Faith-Based Marketing: The Guide to Reaching 140 Million Christian Customers: The Guide to Reaching 140 Million Christian Consumers [Hardcover]

This book is pretty much appalling. I picked it up because I want to start a ministry to high school students and wondered how to approach them and their youth leaders. I give this book one star because of the resources in the back. Other than those, here's what I found:

1) The authors are vague.
Pg. 169 - "Does it pass the cringe test? ... a lot of marketing material from churches makes us cringe." What does this mean?
Pg. 170 - "Each of these types of events requires careful planning and promotion for them to be successful". But there is no explanation regarding how.
They refer to "affinity" groups a couple of times, but never explain.

2) They are patronizing and superficial.
Pg. 164 - "If the paint is peeling on your building (church), and the grass hasn't been mowed, and the flower bed is weed strewn, it tells me you don't have a lot of respect for a building that you want me to believe is God's house."
Pg. 139 - ...They advise not to send preteen skateboard enthusiasts a newsletter filled "with articles on healthy aging".
Come on.

3) The book is very "chatty" and full of really annoying buddabing moments.
Pg. 3 - "It was the Holy Grail for marketers..." (wink, wink).
Pg. 64 - during a lengthy section explaining when to stand up and sit down during service and what a bulletin looks like, they said this about praying, "...if you sneak a peek, you won't be the only one". Is this necessary? Does it further the premise of marketing to faith-based?
Pg. 164 - "...You want to see your church grow - not to satisfy a denominational bigwig breathing down you neck or win a prize for being the fastest growing church in the United States..."
Page 159 - "Bill Hybels and Rick Warren are sort of the Bill Gates and Warren Buffet of Protestant Christianity".
Also see the final quote from the book at the end of the review.

4) Hard documentation is scarce: when stats are cited, many times there is no reference.
Pg. 20 - "with about 26 percent of the general population who are evangelicals" - no source.
Pg. 4 - "according to most polls". ???
When sources are given they are cited directly in the text instead of footnoted which interferes with flow.

5) Their advice is mostly unrealistic or shallow.
Offering free oil/lube/filter services to members of congregations.
Pg. 116 - Having the pastor announce from the pulpit that the snow has been cleared by Sagebrush Landscaping..."give them a call if you need your driveway cleared". Why not just have Sagebrush sponsor the sermon or Nestle buy naming rights to the sanctuary?
Pg. 109 - "offer to buy t-shirts, coffee mugs, and other useful items with your logo on it". Duh!
The best advice comes from other sources: Leslie Burbridge-Bates of L.A.B. Media (PR firm); Ron Forseth of Outreach; and Brad Abare of Center for Church Communication.

6) They restate the same things over and over and over and over and over and... Probably most aggravating is that they try to make it sound new each time: (note proximity of these pages)
Pg. 100 - "Station managers of Christian radio stations believe they have a responsibility to make sure whatever goes over the airwaves under their call sign must support the biblical values and tastes of Christians."
Pg. 100 - "advertise on Christian radio and you have the tacit blessing and approval of a trusted gatekeeper."
Pg. 104 - "... but when the folks who listen to Christian radio in your town hear your spot, they will, in a sense, hear the station saying "we approve of this business".
Pg. 106 - "The station serves as a gatekeeper for the listener..."

7) They contradict their own advice.
They spend pages and pages telling marketers to try to get coupons into church bulletins. Then on page 167, they say (rightly), "Jesus didn't hand out coupons for discount healings, he reached out to the beggar alongside the road."

8) THE MOST DISCONCERTING AND DAMAGING ERROR, imho, is their shallowness and lack of understanding of the most basic Christian tenets which makes their sincerity ring really hollow.
Pg. 71 - "What Chuck is describing is really the Golden Rule, which traces its origins to the Bible. Do something for others, and they will return the favor". ??? The Golden Rule is about doing favors??
Pg. 167 - "He turned and spoke to a woman who brushed his garment when passing him." ??? Is this a very uninformed reference to one of the most basic and important tenets of Christianity - the woman in Matthew 9:20 who reached out and touched Jesus's cloak on purpose because of her overwhelming faith that just doing that would cure her? I know of no other reference to a woman touching his garment.
Pg. 152 - "The word `pastor' comes from the French word pasteur, which means shepherd. It's an appropriate term because a pastor tends to his congregation much like a shepherd cares for his sheep". If there is no reference or understanding of Christ as the Great Shepherd and all that that means, why the shepherd reference at all?

Even on Christian points they do understand, they seem incredulously flippant about the most brilliant and beautiful religion and way of life on earth:
Pg. 37 - "We'll be the first to admit that for those with almost no understanding of Christianity, the (Apostle's) Creed took a toll on your `incredulous index'. Three gods in one. A virgin getting pregnant without sleeping with a guy. Dead man rising (yuk, yuk /my insert/).... So here's what we would suggest for anyone who might be whistling that Twilight Zone tune..."
Pg. 35: "Feeling lower than a snake's belly for cheating on your wife? `Forget about it,' Jesus says. `I already took what you deserved, so get back in the game and behave yourself. I'm giving you a second (and third and fourth and fifth) chance'." True. But pretty darn flippant, and wrong in the sense in which it is presented.
Pg. 43 - "First, Christians aren't prudes. We don't know of any Christian guys who look the other way when the Victoria's Secret ad tries to sell underwear. Some of us have even tried the chicken wings at a national restaurant chain that uses an owl as its logo - just to try the wings, not to look at the owls (wink, wink). When it comes to the Old Milwaukee Swedish Bikini Team or Alicia Silverstone baring it all for a PETA commercial, we're as vulnerable as the next guy."

Budda bing.

One has to ask a couple of important questions before buying this book. Do these guys sound like they are really sincere in regards to the faith-based and their advice to provide a service to the church, or are they just trying to make a buck selling their book and the requests for help their faith-based marketing firm gets from people reading the book (they're the first resources at the back of the book)? Based on the quotes from their book above, do they know what their talking about, and do you really know more about `marketing to the faith-based' than you did before? Do you really want them showing you how to `market to the faith-based' and representing you in that `tantalizing prize" of a market'?

A wise marketer wants to learn as much as possible about his target audience before shaping their pitch to the audience. Unfortunately when it comes to the faith-based audience many times the pitch veers way off the mark because they have not paused to learn about the target market.

With crisp clear language and examples, FAITH-BASED MARKETING helps businesses understand this huge market. I loved what the authors wrote on page 5, "Christians are not the lunatic fringe so many once thought. Rather, they form a global network of immense size and power comprised of every country, every social or ethnic group, and every economic stratum. Christians now number 2.3 billion or one out of every three people on the planet. That's nearly as large as China and India combined."

I appreciated the detailed distinction between business and how the faith-based community approaches business. The examples or case studies combine with solid information to make this book a valuable resource for the business community. Also it is a valuable resource for any church or pastor who wants to have a broader reach into the community.

The book is divided into three parts: Meet the Christian Consumer, How to Market to Christians, Key Resources for Christian Marketing. The authors include an online version of their resources which are kept up-to-date at faithbasedmarketing.com

The authors have created a terrific resource which I recommend.

I found this book to be a wealth of information, especially the website links that are provided, plus the general info about the faith-based market. If you want to connect your product with the Christian community, this book comes from reliable writers with current reliable resources. I have met Bob Hutchins in person and he has the experience and knowledge to share important info that can help business owners be successful!!