Madison Avenue loves to extol the perfection of products, from a whipped icing that is “the perfect blend of fudge and vanilla” to a luxury car that is devoted to “the relentless pursuit of perfection.”
A new campaign, however, takes a much more modest tack by declaring, “We’re not perfect.”
The campaign is also unusual in that it is not selling a product or burnishing a brand image but rather encouraging people to join a house of worship. The campaign is on behalf of a Conservative synagogue, Beth Hillel Congregation Bnai Emunah, in the Chicago suburb of Wilmette, Ill.
The campaign started running recently, ahead of a new year for the synagogue’s Hebrew school and ahead of the Jewish New Year, 5773, which began Sunday night. The campaign was created by a Chicago agency, the Ungar Group, whose president and creative director, Tom Ungar, is a member of the synagogue.
The campaign includes print advertisements, the synagogue’s Web site, posters and social media like a Facebook page and Facebook ads.
The media spending for the campaign, at $10,865, is small by the standards of most marketers but a serious commitment for a religious institution that strives, as the ads note, for a balanced budget.
The synagogue’s name, address and Web address appear at the bottom of most of the ads, with the declaration that “We’re not perfect”
appearing at the top. Those three words are followed by another three:
“What family is?”
“We like bagels. A little too much,” the text continues. “But we have weekly zumba classes. And daily opportunities to renew yourself spiritually.”
The text goes on to discuss the synagogue’s Hebrew school, youth department, choir, rabbi and budget, then pauses: “We could certainly go on, but this is an ad, not a brochure.”
“So if you want to see how caring a community we are, please drop in,”
the ads conclude. “Or call our president” — Arlene Gold, whose cellphone number is provided — “any day but Shabbat” (the Sabbath).
In a phone interview, Ms. Gold explains what led to the campaign.
“Competition was fierce” for members, Ms. Gold says, sounding like a chief marketing officer for a consumer products company, and “I saw a slow decline” in membership and enrollment at the school.
Membership, which had been at 650 “unit family members,” she adds, which includes families and singles, was more recently at 579.
If the idea was to run the synagogue “like a business,” Ms. Gold says, advertising made sense.
“A lot of synagogues don’t advertise,” she adds, “but a lot of synagogues are failing.”
In turning to Mr. Ungar, whom Ms. Gold describes as a congregant who has created “some cutting-edge stuff” for marketer clients, she recalls that his advice to her was, “‘You have to put your name out there.'”
The goal became “to try something different,” she says, that would appeal to potential new members, particularly younger ones.
“Young families are the future of the synagogue,” Ms. Gold says, and “younger people today want a community,” hence the references in the campaign to the members of Beth Hillel Congregation Bnai Emunah, which is affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, as a “family” and a “community.”
There were some criticisms of the campaign from “a couple conservative people,” she adds — “conservative,” in this instance, with a small “c”
— but “nobody really frowned.”
Ads for religious institutions are often “boring,” Ms. Gold says,
adding: “We wanted to show there’s a fresh start here. We wanted to light a fire.”
To accomplish that, Ms. Gold says, the campaign highlights specific aspects of the synagogue to give potential new members reasons to join.
For instance, the ads describe how students of the Hebrew school can choose to attend classes either two or three days a week.
And there are mentions of a new director of education, who is Rabbi Michael Cohen; a new cantor, Pavel Roytman; and the rabbi, Allan Kensky, who is described as “compassionate and thought-provoking.”
(“Are we biased about him?” the ads ask cheekily. “Of course.”)
The intent is to convey “that there have been important changes at the synagogue,” says Mr. Ungar, who has also worked for marketers like the Bosch Group, Master Lock, the National Marine Manufacturers Association, Newell Rubbermaid and Sharpie.
“We came at it from the same way we think a lot of other advertisers should,” Mr. Ungar says, that consumers who are watching television, reading newspapers or visiting a Web site are not saying, ” ‘Gee, I want to see what ads there are today.’ “
“People don’t want to be interrupted” from what they actually want to read or watch, he adds, “so we have to consider how do we make it worthwhile” for them to take time out for the ads.
Using the words “We’re not perfect” to begin the ads is a nod to the fact that “people like to be treated with intelligence,” Mr. Ungar says, “not, ‘I’m here to sell you something today.’ “
“It’s a way of saying, ‘We’re human,’ ” he adds, and “a way of saying, ‘We’re not full of ourselves,’ ” both messages that are not often heard from religious institutions.
To underline the “We’re not perfect” concept, “the execution of the ads is not pristine, either,” Mr. Ungar says. “The paper looks crumpled, the type is a little askew.”
And in the wild postings of the posters in Wilmette and nearby communities that include Evanston and Skokie — putting them up in public places like bus stops — they are not being affixed to doors, walls and other surfaces in uniform fashion.
So far, the response to the campaign has been positive, Mr. Ungar says, both from potential new members of the synagogue and current members who say “it makes them feel good about where they belong.”
“That’s very important,” he adds.
Ms. Gold is enthusiastic, too.
“We’re getting members, young members,” she says. “I am very happy.
And we’ve received several calls from executive directors of other synagogues, and calls from other tuition institutions,” she adds, seeking information about the campaign.
The campaign will continue through the holidays, Ms. Gold says, adding with a laugh, “But I’m not sure which holidays” — either through the High Holy Days, which end with Yom Kippur on Sept. 26, or through Hanukkah, in December.
muchas congregaciones deberían de hacer esto.
Para ver la carta original, búscanos en FB como: comunidad judía facebook.