UUNEWS
in the congregations
New media campaign for Houston
Eight Houston-area congregations launched a three-and-a-half-month media campaign on January 2 to raise awareness of Unitarian Universalism in the nation's fourth largest metropolitan area. UUA President William G. Sinkford attended the kickoff party at the First Unitarian Universalist Church.
The campaign includes three billboards, radio ads, direct mail to 200,000 households that will receive three postcards each, Web banners, an eight-page insert that will be delivered to 750,000 targeted subscribers of the Sunday Houston Chronicle, and ads in major newspapers in Houston and Galveston as well as a paper that circulates in the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community. The churches themselves have 5x15-foot banners that duplicate the billboards. "One of the nice things about this campaign is that many of the ads feature photographs of real people who attend these congregations," said Valerie Holton, the UUA's marketing outreach consultant.
The campaign duplicates-and expands on--some of the elements used in a pilot ad campaign in the Kansas City area in 2003. There will also be a smaller campaign in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area around the time of General Assembly in June.
The Houston campaign hopes to generate at least a 25 percent increase in visitors. Its budget is $230,000, all provided by local donors. The campaign is also helping local UUs become better acquainted, said Holton. "The Houston churches have had a wonderful spirit of collaboration. They're getting to know each other and creating a lot of synergy."UU World : 49