Dive Brief:

• Snapchat has announced the hiring of Google exec Rob Saliterman to run its political ad sales team. 
• The messaging app is hoping to grab political ad dollars in the upcoming presidential election—pitching access to a younger demographic to political campaigns. 
• Data like age and gender are still not available from Snapchat, but geo-targeting and "age-gating"—targeting users who are at least legal to vote at 18—could be utilized in political ads. 

Dive Insight: 

Snapchat's popularity with the often hard-to-motive younger demographics could appeal to presidential candidates. President Barack Obama's campaign—and subsequent time in office—has served as an example of a successful digitally focused campaign. The President's efforts on Twitter and mobile advertising arguably gave him a leg up on other candidates. Snapchat's new 10-second ads could serve as an effective way for political campaigns to insert themselves into the Discovery stories.