An election broadcast for the Facebook generation
Labour's personalised message on cancer proved controversial over the weekend, but an even more closely focused bit of marketing hit my son Harry's inbox this morning.
It's a Party Election Broadcast - full moving pictures with music and voiceover - that's addressed directly to him.
"Hello Harry..." says the Voice, "...as a student, who's interested in finding a job..."
Hang on. How did that happen?
This is a totally seamless, very smart video and it's clear from the word go that it's been put together by someone with a pretty clear idea of what young Harry is up to.
It's not from one of the big three parties, this has been produced by the England and Wales Green Party who've used Glue, one of the smartest London ad agencies, to produce a range of interactive material.
If you go to this site you can see how it works. One of Harry's friends has filled in details about him, and the video is then adapted to fit.
It relies on people being prepared to make that sort of personal data available to the party. Which they will only do if they're confident that it will be well received.
Apart from the political message, for the Facebook generation that means it has to have the ring of geek confidence - no bugs, not fiddly, not cranky.
Only if the result is something people really want to pass on do you get that ultimate online accolade - it goes viral.
Get personalisation wrong and the message is simple spam. It's a fine line.
Welcome to the hustings! I'm Peter Henley, the BBC's political reporter in the south of England. From parish councils in Sussex, to European politics in Oxford, this is the blog for you. 
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