Grbeša: Things can be changed through the campaign

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Zagreb, 9th of February –"If the campaign is authentic, creative and strategically properly set up and with an excellently defined message, things can be changed with it", said Marijana Grbeša from the Faculty of political sciences, University of Zagreb on the Academy's seminar about political marketing for the local elections. The seminar was held under sponsorship of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for freedom.

 

In the introductory part of her lecture on creating an election strategy, Grbeša said that it is important to follow all eight steps in order to create a strategy for a modern campaign. The process begins with contextual analysis, the definition of the goal, the market analysis, and furthermore, the target group must be determined, the image of the candidate/party, the general tone and type of the campaign and lastly, the definition of the campaign subjects.

 

"Market analysis is the alpha and omega of every political campaign, there can be no good campaign without research. There are too many variables in a campaign for it to be done by rote. Market analysis is therefore the first step, and the message definition is the final result of all the other steps. Surveys are exceptionally important with market analysis, which begs the question of whether the media presenentation of surveys can influence voters preference at all?", said Grbeša.

Continuing, she said that public opinion research can tell us who to speak to in the campaign, which is so-called market segmentation. It is exactly for this reason that public opinion research is exceptionally important for the local elections and touchy subjects of every individual community, because we are able to know whom we are speaking to and who our potential voters are.

"There can be no good campaign without research. The strategy must be concrete, and the message short and clear", said Grbeša in conclusion of the first part of her lecture.

In the second part, the professor spoke about the organisation of the electoral headquarters and mobilisational activities in the campaign. She went into greater detail on communication and candidate coordination with the leader of the electoral headquarters and the PR office, noting that organisational matters aren't the job of the candidate. His job is perception.

"The important thing in a field campaign is the message which must be repeated constantly and consistently, whereas on the other hand the best model for spreading the message through the local media must be found, on the field as well as word of mouth", she noted.

The field campaign enables two-way communication with voters, and it encompasses the engagement of members and symphatizers. We must also take care in whom we speak to as well as know how to motivate and include members, because that is exactly the form that gives a new dimension to the campaign.

"Volunteers are the key to success. Hire volunteers. They are an important channel of message propagation, include them into social networks, let them help you in the on-line campaign", highlighted Grubeša.

She continued on the subject of a personalized campaign "Door-to-door", as well as "Get out the vote" campaign for which she noted that it is mandatory and that it is used for field mobilization exclusively seven days before the election. She highlighted creativity in this context and related it to the campaign, that is the transfer of identification with dignitaries from the world of pop culture and sport. She highlighted social networks in the whole story, especially the use of YouTube channels.

Speaking about communication with the media and how to reach voters with our message, she highlighted a series of points that require attention and repeated the importance of preparation several times.

"If you are competing in the media you can always send your message, even though the reporter doesn't ask you, as far as a TV performance goes, both verbal and non-verbal communication are important", highlighted Marijana Grbeša.

Speaking about local portals, she noted that it is always good to service them with good photographs.

"A photography is a headline unto itself, a photography is a story", stated the professor.

On the subject of communication with the media she concluded that the media functions in a way such that certain subjects are placed in certain frameworks.

At the end of the lecture a workshop on the subject of a short plan for a candidate/party on the local elections in a city or municipality was carried out. The workshop was carried out on the ground of a "Get out the vote" campaign. The moderator split the attendees into groups with a task that each defines an activity, the channels for its message and creative solutions. She analysed everything at the end, with high praise for our attendees.

The seminar was organised in cooperation of the Academy's 1st and 4th Departments sponsored by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for freedom, and it was also attended by presidents and secretaries of regional alliances, county organisation presidents and Academy teachers.