign Company’s General Manager, Ani O’Brien, is a prominent FSU advocate.

• Atlas Network: Williams and colleagues were trained via the Atlas Network (a global free-market think tank network); The Campaign Company’s ethos aligns with Atlas’s model of advocacy and it benefits from Atlas-linked connections.

• World Taxpayers Associations: Williams sits as Chair of this international alliance of taxpayer groups, reflecting The Campaign Company’s ties to global conservative activism circuits.

• Sponsorships / Collaborations: Data Not Found. (No known public sponsorships by The Campaign Company; its work is campaign-driven for clients rather than sponsoring events or initiatives in its own name.)

• Events (Organised by this Organisation): Data Not Found. (The Campaign Company itself does not hold public events; it works behind the scenes on client events such as protests, political rallies or campaign launches, without public branding as TCC.)

• Political Donations: Data Not Found. (No records of political donations made by The Campaign Company. Notably, clients of TCC have themselves been involved in political fundraising and third-party campaigning, but TCC’s role is as a service provider, not a donor.)

• Controversies:

• Astroturfing Allegations: The company has faced repeated accusations of running “astroturf” campaigns – creating the impression of grassroots support for client causes. Examples include the anonymously-run “We Belong Aotearoa” pro-unity website (opposed to co-governance), which hid its Hobson’s Pledge backing, and the “Save Our Stores” campaign, which masqueraded as a dairy owners’ initiative but was funded by Big Tobacco. These covert tactics have been criticised as deceitful by media and observers.

• “Dirty Politics” Style Campaigning: Williams was linked to an infamous 2018 incident where an anonymous website backing Judith Collins for National Party leader was traced to his involvement. Stuff reported that Williams’ personal email appeared in the site’s data; he denied responsibility, claiming an elaborate smear, but the site was quickly taken down. This foreshadowed TCC’s later methods of amplifying messages while obscuring authorship.

• Opaque Funding and Influence: Critics highlight that The Campaign Company enables well-resourced interests (e.g. foreign-funded think tanks or corporations) to influence NZ public opinion without transparent attribution. The surge in third-party campaign spending in 2023 – much of it funneled through groups advised by TCC – drew media attention to the growing role of unregistered lobbyists and “dark money” in New Zealand politics.

• Other Information of Note:

• Scale of Operations: Despite its small size, The Campaign Company punches above its weight in political influence. By 2023 it was reportedly handling campaign budgets in the hundreds of thousands for multiple clients; during the regulated election period alone, Groundswell NZ paid TCC $78,200, Hobson’s Pledge $34,500, and the Taxpayers’ Union $23,033. Industry data estimates the company’s annual revenue around NZ$0.3 million, reflecting a steady stream of consultancy contracts.

• Lack of Transparency: New Zealand has no mandatory lobbying register, and The Campaign Company capitalises on this regulatory gap. It does not publicly list its clients or engagements, and its involvement often only comes to light through investigative journalism or required disclosures (e.g. election returns). This absence of transparency is a driving reason for its inclusion in the “NZ Lobbying & Influence Register.”

• Rapid Response and Domain Tactics: TCC is known for swiftly creating campaign websites and online submission forms. For instance, it set up Groundswell’s protest websites (e.g. motherofallprotests.nz) and even adjusted domain registrations to mask links – one domain initially registered to the Taxpayers’ Union was hastily changed to The Campaign Company once discovered. Such agility allows clients to mount quick offensive campaigns (or flood Parliament with form submissions) at short notice.

• Connections to Political Actors: Beyond formal clients, TCC’s network intersects with political parties. The company’s campaigns often align with the policy goals of the Act Party and NZ First on issues like co-governance and law-and-order. Williams himself is a prominent right-wing figure regularly commenting in media, blurring the lines between “consultant” and activist. These connections have fuelled suspicions of coordinated strategies between TCC-fostered groups and political parties, even if direct links are denied.

• Recipient of Wage Subsidy Scheme: No. (The Campaign Company was not recorded as a direct recipient of COVID-19 wage subsidies. Notably, its sister entity the Taxpayers’ Union did apply for and receive wage subsidies in 2020, a move that was controversial given NZTU’s earlier stance. The Campaign Company was formed after the first pandemic lockdown and there is no public record of it claiming subsidies in subsequent rounds.)

Spot anything in this entry that is wrong? Please either leave a comment at the end or email, in confidence: bryce@democracyproject.nz