The Mormon church has been doing an incredible job of marketing their beliefs with a “And I’m a Mormon” campaign via video, social media, and a very consistent brand image on the web.
I’ve been very impressed with their efforts and I think the Church at large could learn a thing or two on how the Mormon’s share their beliefs, especially online.
The videos are especially well done.
Although I do not personally agree with their perspective and religion I can appreciate the way they share their message online.
Thoughts?
Greg says
Agree. I’m quite impressed with the mass media dollars they’ve put behind the campaign. I’ve seen the commercial spots on network TV, and they have a large billboard north of Minneapolis. Those aren’t cheap, even at nonprofit rates. Personally, I would rather have my tithes go to grassroots community building rather than mass mainstream messaging programs nationally.
Karsten says
Great execution, poor theology. Believers can learn a lot from other religions in their execution of spreading their beliefs. I’m all for innovation, but I don’t want the Gospel to be kicked out of the spotlight and our methods for spreading the Gospel become the main attraction.
Something to think about.
Greg says
Good post. Agree on all accounts. What I was most impressed/surprised is the amount of mass media investment they must have made. I’ve seen the spots air on broadcast TV, and there’s a billboard north of Minneapolis. Those aren’t cheap, even at the nonprofit rate.
Personally, I’m glad my tithes don’t go to giant mainstream media channels and instead are used for the local body and grassroots.
Daniel Decker says
While I too don’t subscribe to the Mormom beliefs, I do greatly appreciate how well they have executed their campaign. What they have done is tell a story… A story that is about people that others can relate to. Not only that, they have aired the commercials on primetime TV and radio which really brought them reach that served as a catalyst for awareness.
The church needs to do a better job at telling stories… Stories of changed lives and of people. Our story is His story.
Ranjuro says
I come from a non-believer perspective and, well, I hate to break it to you, but the problem facing the marketing of religion is not how nice the commercials are, it’s the fact that there is nothing compelling to market if somebody doesn’t already believe. Face it, the only reason people believe stories about talking animals, resurrections, miracles, and invisible spirits is that they were taught to believe those things when they were young and impressionable. You aren’t going to put together a nice website, some well produced videos, and then convince people that the Bible is supernatural and “He is risen”. It’s just not something you can market in that way because everybody who is old enough to pay attention to that kind of marketing is either already a believer in religion, or they never will be. You have to indoctrinate children for that kind of thing, it’s the only thing that consistently works. I suppose that perhaps you can get previously indoctrinated children from other theological backgrounds to leave their churches and join yours, but that seems a bit pointless to me…
Just the perspective of somebody outside the religion bubble…
Ranjuro
dewde says
Ranjuro:
“You aren’t going to put together a nice website, some well produced videos, and then convince people that the Bible is supernatural and ‘He is risen'”
You are spot on dude.
“You have to indoctrinate children for that kind of thing, it’s the only thing that consistently works.”
There are exceptions to this rule of course. Myself being one. I came to believe in the God + Jesus combo pack as an adult, following a decade of Atheism. I wouldn’t characterize my childhood as “indoctrination” either. I find out my parents considered themselves Christians when I told them I was an Atheist. Boy was I surprised.
Thanks for stopping by, your perspective is appreciated.
peace | dewde
Tom says
“I come from a non-believer perspective and, well, I hate to break it to you, but the problem facing the marketing of religion is not how nice the commercials are, it’s the fact that there is nothing compelling to market if somebody doesn’t already believe.”
Exactly. I agree with you.
As someone that is a Christian, I can tell you that the majority of conversations I’ve had regarding faith have nothing to do with whether or not the Gospel is the truth or whether or not Jesus is a real historical figure.
Instead, most of the conversations I’ve had are about having a compelling reason for believing that a God exists at all. If you can’t provide adequate justifications for that belief, then talking about Jesus is kind of pointless, I think.
Of course, packaging up an argument for a supernatural being who responsible for setting the entire universe in motion is going to be challenging for any marketing department (which is why some people dedicate their entire lives to studying this stuff).
At any rate, I definitely dig your thoughts – thanks for sharing them.
Kyle Reed says
It gets me every time.
but you are right, very well done and put together. Impressive really.