Deseret Book · Tabernacle Choir · 2012–2013
Give fans the baton. Give the album a bigger stage.
To promote Glory! Music of Rejoicing, I worked with the Choir to help create Conduct the Choir—a fan-video contest that turned listeners into participants and a guest-conducting experience into a public story.
Build attention that could support album sales.
Our brief was to promote Glory! Music of Rejoicing and help the album achieve Billboard chart visibility. The challenge was to make a meaningful public splash while giving existing fans a fresh reason to engage with the music.
At Deseret Book, I led communications and social media, including promotion for Choir products and events. For this campaign, I collaborated with the Choir to help create a contest that made the audience part of the story. The Choir was known at the time as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir; today it is The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.
Offer an experience fans could not buy.
Conduct the Choir invited fans to submit videos of themselves conducting the Choir’s music. The campaign centered on “Ode to Joy,” a selection on the album. Fans voted on entries, with finalists progressing to selection of the winner by the Choir.
Social growth was built into the voting experience. Participation connected fans with the Choir’s social platforms, giving them reasons to watch videos, engage, and stay connected beyond a single vote.
The prize was the chance to stand in front of the ensemble and actually conduct it. That connected the promotional idea directly to what people loved about the product: the music and the experience of hearing the Choir.
Invite listeners to engage actively with the music.
Give contestants and their communities a reason to follow and share the campaign.
Create a second publicity moment around the winner’s experience.
Let participants carry the story into their communities.
The submissions gave the campaign human stories beyond a standard album announcement. Fans could see inventive performances, support an entrant, and imagine themselves taking the baton.
My work connected the contest with PR and social promotion in partnership with the Choir. The campaign earned local coverage and, across participant stories, some national attention. The initial contest and the eventual guest performance created distinct opportunities to renew interest in the music.
Justin Lewis took the podium.
Justin Lewis, a United States Air Force flight commander and musician, won the contest. His video showed him conducting “Ode to Joy” at locations around Washington, D.C. Military training delayed his appearance until February 17, 2013.
He ultimately conducted the Choir at Temple Square in connection with Music and the Spoken Word. KSL’s contemporaneous account places his guest performance immediately after that morning’s broadcast.
Chart success—and a campaign with a second act.
Glory! Music of Rejoicing reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Traditional Classical Albums chart for five weeks in 2012 and peaked at No. 11 on the Christian Albums chart. Those are album-level results from the broader release and promotional effort.
The contest also increased YouTube views and engagement and contributed to audience growth across all of the Choir’s social media platforms. That was an intended part of the campaign: the voting experience connected fan participation with broader social engagement, helping turn attention around the contest into an ongoing audience.
The contest helped sustain interest in the album beyond its release, and the winner’s appearance extended the story into 2013. From my campaign experience, the publicity supported album sales around the contest and afterward. The chart positions and the contest demonstrate the broader campaign’s reach; no specific sales lift is assigned to the contest alone.
A compelling promotion gives the audience a role in the story. Here, the music supplied the content, fans supplied the participation, and the Choir supplied a prize that made the campaign memorable.
References: album chart summary · FOX 13 performance coverage. Campaign ownership, social growth, and sales context reflect Michael Jensen’s firsthand account.