Marketing to Christian Consumers Neil Potter Sergio Cirina Ryan Veerkamp

Overview 1.Why Christian Consumers? 2.The Christian Demographic 3.Effective Marketing

For years marketers have avoided religion A new niche for marketers Movement towards the mainstream Chronicles of Narnia Movies, Passion of the Christ Music (Lifehouse, UnderOath, Switchfoot, The Fray) 78% of U.S. citizens identify themselves as Christians (51.3% Protestant)

The Christian Demographic Christians own more homes, purchase more cars and have more access to the internet than other segments of the general population More education, more discretionary income

Effective Marketing Grassroots Marketing Connectedness of communities and churches Will identify with values Similar to lifestyle brand (Apple users) Look for opportunities to partner with organizations that are familiar to the Christian market

Examples Wal-Mart donates to charities and religious groups as well as secular groups Take a moral stand on content in store (Lad’s magazines) Offer wider variety of Christian books than any other large retailer Bishop T.D. Jakes, pastor of a Dallas mega-church with about 30,000 members, hosted a conference that was co-sponsored by Ford Motor Company. They were allowed to hold seminars and display products during the event, which drew 200,000 attendees.

Examples Sponsoring Music Concerts Disney’s Night of Joy 2 night after hour concert Featuring bands such as Jars of Clay, Family Force Five, Flyleaf, P.O.D.

Warped Tour features bands that have either publicly referred to themselves as "Christian Bands," are on Christian record labels, or are bands comprised of Christian members. The Almost Anberlin As Cities Burn As I Lay Dying UnderOath Norma Jean

Conclusion Powerful market niche untargeted by marketers Use grassroots marketing and identify with values Large corporations already taking advantage of growing Christian market segment

Works Cited Article Found in: Marketing Annual Editions by John E. Richardson Additional Information Found at: CIA, CIA.gov Pew Research Center, people-press.org