Prayer as a PR Tactic?

So this morning I was reading a NYTimes article about clinical trials in medical research ("Searching for Clarity: A Primer on Medical Studies"), and how the results can somehow be counterintuitive. And the article mentions prayer as a medical intervention.

Which got me to thinking: If prayer can positively influence medical outcomes (which, to the best of my knowledge, is occasionally the case), then perhaps it would work on PR, too. Just imagine ACME Corporation holding morning prayer meetings in which employees pray for the effectiveness of the company's PR programs.

Now, I personally am not a very religious person, and I have no expertise or particular experience in the use of prayer. But, if it works, it works, and it would be a interesting thing to study. We usually think of prayer as being more appropriate when used in the realm of the compassionate or beneficent. Like praying for someone's health, or for perhaps for the positive outcome of some charitable endeavor. But, people pray for less altruistic ends, like lower gas prices. So maybe it could work on PR.

Prayer as a PR tactic (prayer used to enhance the effectiveness of PR efforts) would be very interesting to evaluate. (Would that be prayer as a tactic, or prayer as a strategy? I'm not quite sure which is correct.) If anyone out there is actually using it, please let us at KDPaine & Partners know. We'd like to talk to you about measuring it. --WTP

Comments

[Bill Paarlberg]

Passed on from Katie's Twitter:

redindaytona @kdpaine Can't say I've officially made prayer a PR tactic but on big efforts it's definitely unofficially been one http://twurl.nl/4nr237 31 minutes ago from web in reply to kdpaine

mjkeliher @kdpaine I'd be absolutely fascinated to learn more about prayer as a PR tactic. What an intriguing research concept http://culld.us/3726545 44 minutes ago from Cullect in reply to kdpaine

[Pr Jobs]

The things mentioned are unanimous and needs to be appreciated by everyone. The above thought is smart and doesn’t require any further addition. It’s perfect thought from my side.
Cynthia