Driving digital momentum for Tangata Pai

‍The project:

Tangata Pai is a powerful drama series set in Taranaki that explores identity, whakapapa, justice, and the lasting impacts of colonisation in Aotearoa.

Social Good partnered with the production team at Brown Sugar Apple Grunt and worked alongside Three New Zealand to support the digital launch of the show as it aired on Three and ThreeNow.

Our goal was to introduce audiences to the series online, grow a digital community around the show, and encourage viewers to follow the story as new episodes were released each week. An additional consideration was that the show would be going overseas to Australia once the series had launched in Aotearoa. Our content decisions and strategy had to consider both audiences discovering at different times. 

‍The challenge:

Launching a new television series means capturing attention quickly and talking directly to the target audiences. The series features 30% reo and would have wide appeal to Māori and tauiwi alike. The series also tackled several tough and sensitive topics like mental health, Māori displacement and terrorism. 

The campaign needed to:

• Build awareness for a brand-new drama series with 30% reo Māori 
• Establish the show’s social presence from scratch
• Grow audiences across Instagram, Facebook and TikTok
• Share key moments from the show that would resonate online
• Encourage audiences to tune in weekly as episodes aired
• Be sensitive to the themes and subject matter that the series opens up

With a short campaign window around the show’s release, content needed to create immediate impact and build momentum week by week.

‍Our role:

Social Good led the digital marketing and social media execution for the series, working alongside Three New Zealand to support the show’s launch and weekly episode releases.

While Three promoted the series across its own platforms, Social Good launched and managed the official Tangata Pai social accounts, publishing content directly from the show and building its dedicated online audience. We added behind the scenes content and more context than Three could. 

Our work included:

• Social media launch strategy 
• Launching and managing the show’s social media channels
• Identifying high-impact moments from episodes to share as clips
• Attending the launch event and filming vox pops and interviews of cast and audience 
• Creating teaser reels, behind-the-scenes content and contextual posts
• Publishing content directly from the show to build its digital presence
• Running targeted paid campaigns across TikTok and Meta
• Collaborating with cast, creators and partner organisations to extend reach
  

The aim was to ensure the digital campaign reflected the ngākau of the show while helping audiences discover and engage with the series as it aired. We wanted people to come back to the show and reflect on their favourite moments. 

We worked with the cast and shared some of their favourite moments too, including the stirring dance scene.  

The results:

The campaign generated strong reach and engagement across platforms, helping the show quickly find its audience online. 

Engagement peaked around the premiere and episode releases, demonstrating strong audience interest and momentum across the campaign. 

We provided depth to the show that simply could not be explained anywhere else, and this was received well. Publishing the ngeri written specifically for a highly emotional scene is a great example of this. 

We also created interest in our next audience, Australia, through our clip section and use of TikTok.   

A highlight post was our clip we created from Episode 1 featuring Miki, who is played by Jayden Daniels, which received 357.9k views on TikTok and was then used again with Netflix. 
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Another unexpected win was the feedback from people who felt “seen” through the portrayal of the mental health challenges on the show.  

‍What worked well:

Choosing the right moment
One carefully selected clip from the show delivered exceptional cut-through online, quickly becoming one of the strongest performing pieces of content from the campaign. People from Australia, the next audience, started asking when they could see it - this is exactly the result we wanted! 

Content that travelled beyond the campaign
That same clip was later shared by Netflix and has since generated over 25,000 engagements on Instagram alone, extending the reach of the show well beyond its original broadcast campaign.

Short-form storytelling
Short-form video clips were the strongest performing content across all platforms, helping audiences quickly connect with the characters, themes and emotional stakes of the series.

Collaboration
Working with popular cast, creators and partner organisations helped amplify the campaign and expand its reach through their audiences. 

‍The impact:

The campaign successfully introduced Tangata Pai to a wide digital audience and built meaningful engagement around the series and its themes.

By sharing the right moments at the right time, the campaign created momentum around the show and encouraged audiences to follow the story as it unfolded each week.

Following the success of the New Zealand release, the series has now launched on Netflix in Australia and New Zealand, opening the show to a significantly larger international audience.

Social Good is now supporting the Australian digital campaign, helping build awareness of the series on Netflix and continuing to grow its audience across the motu.