Facebook, Twitter and YouTube… not what first springs to mind when you think about politics. But over the last few years, more and more politicians have started using the internet as a tool to drum up political support.

When the Presidential elections in the US got under way in 2008, Democratic candidate Barack Obama used the internet to great effect to raise funds and gain supporters in his race to be President. His success has seen UK politicians follow suit and with the current general election, UK political parties have been pushing their online activities more than ever. Below are some examples of what they’ve been up to:

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As marketers we are used to marketing products or services to create sales (i.e. profit-making) Public Sector Marketing is about Social Marketing and public engagement (i.e.non-profit), bringing about specific behavioural goals relevant to the public good and, as such, needs a different and more longer term approach and way of measuring. The Department of Health’s Change for Life campaign is a good example of this.

Public Sector marketing started life during the Second World War and helped get important messages out to the masses. While that objective hasn’t changed essentially; we probably all remember the flyers that went out to every single household in the country after the July 7^th bombings telling us all to be vigilant and how to spot a terrorist; or the recent national swine flu campaign; the type of messages and the ways they are delivered have changed substantially as channels have proliferated and audiences fragmented over the years, to a lot of campaigns now being delivered via digital and social media methods.

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The Swinton Mystery Tipper campaign created by Red C has received two nominations at the prestigious Institute of Sales Promotion (ISP) Awards. The ISP Awards honour the most creative and effective campaigns promoting sales, or changing behaviour, across all media channels.

The Awards culminate in a spectacular ceremony at the London Hilton, Park Lane, on 4th June 2009. Fingers crossed we’ll follow up our Gold and Silver DMA Awards in style!

The Swinton Mystery Tipper campaign, which has seen thousands of UK taxis donning the Mystery Tipper sticker in the hope of winning a £1,000 tip, has achieved spectacular results for Swinton’s Taxi Division.

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