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PASTOR'S REPORT, May 29, 1979
Page 4
Apri: has been a very active month on the promotional front. Our first
national newspaper ad in the Daily Mail on March 31st (featuring the book
let "Does God Exist?" and The Plain Truth) was followed by 8 further in
sertions in April. Largest response so far has come from the April 21st
ad for "Why Were You Born?" in the The Sun. Responses stood at just under
6,000 on May 22nd. The most popular booklet on a cost per response basis
is "Why Were You Born?"
In the month of April, there was featured at 7 exhibition sites--Southa.mpton,
Edinburgh, Manchester, Bristol, Nottingham, Hull and London (Olympia)--
a special Plain Truth display complete with a recorded audio-visual pre
sentation. The object of the display, according to Ernie Winchester,
promotions manager responsible for coordinating the exhibition program,
"is to explain clearly the aims and content of the magazine and encourage
people to become subscribers." In all, over 14,000 leaflets were taken
by the public at the exhibitions during April, 4,000 from the London
(Olympia) exhibition alone ("Festival for Mind, Body and Spirit"). It
was found that people who have been exposed to the display and the audio
visual presentation respond better on the whole than those who merely
receive the brochure for the first time in their homes. At Olympia
15,000 booklets were given away--among the most popular were "Is This
The End Time?", "Why Were You Born?", "The Modern Romans" and "The
Dilemma of Drugs."
Scandinavia
In the early summer of 1978 a detailed study was made of the costs and
benefits to God's Work of maintaining an office in Oslo, Norway. Above
all the Work wanted to ensure that our Scandinavian readers received good
quality service via the most cost-effective means. Although there were
obvious benefits in having an office on the spot, we were very conscious
that the Scandinavian cost of living is virtually double that of Britain.
The conclusion was reached that the benefits to the Work of operating
from the U.K. (printing, mailing and editorial facilities, as well as the
financial aspect) did outweigh any drawbacks. The money saved (around 20%
of the former budget) is now being plowed back into advertising, promotion
and translations of booklets and the Correspondence Course.
One of the first fruits of this move to Radlett was an important new
advertising program, the first stage of which began on May 5th and is
scheduled to continue until the end of June.
Once the Scandinavian Work has built on the current foundation of Plain
Truth readership, the intention is to put on subscriber presentations to
encourage and feed the people God is calling in Scandinavia. The most
likely locations for these would be Stockholm, Oslo and Aarhus, Denmark
(pronounced Orhoos), where the three Scandinavian churches meet twice a
month, and Helsinki, where Bible studies are held. Currently, Mr. Peter
Shenton, pastor of the East Anglian churches in England, visits the area
once a month to conduct a service and counsel the brethren and prospective
members.
--Compiled by Rod Matthews, International Office