'Tis the Season...

'Twas election season and all through the nation
Not a person was in agreement in any vocation.
The stocks were plummeting without a care,
In hopes that some candidate could soon repair...

Yes, that's right it's that time of year again, election season. Now, normally I wouldn't give time or energy to discuss politics in a forum such as this, but seeing as something like this only comes around once every four years, I figured I'd give it a go.

I don't know about you, but, as a marketer, I am infuriated by political ads. They are filled with half-truths, whole lies, and negative content that in the business world would be advertising suicide. Still, today's trends have opened up new advertising mediums that politicians are utilizing to try to get a leg up in this election.

Both candidates are using web marketing and newer marketing technologies to try to reach a new generation of voters. Obama has been doing a particularly good job of this according to the L.A. Times. He sent out a text message to 2.9 million people announcing his running mate Joe Biden. With his large advertising budget, he has also led much of the spending online especially on display ads. McCain, however, has invested very heavily in search engine ads such as Google Adwords. Another interesting trend is the use of social networking sites. Although Obama is the clear leader on Facebook, McCain holds the advantage on Linked In. Obama and McCain have adopted differing strategies for web advertising, and it will be interesting to see how it all plays out in November, and in future elections.