Mike Fichter, President and CEO of Indiana Right to Life, is leading a post-Roe era campaign to change hearts and minds.
New billboards designed and sponsored by Indiana Right to Life are being placed in high-traffic areas such as I-465, I-65, I-69, and I-70 all throughout the state. The billboards feature a simplistic but powerful message represented by an outline of a pregnant mother displaying the heart of the mother and the heart of the baby and the accompanying text “Love Them Both.” They are meant to call attention to the work of state Right to Life organizations and highlight the pro-life movement’s dedication to women and babies.
According to Fichter, the creation of the carefully designed Love Them Both campaign billboards originated from extensive market research focused on what he calls “the conflicted middle.” The conflicted middle, according to Fichter, is comprised of individuals who are mostly undecided on the abortion issue and could sway to pro-life sentiments if marketed to correctly. Everything depends on how the issue of abortion is presented.
Fichter commented:
“We are in a totally different world from the 70s when Roe was put in place. In this post-Dobbs world, we must win the hearts and minds of the culture. There is a great need for a unified slogan and strategy. Marketing strategy in particular is essential as everything in our world today is dominated by messaging and digital.”
Fichter believes that current political and social climates require deep investment in research-driven marketing initiatives proven to help change hearts and minds. Fichter points out this is what the pro-abortion movement has been doing for decades – pouring tens of millions of dollars into highly specific research and marketing strategies that have largely shifted the cultural narrative on the abortion issue.
After experimenting with different copies, graphics, and slogans, the group landed on a campaign that merged traditional pro-life messaging with new forms of messaging. Fichter and Indiana Right to Life found that the phrase “Love Them Both” and the outline of the pregnant mother with two hearts were most effective at moving the needle.
Messages of compassion and resources for pregnant mothers and their babies resonate with the middle. The billboards include Indiana Right to Life’s URL to build awareness of the movement’s mission to create a pro-life safety net to financially support families and mothers with unexpected pregnancies. For example, since 2014, Indiana’s Pregnancy and Parenting Support Program has served more than 110,000 Hoosier women while providing the additional benefit of over $200 million in taxpayer savings thanks to the program’s role in connecting moms and babies to healthy prenatal care.
Indiana Right to Life’s research found that the outline of the pregnant mother and the phrase “Love Them Both” was not only the most popular of the messaging options they tested, but also moved individuals in the conflicted middle demographic 18 percentage points higher in supporting pro-life sentiments.
Per Fichter, the billboards have been seen by over 80 million people since 2022. He points out that a physical billboard doesn’t have an “on or off switch,” so it is constantly being projected to viewers all day and all night. Fichter and Indiana Right to Life have received positive feedback from Indiana residents and state and congressional legislators alike for the billboard’s powerful pro-life and pro-woman messaging.
Best of all, a 2022 report conducted by the Indiana Right to Life found that alongside the recent pro-life protections signed into law by Governor Holcomb, pro-life marketing campaigns like “Love Them Both” have contributed to the growth of the number of women visiting pregnancy resource centers throughout the state.
Indiana Right to Life is also expanding its marketing efforts to include digital billboards, online ad campaigns, and streaming spaces. While the billboards have been very successful, Fichter is eager to leverage the digital possibilities to win more hearts in the fight for life. Regardless of the specific tactics, ‘Love Them Both’ is likely to be Indiana’s pro-life tagline for years to come.
“The phrase ‘Love Them Both’ presents the path forward, expressing something that the pro-abortion movement can’t – love for the baby and the mother,” said Fichter.
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