Audience first, always: Communication lessons from the 2025 federal election campaign

As the dust settles on an historic 2025 federal election campaign, there are a number of clear strategic communication lessons that all organisations can take from Labor’s win, and the Coalition’s historic loss.

1/ The influence of ‘new media’ and social media is growing

The 2025 election will be remembered for the election where podcasters, YouTubers, new and social media outlets and influencers formed a central part of each party’s communication strategy. We were given a hint of what was to come after Labor invited a number of social influencers, YouTubers and influencers to attend and report on the Budget in March.

Throughout the campaign the Prime Minister focused heavily on appearing on new media outlets such as The Daily Aus, Abbie Chatfield’s It's A Lot podcast, the Rest is Politics podcast, Cheek Media’s The Big Small Talk Podcast, daily news podcast The Squiz, Mark Bouris’ Straight Talk Podcast as well as sport focused podcasts such as Willow Talk. While Peter Dutton also appeared on Sam Fricker’s Diving Deep podcast and Mark Bouris’ Straight talk podcast.

The focus on new media and podcast interviews follows Donald Trump’s successful strategy of appearing on podcasts such as the Joe Rogan Experience during the US election campaign.

While politicians were busy engaging with new media outlets and influencers, the majority of Australia’s traditional media outlets used their pre-election editorials to endorse the Coalition. The electorate had other ideas and delivered a resounding victory to Labor.

With Millennials and Gen Z voters now the largest voting bloc in Australia, and this audience increasingly consuming both traditional and new media sources, it’s clear all organisations must consider engaging with new media outlets if they want to effectively reach and influence their audiences.

2/ Tailor your message to your audience – Australia isn’t America

The first rule of international communications is to tailor your message to your market and to your audience. It’s clear the Coalition, encouraged by Donald Trump’s victory in the US, relied on a strategy of importing messaging and tactics from the US – the strategy failed spectacularly.

From mimicking Elon Musk’s DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) by appointing Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price as the Shadow Minister for Government Efficiency to importing Trumpian policies, language and culture wars around migration, energy, “woke school curriculums”, the media, and the public service – the Coalition failed to tailor their approach and their messaging to Australia and ultimately paid the price at the ballot box.

3/ Strategic planning (and disciplined execution) is crucial

Did the Coalition have a strategy for the 2025 election? If they did, it was difficult to understand what it was other than to ape Donald Trump’s successful Presidential campaign. One of the Liberal Party’s major cost of living measures was the proposed temporary cut to the fuel excise – which voters saw through, despite Peter Dutton’s 17 photo opps at petrol stations. While the Coalition announced funding for a Melbourne airport transport link at a winery on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula – a location that had nothing to do with the funding announcement.

Meanwhile, Labor had a clear strategic focus on the cost of living and linked it to their strength on health policy. The Prime Minister had a laser-like focus on both cost of living and health throughout the campaign – brandishing his Medicare card almost daily and resolutely remaining on message. This strategic focus, and ability to stick to the plan helped Labor cut through with audiences that are not ‘political junkies’ and may have only tuned in late in the campaign.

4/ Good communication is grounded in substance – the detail is critical

As the campaign wore on it became clear Peter Dutton and his team were unable to answer basic questions about their policies. For example, the Coalition was unable to answer questions on how their proposed domestic gas reservation would work, while the media has since reported modelling on the policy was being developed after the policy was announced.

There were also multiple policy backflips, in particular their attack on the public service being able to work from home, and the how they were going to reduce the size of the public service workforce.

This ambiguity and inability to answer basic questions led to a loss of confidence in the electorate that the Coalition was ready for government.

Not only is this an indictment on the policy work performed by the Coalition, but it is also an indictment on the Coalition’s media advisors and team. Why was Peter Dutton not better prepared to answer these questions before he fronted the media?

The key lesson here is that good communication is grounded in substance. If you can’t answer basic questions about your product, service, research or initiative – you’re not ready to communicate.

5/ Positive, future focused messages often trump negativity

The Coalition’s campaign slogan ‘Get Australia Back on Track’ was negative in its framing and grounded in a past that the key voting bloc (Millennials and Gen Z) could not relate to. This negativity generates headlines and clicks, but clearly didn’t resonate with enough younger voters.

In contrast Labor’s slogan ‘Building Australia’s Future’ was positive and future-focused with supportive messaging more tangible for Millennials and Gen Z in particular.

This contrast between visions for the country was obvious throughout the campaign, with Peter Dutton relying on Scott Morrison era policies (the fuel excise cut and the temporary tax offset) while referring to the Howard Government as his benchmark for good government.

The problem with this strategy is the largest cohort of voters (Millennials and Gen Z) would have very little recollection of the Howard years and are more likely to have been influenced by the Scott Morrison Prime Ministership. The Morrison years were characterised by climate catastrophes such as the Black Summer bushfires, the COVID pandemic and a loss in trust in politics. Is this really the future that young voters want to revisit? Australians delivered their message at the ballot box – relatable, optimistic and future-focused messaging clearly resonated more than negativity and nostalgia.

The clear communication lesson from this election: trust and influence are earned through more than slogans and ‘clever’ tactics. It takes substance and strategic focus, and must be grounded in the needs and priorities of the people you're speaking to.

Credit The Australian Financial Review for blog thumbnail image