The Lotus & The Rose

Preliminary Promotional Campaign Elements
The Lotus & The Rose
overview
We anticipate building and executing a promotional campaign that encompasses three phases:
Pre-launch (July–August 2018)
Launch (September–December)
Continuation (January 2019 and beyond)

All three phases will likely employ various combinations of paid media, earned media, speaking opportunities, influencer outreach, and university outreach. Preliminary key elements are included below to provide an early look at our thinking. Based on feedback, Pyramid will develop a full promotional plan with specific outreach targets as we move forward. The book will include information on how to view the video recordings of the dialogues. We do not plan on emphasizing the video resources due to their quality and visual inconsistencies.

Targeting strategy
The primary strategy will be to target individuals who are interested in interfaith dialogue and the points of convergence and divergence of various spiritual traditions (comparative religion).

Key elements

Speaking opportunities/promotional partnerships
Joint speaking opportunities will be pursued for Matthew Fox and Lama Tsomo, targeting venues that host interfaith dialogues. Geographically, the focus will be on places where both authors already have a following. In addition to civic venues, speaking engagements and promotional partners will be pursued in colleges and universities located in or nearby cities where Lama Tsomo will be offering retreats or workshops.
Confirmed:
October 4 at The Buddhist Center in Berkeley
In process:
Michael Krasny (NPR) show at Grace Cathedral
A dialogue hosted by San Francisco Interfaith Council

Bookstore events
We will pursue partnerships with bookstores, particularly those located in areas where Lama Tsomo and Matthew Fox will be offering programs, but also in cities where the authors have strong followings.

Paid media
Paid media will be a primary tool used to promote and sustain book sales.
Digital/social media ads:
We recommend using a DSP (demand side platform) to ensure ads reach desired audiences.
Ads could take the form of display ads, website placements, social media placements, search ads, and/or video ads.
Print placements:
To complement our digital work, we will also explore print placements with affinity magazines,
Newspapers, and radio stations.
Sacred Stream

Earned media
Earned media will focus on reviews or joint interviews with publications such as:
Sojourners
NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday
Beliefnet
The Mindful Word
Progressive Christianity Newsletter
Catholic reporter
Christian century
Liberal evangelical orgs/churches

We will be producing a podcast to support the release. The podcast will serve as another way for people to access the information from these dialogues, and we feel that it will allow us to experience the best of both worlds, so to speak, by appealing to a younger audience that is very comfortable and tuned into the podcast format of media consumption right now. It also gives us an opportunity to organize the information in a different way, by theme rather than by interview date, to again appeal to an audience that might not otherwise connect with the unabridged content, so to speak. After much research, the podcast will be audio only, as this is the format that has shown to be most readily consumed by younger audiences. It will be available on iTunes, Soundcloud, and other channels.

We will also explore appearances on podcasts such as:
Interfaith Voices
BBC’s Heart and Soul

Social media
We recommend creating social posts for, and prioritizing, Matthew’s owned social channels given the greater likelihood of converting his audiences to book purchasers and the opportunity to reach new audiences for Namchak. These posts will be developed and published at a cadence that aligns with each phase of the promotional effort, and fine-tuned using analytics.
YouTube channel - previews

Influencer outreach
One consideration to boost word of mouth around the book is to strategically “gift” the book to target influencers with aligned interests and audiences to establish relationships and encourage them to feature/review the book if they are inclined through provided sample social media posts. This could get the book in front of more audiences for relatively little financial investment and prime these audiences for support in the future. We are pursuing reviews such as Kirkus and Publisher’s Weekly may also be something to consider.

We do plan on promoting the book through existing university and college outreach. We are working on a study guides that would tie to the videos/book, as a way to connect with university audiences.

Spirited conversations on spiritual topics between two friends—an American Lama and an Episcopal minister—who celebrate their common ground and delight in their differences.

What happens when a Tibetan Buddhist lama and a Christian clergyman sit down to talk? And not just any lama and clergyman, but a renegade Catholic priest silenced by the Church for his progressive and inclusive beliefs and an American-born secular Jew who once embraced Tibetan Buddhism as a student, and now is embraced as a teacher.

These conversations between Lama Tsomo and Matthew Fox over the past years explore the essential principles shared by their traditions—and the differences that distinguish them. The Lotus & The Rose includes three public dialogues between Matthew and Lama Tsomo during weekend workshops at Stanford University, The Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, and The Jung Center in Houston. Also included is a more personal conversation with no audience except each other. And, finally, individual interviews with both of them, revealing more about their own lives and worldview. Also available to the reader are video excerpts from the presentations, conversations, and interviews.

Buddhists, Christians, followers of other spiritual traditions—and perhaps no spiritual tradition at all—will be intrigued by the range of ideas, and impressed and enlightened by the knowledge and experience that Matthew and Lama Tsomo bring to their exchanges. In this perilously contentious world, all viewers will be heartened by the admiration, respect, humor, and warmth that flows between these two friends who celebrate their common ground and delight in their differences.