{"id":5888,"date":"2025-10-14T13:29:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T11:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ctakomunikacije.hr\/?p=5888"},"modified":"2025-11-11T14:57:46","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T13:57:46","slug":"gordan-turkovic-on-leading-election-campaigns-for-the-podcast-politicki-marketing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ctakomunikacije.hr\/en\/gordan-turkovic-on-leading-election-campaigns-for-the-podcast-politicki-marketing\/","title":{"rendered":"Gordan Turkovi\u0107 on leading election campaigns for the podcast Politi\u010dki Marketing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Our very own Gordan<\/a> was a guest on the podcast Politi\u010dki Marketing<\/em><\/a>, where he spoke with Marijan Pali\u0107 about how political campaigns are planned, led, and maintained between election cycles. They discussed his early projects and how he first gained experience with political campaigns back in 2012 in Serbia. It was there that he learned one of the key lessons: assumptions must always be tested on the ground, as the gap between perception and reality is often greater than we think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe led a campaign for a platform that brought together local officials from across Serbia. Interestingly, at the time, I was told that Boris Tadi\u0107 had firm control over the media scene. Compared to today\u2019s situation, that\u2019s not even a third,\u201d Gordan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, however, communication in Serbia is largely shaped by Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107, supported by an extensive network of online bots, while students remain the most resistant group – connected, aware, and far less susceptible to media manipulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStudents represent the purest form of protest. The protests against Milo\u0161evi\u0107 were led by students, which means the government has no one within the country to attack, and students don\u2019t fall into the same traps as their predecessors,\u201d he explained, adding that with the rise of social media, Vu\u010di\u0107\u2019s influence over public opinion and media control has lost much of its power in modern Serbian society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Changing the perception of the City of \u0160ibenik<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As one of his most recognized campaigns, which managed to change the perception of an entire city, Gordan highlights \u0160ibenik and its current mayor, \u017deljko Buri\u0107. Before Buri\u0107, \u0160ibenik had never had a mayor serve two terms, marking a historic milestone in the city\u2019s electoral history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0160ibenik\u2019s local elections served as an example of how to combine fieldwork, a call centre, and smart advertising. Gordan believes that it is important to keep communicating even when there is no campaign: \u201cOver the course of four years, continuous work was done to improve the City of \u0160ibenik so that the 2017 elections would be secured.\u201d Trust also proved to be a key factor. \u201cBuri\u0107 never restrained his communication advisers, which further contributed to his reputation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Puljak and the negative campaign<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The results of the elections in Split surprised many, but Gordan points out that this was a case of negative communication without a strong personal narrative, a strategy that quickly runs out of steam. Disciplined messaging and a clear plan favour those who remain calm and consistent, something that, according to Gordan, Puljak failed to practise, as the former mayor of Split ran the same predominantly negative campaign against Matijevi\u0107 and \u0160uta in both rounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such an approach to political campaigning has been seen before and is known as the \u201cattack dog\u201d tactic. The problem with this strategy is the absence of a positive narrative, which voters easily recognise and punish. \u0160uta and the HDZ ultimately won because of their calmer campaign, in contrast to the unrest within Centar and the SDP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What can we expect? <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Political parties will increasingly rely on social media, short-form video will become the standard, and collaborations with content creators will continue to gain importance. Private channels such as newsletters, WhatsApp, and local Facebook groups will also grow stronger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHDZ will remain in power, while SDP will face internal challenges because they lack a clearly defined and consistent communication flow. Mo\u017eemo! will encounter obstacles due to the absence of new faces on the political scene, which will be reflected in their results,\u201d predicts Gordan. He adds that parties such as Most will face the same issues as Mo\u017eemo!, which will ultimately benefit HDZ, as it continues to attract a large portion of their voters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In conclusion, given the inevitable changes in voter behaviour and communication trends, the only successful approach is adaptation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can watch the full podcast episode below: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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