For businesses that cater to members of the LDS Church, advertising before or after a televised general conference session is like landing a spot during the Super Bowl.

That doesn't mean people who watch conference to hear the counsel of church leaders will see commercials that cost millions of dollars and feature talking frogs or movie stars.

But they will see softer sales pitches and image ads that gently push a product or help members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints remember a company's name.

Companies are willing to pay more for TV spots surrounding this weekend's 169th Annual General Conference, because they know the audience is large. And they know exactly who is watching.

"It's very high-profile," said Mark Wiest, local sales manager for KSL Television. "The value of a spot in an adjacency (right before and after a session) is that you're talking directly at the person you need. It's very effective, very efficient buying."

Wiest said KSL draws ratings of about 30 for the two Saturday sessions and about 37 for the two on Sunday. That means roughly 210,000 to 250,000 area households have their TVs tuned to general conference, and most viewers stick around for the LDS-related specials KSL airs between the sessions.

"It's a strong audience. They don't go anywhere," Wiest said.

He said strong demand means ad spots for conference typically sell out about three months in advance. And that means companies like Bookcraft, Deseret Book, Murdock Travel and Emergency Essentials plan to spend significant chunks of their advertising budgets on the April and October conference weekends.

"We will take our prime titles, maybe a half dozen at spring and another half dozen at fall, and we'll produce television commercials at great expense, as well as buy air time, to the tune of 75 to 80 percent of our entire year's (TV spending)," said Dennis Madson, vice president of marketing for LDS bookseller Bookcraft Inc. "We fought hard for adjacencies so that just before sessions begin and right after they end, you have an ad."

Ron Millett, Deseret Book president, said his company goes all out on conference weekends, not only with television commercials but also with print ads, book-signing sessions, direct mail campaigns and in-store pro- motions to attract those who attend sessions live in Temple Square.

"There seems to be a heightened awareness on the part of Latter-day Saints to pay attention to religious, church-related issues at this time of the year," Millett said.

He said Deseret Book, a subsidiary of an LDS Church-owned holding company, spends more on its Christmas advertising and marketing campaigns, but conference weekends remain an important part of its efforts. For example, he said, the "ladies' night" promotion Deseret Book runs at its stores during conference Saturday nights continues to grow in popularity.

"It seems to be an evening of fun and socializing and exchange of product information that our customers like," Millett said. "It's kind of like a social event as much as it is a marketing event."

He said the promotions pay off with increased sales, especially at the Deseret Book stores in the ZCMI Center Mall in Salt Lake City and the University Mall in Orem.

Madson said Bookcraft, which was purchased by Deseret Book's parent company last week, does not see any particular jump in sales as a result of the conference ads, but he still thinks they are valuable.

"This seems like a more focused, concerted time, when viewership is such that you'll get some bang for your buck," he said.

David Sheets, president of Emergency Essentials in Orem, said his food storage and supply company spends a large portion of its April and October advertising budgets on conference-related promotions.

"We're a national company, so it's a good way to get exposure in Utah," he said. "The conference is a unique niche. It's predominantly LDS, and that's a big part of our business."

But the religious nature of conference sessions also means companies need to be careful, especially with TV ads.

Sheets said the key is to tone down the commercials.

"Sometimes we don't even sell a product," he said. "I think the main thing we're looking for is getting our name out there, getting the visibility for our company."

Madson said Bookcraft also tries to be sensitive to the nature of the event.

"You don't want to commercialize what the brethren say, but you hope you have some products that might support their addresses," Madson said. "If there is a theme for financial prudence, for example, you hope to have the products that support their pronouncements. But you have to lay kind of low on that."

Millett said Deseret Book also focuses on softer ads, especially on TV.

"It is a very fine line that we walk, because we do try to be sensitive to the spiritual and religious nature of the conference itself and certainly don't want to see it become a commercial event," he said. "It is a time to create product exposure with some sensitivity."

Although it does not plan to air TV ads around conference this year, Murdock Travel has used adjacencies in the past to advertise tours to Israel, according to advertising manager Kim Blackett.

"(Being sensitive) was fairly easy, because the tour was geared toward an LDS audience, so it was not a real high-powered, catchy music kind of thing," Blackett said. "It was kind of keeping in the spirit with the destination of the tour."

LDS Church spokesman Dale Bills said the church takes no position on the conference-related marketing efforts of private companies, and it offers conference broadcasts as a public service.

Wiest said KSL-TV, also a subsidiary of an LDS Church-owned holding company, is glad that its core of conference advertisers "fit" with the spirit of the broadcast. And the station tries to keep it that way, he said, by not charging Super Bowl-type money for conference ads.

"We could charge a lot more, because of the audience, but we choose to charge a fair price that is consistent with the past," Wiest said. "I don't think it's right to take advantage of a broadcast like this. You need to be sensitive to how much the market will bear for this product; however, I don't think it's right to gouge anyone."