MRCI's research is used by all types of traders. MRCI's seasonal trading strategies last from no less than one week in duration to no more than three months, with most between two weeks and two months.  Thus, they tend to be ideal for swing traders with a medium-term horizon.  Seasonal patterns may help swing traders with a medium to longer-term view, for they are designed to help identify when an annual low and an annual high tend to occur.  After all, seasonal patterns are simply annual cycles; and swing traders attempt to capture cyclic rises and declines.  Seasonal strategies look to buy/sell not only those annual lows/highs but also corrective lows/highs within ongoing seasonal trends.  Thus, they try to capture lesser cycles --- swings! --- within a larger cycle.

Is it better to use futures or options to initiate your spread ideas?

All research conducted by MRCI is based on futures.  Because we do not perform similar research on options, I cannot answer your question with any quantifiable degree of certainty.
However, it would seem logical that one could devise viable option strategies to take advantage of seasonal spread research --- as long as one takes into account such things as options expiring earlier than some strategies exit, etc.