Title: ELCA Ad Campaign Pilot Showed Positive Results ELCA NEWS SERVICE
April 1, 2008
ELCA Ad Campaign Pilot Showed Positive Results 08-035-FI
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Denver motorists saw billboards in September 2007 that displayed tools in the shape of a cross and conveyed a fact -- "8,400 homes repaired after Hurricane Katrina" -- and a message -- "God's Work. Our Hands." The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Rocky Mountain Synod took the lead in a pilot advertising campaign about the ELCA and what Lutherans are about in the world.
The campaign involved 61 ELCA congregations in the Boulder, Colo., and Denver vicinities. The congregations incorporated the ad's message into banners, bookmarks, church bulletins, postcards and posters to raise awareness of the churches and inspire their members to invite others to church.
ELCA Communication Services developed the ad campaign, and funding help from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans made the one-month pilot possible. The ads ran in local newspapers, online, and on billboards, buses and bus shelters.
"Research before and after the pilot project confirmed that we had the right message and affirmed our choice of target audience," said Kristi S. Bangert, executive director, ELCA Communication Services.
"As a result of this initiative we hoped that members of the ELCA would be better equipped to own and tell this church's story, the story of what God is doing in us and through us for the sake of the world. We also hoped to see an increase in recognition of this church's name and its graphic identity. In just one short month we saw positive gains in both instances," Bangert said.
Using a sample of area ELCA members, Leo J. Shapiro and Associates conducted 400 interviews Aug. 20-27, 2007, to establish a "benchmark" of awareness, perceptions and behaviors before the campaign. It conducted 400 interviews Oct. 1-8, 2007, and another 150 interviews Nov. 6-11, 2007, to measure the impact of the advertising after the campaign. Respondents participated in only one part of the study.
Responses were measured by "unaided awareness" -- asking open-ended questions -- and "aided awareness" -- asking specific questions about the advertising.
The research indicated an increase in awareness of ELCA advertising. Unaided awareness rose from 9 percent to 20 percent, with billboards and church banners mentioned more than any other media.
Respondents were more likely after the campaign to identify themselves as ELCA members unaided, from 6 percent to 10 percent, rather than simply "Lutheran."
The proportion of respondents who said they were "extremely familiar" with the ELCA increased from 5 percent to 12 percent. The research said that increase was largely a shift of respondents from "very familiar" to "extremely familiar."
Respondents were asked how strongly they agreed or disagreed with the statement: "It is important to be a member of a congregation affiliated with the ELCA." Using a scale from 1 (least agree) to 9 (most agree), the average rating rose from 5.80 before the ad campaign to 6.06 afterward.
Questions rating the ELCA's and the congregation's roles in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ showed slight drops from before to after the campaign.
The research indicated an increase in church attendance, from 35 percent to 45 percent the previous month, but the shift could not be attributed to the advertising campaign.
The proportion of respondents who visited the ELCA Web site increased from 7 percent to 12 percent after the advertising campaign.
Six print ads, four outdoor ads and supporting materials were at http://www.ELCA.org/love/ on the ELCA Web site.
"How do we ever measure the exact impact of seeds that are sown?" asked the Rev. Kent A. Mueller, director for administration and communication, ELCA Rocky Mountain Synod, Denver. "I have no doubt that more people in metro Denver have heard of the ELCA than before the campaign started, but I did not expect any kind of change in church attendance as a result," he said.
Mueller said the campaign's themes and tagline were well received by ELCA members. "The congregations that benefited the most were the ones that invested themselves in the campaign and brought it home into their local context. In other words, the messages of the broader campaign were the catalyst for the local congregations to take a close look at their own hospitality, welcoming and witness," he said.
"Next steps for the ad initiative include development of promotional television spots to reinforce the print and billboard messages, and vigorous fund raising efforts to help make the ad program available throughout the ELCA," Bangert said.
"We know it will take a considerable investment to make this ad initiative truly effective, whether working in small well-defined market areas or mounting a nationwide campaign. Whatever the case, we know that collaborative work among congregations, synods and the churchwide organization is critical to the ad initiative's success," Bangert said. -- -- --
A video report on the ELCA ad campaign is at
http://www.ELCA.org/news/video.html on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog