Political communication rarely stays within the boundaries of politics – when done right, it evolves into content that shapes public discourse and dominates the digital space. One such example comes from the New York mayoral campaign, whose communication strategies will be explored in more detail at the Dani komunikacija festival in Rovinj.
This year’s edition of the festival, taking place from May 7 to 10, brings together experts who are actively redefining how campaigns, messages, and public conversations are created today. Among them is Dora Pekeč, a communications expert and spokesperson for the Office of the Mayor of New York, who played a key role in the Zohran for NYC campaign – one of the most followed and widely discussed political campaigns in contemporary U.S. politics.
At a time when marketing shapes perception, political communication goes a step further – it directly influences social reality. It is precisely at this intersection of strategy, narrative, and public impact that Pekeč has built her career. At just 25, she became the spokesperson for Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign, contributing to a communication strategy that successfully translated complex issues such as housing, public transportation, and cost of living into clear and engaging messages that mobilized voters in one of the most dynamic and demanding political environments in the world.
Pekeč’s professional path has been shaped between the United States and Croatia, with her education at Duke University. She gained experience across a range of political campaigns at both national and local levels in the United States – from congressional races and the Illinois gubernatorial re-election campaign to a winning Chicago City Council campaign, as well as various projects within the Democratic Party. These are environments where speed of response, precision of messaging, and understanding of the media cycle are critical.
The New York campaign quickly moved beyond a local context and became a global reference point for political communication in the digital era. Its visuals, messaging, and tactics have been analyzed worldwide, by journalists, brand strategists, designers, and communication professionals, all seeking to understand how political content can become viral and dominate online conversations.
At Dani komunikacija, Pekeč will offer a behind-the-scenes look at this campaign – from shaping messages and managing narrative to crafting statements that make headlines in a time when every word has the potential to go viral. Following the talk, the audience will have the opportunity to join a discussion moderated by Kristina Laco of the Communications Office Colić, Laco and Partners.
On the main stage, Pekeč will be joined by Jürgen Schmidhuber, a pioneering figure in modern artificial intelligence; Julie Supan, a leading brand strategist behind YouTube, Airbnb, Dropbox, Reddit, and Discord; Mark Pollard, one of today’s most influential strategists; Chris Do, a creative mentor known for redefining how creatives position and price their work; Steve Keller, an expert in sonic branding; Alex Cattoni, founder of The Copy Posse community with over half a million marketing professionals; Mike Follette, a pioneer in attention measurement; and Neil Patel, a digital marketing and growth expert – further reinforcing Dani komunikacija as a meeting point for ideas that shape the industry long term.
This year, Dani komunikacija once again brings together global perspectives and practical knowledge, positioning Rovinj as a central hub for an industry that seeks more than just inspiration. More information is available at www.danikomunikacija.com.
