Analysis of the upcoming "Truth Restored" campaign

[_Gazelam]

As a non-member, I would wonder why there are two websites rather than one. The milk one Mormon.org and the meat LDS.org. Well, really, were is the beef? Not on LDS.org either is it?

http://speeches.BYU.edu/?act=viewitem&id=1609&tid=3

[_The Dude]

The ad campaign replaces tracting and reduces the need for member referrals. That is all.

As others of you said, people will do Google searches and find critical material that turns them off, whether they are members or especially if they are savy investigators or just curious. So negative results are guaranteed. That's the risk they are taking, plus the money they are sinking into it, but I'm sure their financial guys have that all squared away.

Now as for the number of converts this will garner them... as always it requires the members to suck it up and start fellowshiping the investigators and converts. This step has always been the weakest link in modern LDS times, and no ad campaign is going to solve it. My bet is that a big new marketing strategy will not change the final amount of church activity (and tithing) very much because the weak link of local ward fellowship will continue to break. Every returned missionary knows this is the truth.

[_grayskull]

I am mostly in agreement with Shades. I do believe any super ad campaign will result in growth, but I don't think it will be worth the money spent. In other words, future increases in tithing revenues won't make up to it when compared with the opportunity cost of moderate growth investments.

Hinckley's the media PR guy, right? All things can be done through media. Certainly, it's probably more effective than tracting. Door-to-door sales used to be something that could be worthwhile but not so much anymore. As any business owner knows, the best way ultimately to get customers is word of mouth. The fact the church doesn't grow from member initiative really does say something about how satisfied the members really are with it all.

The real problem is:

content.

[_Sethbag]

What gets me about this whole campaign is the very notion that the LDS Church even has the actual, true answers to all these niggling questions they think everyone's been asking themselves. When you get right down to it, you can't pin the LDS down on any question whatsoever, and almost all of what we might call the substantive answers to questions will inevitably fall under what the apologists would call "that's not doctrine". Seriously, how much can the LDS say, as LDS doctrine that they will cop to, about the pre-existence? About the war in Heaven? About the state of the soul after death? About what it's like in the Celestial Kingdom? About almost anything? We all know what it's like on apologetic boards - the apologists deny that almost anything that any of us ever learned in church is "not doctrine". So, exactly what answers do we now have to all of life's most pressing questions?

I like Richard Dawkins' point about all of this. Religion wants to claim the ability to answer the "why" questions, but even there, why should any of us believe that their answers to these "why" questions are better than anyone else's?

[_beastie]

Now as for the number of converts this will garner them... as always it requires the members to suck it up and start fellowshiping the investigators and converts. This step has always been the weakest link in modern LDS times, and no ad campaign is going to solve it. My bet is that a big new marketing strategy will not change the final amount of church activity (and tithing) very much because the weak link of local ward fellowship will continue to break. Every returned missionary knows this is the truth.

While lack of fellowshipping may be a problem, I think the larger problem for converts is discovering what the church is really about AFTER joining, and deciding it's just not for them. People are pushed into joining the church too quickly, and simply cannot have, after a few weeks, a strong enough sense of what the LDS church is about, or even what it really teaches, to make an informed decision about joining.

[_harmony]

Some questions and comments:

1. How is the missionary force going to be effected by this? Are they going to phase it out, or run it side by side? Are they moving to this media campaign because they've decided the traditional missionary force is too expensive, based on the cost vs the utility? Or it's ineffective? Or it's inefficient use of time and money?

2. Are they beefing up the phone answering squad? What is the expected result? A 25% increase in calls to the missionary 800 number?

3. At some point, the media campaign has to hit reality, as in members and missionaries. There is no virtual baptism, no virtual tithing. And that's where it's going to become just like every other missionary strategy they've ever tried. You'd think if this church really was led by God that God would have this all figured out.

[_Mercury]

Some questions and comments:

1. How is the missionary force going to be effected by this? Are they going to phase it out, or run it side by side? Are they moving to this media campaign because they've decided the traditional missionary force is too expensive, based on the cost vs the utility? Or it's ineffective? Or it's inefficient use of time and money?

2. Are they beefing up the phone answering squad? What is the expected result? A 25% increase in calls to the missionary 800 number?

3. At some point, the media campaign has to hit reality, as in members and missionaries. There is no virtual baptism, no virtual tithing. And that's where it's going to become just like every other missionary strategy they've ever tried. You'd think if this church really was led by God that God would have this all figured out.

This is an augmented Media campaign, that's all. Instead of the missionaries delivering media and then preaching, the media is delivered through the web and then the missionaries show up., bringing up a style invoking "The Secret", another b***s*** new age set of trappings wrapped around a gargantuan marketing campaign.

It is trite and will not capture nyones long term time commitments.

[MODERATOR NOTE: Please do not use the "S" word, or any of its variants, in the Terrestrial Forum.]

[_Polygamy Porter]

Now as for the number of converts this will garner them... as always it requires the members to suck it up and start fellowshiping the investigators and converts. This step has always been the weakest link in modern LDS times, and no ad campaign is going to solve it. My bet is that a big new marketing strategy will not change the final amount of church activity (and tithing) very much because the weak link of local ward fellowship will continue to break. Every returned missionary knows this is the truth.

While lack of fellowshipping may be a problem, I think the larger problem for converts is discovering what the church is really about AFTER joining, and deciding it's just not for them. People are pushed into joining the church too quickly, and simply cannot have, after a few weeks, a strong enough sense of what the LDS church is about, or even what it really teaches, to make an informed decision about joining.

While their almost immediate inactivity may cause some concern, their rushed passage through the turnstile in the baptismal font serves another important function.

We all know these never attending "converts" will be counted among the "11.. 12... 14 MILLION STRONG" that Hinck loves to wave in the faces of the deceived masses at general conference. This keeps the deceived deluded and blissfully handing over 10% of their gross earnings to the corporation of the president.

HOWEVER, there is a tithing GAP that is approaching. Many current young single LDS men and women are postponing marriage , postponing birthing future tithe payers and by choosing to only have 2-3 children, this only deepens the future financial loss of this approaching gap in tithing.

in my opinion, this is evident when every year they send the same message to the young LDS adults to place marriage and childbirth ahead of everything else in their lives. This is the model that has built the church to its current height of membership numbers and financial wealth. They know this model is beginning to crumble.

[_The Nehor]

To put a more light-hearted spin on it.....God's possible response to a billboard campaign.

http://www.grouper.com/video/MediaDetai ... 6%26fx%3d&

[_Coggins7]

(In Christopher Lee as Sauruman's Voice)

"Do you know how the AntiMormons first came into being? They were LDS once. Taken by the dark powers. Tortured, mutilated, and finally.....perfected.....whom do you serve?"

"No idea!!!!!!!!"

Or, in the immortal words of Droopy Dog, "Gruesome, isn't it?"