4 lessons from Zohran Mamdani's viral campaign

I (like many of you, I suspect) have spent the last week becoming deeply obsessed with Zohran Mamdani, the recent winner of New York City’s mayoral primary.

For those not deep in the weeds of American politics, he beat out establishment candidate (and former NY Governor) Andrew Cuomo to become the Democratic candidate for mayor. And because NYC is a Democratic stronghold - even accounting for some Trump gains in 2024 - he will now be the favourite to win on November 4.

It’s hard to overstate how remarkable this victory is. Cuomo spent around $25 million across the campaign, flooding the city with ads that painted his opponent as a “radical” and “dangerous”. It was a textbook political campaign: raise money, test a message, run ads (mostly on TV).

Focussed instead on vertical video and a truly digital first approach, Mamdani proved, above all, that attention can no longer just be bought, it has to be earned.

So let’s break down what we can learn from his campaign…