From my perspective, only a few campaign managers seems to understand marketing. With the full media blitz on, I've noticed the ads seem to run together-you can't tell where one ends and other other starts. There is little differention. All of the candidates seem to be the same. Two ad campaigns that I have found to be effective are both for candidates for the United States Senate for Maryland. The first is from John Rales, a democrat, and the other is from Michael Steele, a republican.
Rales, a lawyer, is a political newcomer who has had success building an investment business and later a foundation (see http://www.ralesforsenate.org/ . I like Rales' direct common sense approach in his television ads. Each ad has a clear, direct message focusing on a campaign issue. He quickly, and clearly identifies an issue and provides an overview of his approach or plan. He comes across as credible, likable, and believable. Unfortunately, Rales is currently tracking at 6% in the race for the Demorcratic nomination. To view his ads visit: http://www.ralesforsenate.org/jr_multimedia.html
Steele is currently Lieutenant Governor for Maryland. Steele is an afirican american Repulican in an overwhelmingly demorcratic state. Steele has the luxury of not having any serious
competition in the Republican primary, so he has been able to delay his media blitz for the General Election Campaign. Steele's ads present him as a bright, confident, and articulate person. The latest ad touts Steele as a "Different Kind of Senator" (I wonder if they are sending any royalties to Saturn for their early 90's ad campaign). To view Steele's ads visit: http://www.steeleformaryland.com/videos.htmTo date, the local ad campaigns have focused on the candidates and not not turned negative yet, but I'm sure that is comining, particularly in the O'Malley-Erhlich race for Governor.
