intro to pr 235: case

8/12/2019 Intro to PR 235: Case

1/5

Probert, 1

Stephanie ProbertCase Analysis

Im a MormonDescription

With the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints receivin unprece!ente! me!ia

attention" their !epartment of me!ia relations foun! a !esperate nee! amon the public forfactual information# Primary research con!ucte! by the church foun! that over half ofAmericans $no% little to nothin about the reliion &Da!e" '())" para#)*+# ,he church hasaine! attention from ,he oo$ of Mormon becomin the most .mmy a%ar!e! play onroa!%ay" polyamous lea!er Warren Jeffs bein imprisone!" ,he ,%iliht Saa becomin abest seller" series such as i Love an! Sister Wives becomin sensations an! t%o members ofthe church runnin for presi!ent of the /nite! States# When people lac$ information they turn tounreliable sources such as the me!ia an! peers %ho often are misinforme! or biase!# ,his isevi!ent in recent polls fin!in that three-fourths of Protestant pastors in America believeMormons are not Christians &Da!e" '())" para# 0+# ,he church reconi1e! an opportunity forpositive me!ia relations to e!ucate the public an! clear the church of social stimas#

,he church has pro!uce! campains since the )2*(s" but unli$e previous campains" theIm a Mormon campain !oes not focus on theoloy or promotion of families &Coffman" '())"para# )0+# It allo%s people of all faiths to et to $no% a member of the LDS faith on personallevel by receivin a limpse into their life# ,he campain focuses on 3non stereotypical4members of the faith to et ri! of stimas that people have of Mormons# It allo%s intereste!people to see li$able" uni5ue an! nontra!itional LDS members to inform the %orl! that they are3normal4 an! relatable# ,he oal to overcome the perception problems starte! %ith LDS me!iarelations hirin t%o of the biest names in a!vertisin" 6ilvy7 Mather an! 8all7 Partners tofin! out e9actly %hat Americans thin$ of the church# ,hrouh use of surveys an! focus roupsthe church foun! that Americans %ere usin a!:ectives such as 3se9ist"4 3cultish"4 3anti-ay"43secretive4 an! 3pushy4 to !escribe the Mormon Church# &;oo!stein" '())" para# '#+ ,he

research also foun! that the most common misconception about the LDS reliion is that it is notChristian# ,he church ha!


2/5

Probert, 2

;oals an! 6b:ectives,he oal of the Im a Mormon campain is to reverse neative stereotypes an! create a

positive environment for the church to ro%# 6ne of the many ob:ectives is to sho%investiators that members are uni5ue" interestin" relatable an! normal# Also" to reverse theneative stereotypes that people commonly associate %ith the Mormon church such as

polyamy" racism" an! self-rihteousness# Another ob:ective is to create an un!erstan!in thatthe LDS church is in!ee! Christian# ,he campain is to allo% people to see Mormons for %hothey actually are" not %hat people say about them# ,he campain aims to ma$e fin!ininformation easy to those intereste!" an! meet people %hom one coul! tal$ to to et more help#Another ob:ective is to enae both members an! nonmembers in !iscussion about the church toovercome common misconceptions# ,he focus %as more so to e!ucate an! persua!e people tohave better feelins to%ar! the church than to convert people# ,he church %ants nonmembersto reali1e that some of their neihbors are members an! they can ai! them in their informationsee$in#ey Publics

6nce the me!ia relation practitioners ha! establishe! the oals an! ob:ectives of the

campain" they ha! to pinpoint its $ey publics# ,he television a!s %ere aire! almost >(("(((times in the '()) alone" so they ha! to !eci!e to %ho they %ante! to %atch their messae &Dillif"'()'" para#)B+# ,he $ey publics i!entifie! are conservative" mi!!le-income" %or$in classfamilies" members throuh out the country" e9istin members of the church" youn conservativea!ults" an! ?e% @or$ City !%ellers#

Conservative" Mi!!le-Income" Wor$in Class amiliesecause a ma:ority of LDS people vote =epublican an! live a conservative lifestyle"

naturally the campain tarete! people %ith those similar values# 6ne a! featurin ?orman,ol$" a physics professor at an!erbilt /niversity" lover of music an! ran!father of )*ran!chil!ren" %as aire! !urin sho%s such as in of Eueens" Wheel of ortune an! ,he Dr#61 Sho%# ,he interestin" yet relatable characters messae %as aire! on December '*th runninB) times in varyin cities &;illette" '())" para# '+# ,hese channels !ra% a conservative cro%!"airin on basic cable such as CS an! an! ?C# ,hese sho%s have liht hearte! themes an!eneral ratins as oppose! to choosin a more controversial channel such as M,# ,hey aretypically aire! in the late afternoon" %hich !ra%s a %or$in cro%! an! !ont have content that%oul! be inappropriate for chil!ren" %hich %e can conclu!e tarets families#

,he campain bean in states that typically vote =epublican throuh the channel of massme!ia# ,hese states inclu!e Colora!o" ;eoria" Ari1ona" ,e9as an! ?ebras$a &;illette" '())"para# '+# ecause the campain focuses more on spar$in an interest than convertin people" thetarete! au!ience is one that alrea!y has alinin beliefs an! vie%s#

6ne of the main tactics is the %ebsite %here more than B("((( members have poste!profiles &Draper" '())" para# F+# 6f the numerous profiles on Mormon#or" a vast ma:ority arebet%een the aes of B(-


3/5

Probert, 3

,his roup is an obvious $ey public because the main tactic of the campain is the%ebsite" %%%#Mormon#or" an! youn a!ults typically access the internet reularly#

,he messae bein sent to this roup is that the Mormon people are li$e them# ,hey areconservative" mi!!le-ae!" an! relatable people# ecause the campain focuses on member tononmember communication it is crucial that the members seem approachable an! relatable#

Also" the i!ea behin! this campain is to brin a positive face to the church" thus" the membershave to be li$able to accomplish that oal#6pinion lea!ers of this roup %ere taretin throuh tra!e :ournals an! print me!ia such

as ,he ?e% @or$ ,imes" /SA ,o!ay" loombur usiness%ee$" an! AC ?e%s# 6nce opinionlea!ers are informe! an! intereste!" they typically ta$e upon themselves the challene ofinformin their peers %ho respect their cre!ibility#.9istin Members of the LDS Church

ecause one of the ob:ectives of the campain is to et members an! nonmembersconversin" one of the $ey publics is members of the church# 6n the churchs official site"%%%#LDS#or there is a visible an! !irect lin$ to the campains site# ,he channel of internet isuse! here because all of the churchs scripture is online for members to use for family home

evenin" preparin a lesson or personal use# ,hus" this site is very commonly accesse! bymembers %hich allo%s them to become e!ucate! on the campain an! become a %or$in part ofthe mission# Mormon members are opinion lea!ers to investiators because they have theresources an! information that people are searchin for" therefore they must be e!ucate! on theoal of the campain#

6ther channels for reachin the members of the church are opinion lea!ers an! personalcontact# ,he church use! bishops an! apostles to encourae members to create a profile on themain site" Mormon#or" for investiators to see# Apostles use! time !urin ;eneral Conference"a %orl!%i!e meetin broa!caste! biannually" to brin a%areness to the members of the useonline profiles# ishops encourae! outstan!in members to o online an! share their upliftinmessae on the site throuh creatin a profile#

,he church is pushin for nonmembers to reali1e that Mormons are every!ay" normalpeople" an! they miht even be your neihbor# 6ne of the most tarete! cities %as Denver"Colora!o# ,he representative for the area" Lynn Southam" points out that of the )F millionmembers in the %orl! a lare portion resi!e in Colora!o# Appro9imately )F("((( LDS peoplelive in the conservative state# ,he ront =ane of the state houses )(("((( members an! peopleare often surprise! that the suburban areas have about *("((( members &=oberts" '())" para#


4/5

Probert, 4

environment for it to thrive" they must reach some of the hea! opinion lea!ers of the %orl!# ?e%@or$ City is often calle! the heart of the %orl! !ue the fact that it houses a ma:ority of theentertainment in!ustry" the financial in!ustry" the business in!ustry" the me!ia" the fashionin!ustry an! the /nite! ?ations# ,his brins some of the most prominent people in the %orl! tothis !istrict" an! these people %ho are often opinion lea!ers in their fiel!s nee! to be informe!

%ith correct information on the church#Channels such as the %or$place" mass me!ia" opinion lea!ers" central locations an!professional associations %ere use!# ,o reach the people in ?e% @or$ City tactics such as ta9itoppers" sub%ay a!vertisements" electronic billboar!s in the heart of ,imes S5uare" an! pressreleases %ere use! &Draper" '())" para#


5/5

Probert, 5

Coffman" # &'())" 6ctober ('+# Latter-Day Saints launch GIm a MormonG a! campain #=euters# =etrieve! from http%%%#reuters#comarticle'()))(('us-mormons-me!ia-i!/S,=.*2))CM'()))(('

Draper" .# &'())" September (2+# GIHm a MormonG campain in !enver an! other cities aims to

e9plain church rea! more GIHm a MormonG campain in Denver an! other cities aimsto e9plain church - the Denver posthttp%%%#!enverpost#comportalne%sci)2(((0F>Kloopbac$)Smethe" ;# &'())"June ')+# Mormon nyc a! campain Hvery savvy bran!inH =etrieve! fromhttpabcne%s#o#comusinessmormon-nyc-a!-campain-savvy-bran!instory

Dillif" # &'()'" January (0+# Mormon churchHs NF#0m a! campain tries to e!ucate Americans#http%%%#pri#orstoriespolitics-societymormon-church-s-F-0m-a!-campain-tries-to-e!ucate-americans-*>B(#html

Wal$er" J# &'())" September '2+# HIHm a MormonH campain e9ten!in to )' u#s# cities# Deseret

?e%s# =etrieve! from http%%%#!eseretne%s#comarticle*(()>B

intro to pr 235: case

Documents