Sen.Barack Obama may have a pretty nice lead going in the polls right now,but with less than a month to go, he’s not looking to run out the clockjust yet. In fact, his latest move shows he’s looking to run up thescore–and he hopes online gamers are, too.

Video game company Electronic Arts has confirmed that the Obamacampaign has purchased advertising space in several of its most populargames for the Xbox, including “Madden NFL 09.” The ads appear asbillboards or stadium signs and are downloaded when players in keybattleground states log in to play the games online. Of course, thisisn’t a route that the average small-business owner can afford to take,but the lessons to be learned are as obvious as some of John Madden’scolor commentary.

Stay Ahead of the Curve
Election season never fails to bring us cool new marketing strategies.This is a perfect example. And it’s as much about your image as it isabout the message you choose to put out there. If you’re portrayingyourself as a business on the cutting edge, your marketing shouldreflect that.

Be Laser-Focused
Sometimes winning an election is all about turnout. Obama will bedepending largely on younger voters. EA’s customers? They’re males, age18-34. If he can get them off the couch to vote, he’ll be in greatshape. If you can get your target market fired up, you’re on the righttrack as well.

Be Nimble and Adaptable
The coolest thing about this form of advertising (besides the wholevideo game thing) is that it could presumably be changed to fitwhatever’s going on in the campaign on a given day. You can do the samething for your business with blogs, social networking sites and otherforms of Web 2.0 marketing. Connect with your market by making themcome back to see what happens next.