wfn.org | Plans Begin for Media Campaign

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS 97" by SUSAN PEEK on April 15, 1997 at 14:24
Eastern, about DAILY NEWS RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (401
notes).

Note 399 by UMNS on Oct. 21, 1997 at 16:34 Eastern (5493 characters).

CONTACT: Thomas S. McAnally			  587(10-71B){399}
         Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470	Oct. 21, 1997

United Methodist Communications
planning image campaign for church

	NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) –- Plans for a TV spot campaign to portray a
"positive image of the United Methodist Church, its beliefs, its actions and
its people" were set in motion here Oct. 17 by the governing body of United
Methodist Communications (UMCom).
	Staff members of the Nashville-based agency were asked to study the need and
cost for a national media campaign and submit a detailed plan of action to the
Commission on Communication at its fall, 1998 meeting.
	Kimberly Pace, Hattiesburg, Miss., chairwoman of a task force to which the
project was assigned, said efforts would be made to include general agencies,
annual conferences, caucuses and others in determining what can be produced to
reflect the mission and ministry of the church effectively. The campaign will
include television, radio and print ads.
	The media campaign is expected to go as a proposed initiative to the 2000
General Conference, top legislative body of the denomination, which approves
churchwide programs and funding for four-year periods.  Major expenditures
will be needed to pay for placement of the spots since they will be
promotional in nature and won’t be eligible for free public service showing.
	Despite the high cost of using television, the Rev. Judy Weidman, UMCom staff
executive, said "It is our obligation to give the church the opportunity to
say yes or no."
	Three sample spots developed for UMCom by an Indianapolis advertising,
marketing and public relations firm were shown during the commission meeting.
Member Ronald Pearson said the spots were developed to "put our light on top
of the bushel."
	Objectives of the spots, being placed in several annual conferences, are to:
· raise positive awareness of the United Methodist Church among people who
have basic Christian values but no strong church attachment;
· raise positive awareness of the church among lapsed members leading to a
renewed interest in involvement;
· reinforce present members’ decision to be an active part of the church,
instill a new sense of mission and strengthen support for the church’s
ministries.
	Pearson said the overall strategy is one of "retain and gain." The spots,
shown to the Council of Bishops and other groups across the church, drive home
the point that "It’s not who goes to our church but where our church goes." 
Another theme of the spots is United Methodists are "making sure that people
without a prayer have one."
	Two or three additional spots will be produced by UMCom in 1998, according to
Wil Bane, head of UMCom’s Public Media Division.
	Pearson detailed what would be required to place spots on several cable
channels prior to Easter, late August to October and six weeks before
Christmas.
	Cost to UMCom for a media campaign would be more than $8 million annually. 
It is expected that annual conferences and local churches would supplement the
campaign by purchasing additional time and using radio and print ads.
	Awareness of The Episcopal Church jumped significantly following the showing
of television ads in 14 cities, according to Pearson. In San Diego, for
instance, where 30-second spots ran on 5 broadcast stations and 13 cable
outlets, awareness of the church jumped from 19.1 to 39.2 percent of 400
respondents surveyed.  The number of respondents inclined to visit an
Episcopal Church jumped from 2.5 to 15.2 percent.
	"We are at a point where most people agree we need to define who we are and
what we stand for to a new generation," said  Weidman, UMCom staff executive. 
"TV spots are one way to do that for a media culture."
	Commissioners, after spending a major portion of their three-day meeting
discussing the marginalized, authorized a study group of staff and members to
explore the topic further and to propose at their next meeting a plan for how
marginalized individuals can be helped to gain access to the media.
	Among speakers was Sandy Close, executive editor of the Pacific News Service
in San Francisco, described as "one who spends most of her time devising new
ways to explore the forces that shape the lives of the people on the margins
of society." 
Pointing to the loss of the "relational texture" of America, she said the
large enrollment at schools of communications illustrates a hunger among young
people to restore a social connection.
Others who spoke on marginalization were commission member Larry Hollon,
Stroud, Okla.; Bishop Kenneth Carder of Nashville, and Ruben Martinez, a
U.S.-Mexico correspondent for the Pacific News Service and co-host of PBS
affiliate KCET-TV’s series on politics and culture, "Life and Times." 
In other action the 26-member commission, chaired by Bishop Sharon Rader of
Wisconsin,: 	
· heard an update on research being done on "religion on the internet" by Ken
Bedell of St. Louis, with support from the Lilly Endowment in Indianapolis;
· heard a report from a  new Foundation for United Methodist Communications
created by the commission last fall (see separate story);
· elected senior staff including new Associate General Secretary Steve
Horswill-Johnston, director of a new team resourcing annual conferences of the
church;
· approved a $14.2 million budget for 1998 including $750,000 toward the cost
of producing "News Odyssey," weekly news program of the Odyssey Network.
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