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Serving the Christian Market Since 1968 14732 Middle Point Road Van Wert, Ohio 45891 - 419.238.4082 |
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The Foster Letter — Religious Market Update The FOSTER Letter is a bi-weekly e-mail publication targeted to Christian market channel and ministry leaders. Each issue reports on news, trends, events and research that will directly or indirectly impact your audiences and businesses. Informed leaders make better choices! Researched, Edited & Published by Gary D. Foster Excerpts from the January 10, 2007 edition of The FOSTER Letter—Religious Market Update Ad Theory Backfires A Harris Interactive study suggests the TV industry’s obsession with youth is backfiring. Over 60% of Americans say they believe that most TV ads and programming are targeted toward people younger than 40. More than 80% of adults over 40 say they have a hard time finding TV shows that reflect their lives. 37% of boomers aren’t happy with what’s on. Ironically TV’s slavish devotion to the 18-to-49-year-old demographic started when most boomers were in that group. The theory is it’s important to reach young people as their preferences are forming and advertisers pay a premium for young viewers: $335/1000 viewers aged 18-to-24 vs. $119/1000 aged 55-to-64. Half of baby boomers actually tune out commercials clearly aimed at young people plus another third go out of their way not to buy such a product. 51% of boomers describe themselves as “open to new ideas,” while only 12% of young adults think the older folks feel that way. With the average media buyer or planner under age 30 it’s easy to see the perception vs. reality disconnect. (The Cincinnati Enquirer 11/22/06) New Donor Tax Rules It’s no longer sufficient for taxpayers to prove donations of money with personal bank registers, diaries, or notes. The IRS now requires more verifiable proof, even for small church donations. See IRS publication 526 or visit http://www.irs.gov/. (AP 12/15/06) Media Time According to a communications industry forecast, in ’07 American adults and teens will spend: 65 days in front of the TV, 41 days listening to radio, a little over a week on the Internet and another week listening to recorded music. Adults will spend about a week reading a daily newspaper. ’07 consumer spending for media is forecast at $936.75 per person. (Center for media Research 1/2/07) Think Outside the Box Tyranny of the urgent results in costly mistakes, squandered resources and lost opportunities. I can bring you a fresh set of eyes that will help uncover the less obvious solutions. Contact me at 419-238-4082, GFosterCns@rmi.net or www.GaryDFoster.com. Beliefs A Financial Times/Harris Poll surveyed adults in the U.S. and in 5 European countries, measuring religious views. Results show 73% of Americans believe in God or a Supreme Being as do 62% of Italian, and 27% of French adults. Among those who expressed their belief in a higher being, nearly half of Americans follow the same religious beliefs as their parents. It’s similar in Germany, Spain, and France, compared to 62% of Italians and just 35% of Brits. On the subject of religion and education, 68% of Italians say religion should be taught in state schools; 56% of British and German adults agreed. Adults in the U.S. and France are the least likely to agree with religion being in taught state schools. 77% of Americans feel children should be allowed to wear a religious sign or article of clothing at school, including crucifixes and headscarves, but only 10% of French adults agree. The majority would not object to their son or daughter marrying a person of a different faith. Italians (21%) are most likely to object. (The Christiana Post 12/26/06) Primary Objective In 1970 79% of college freshmen had an important personal objective of “developing a meaningful philosophy of life.” In ‘05, 75% of freshmen said their primary objective was “being very well off financially.” (U.S. Census Bureau Statistical Abstract 12/06) Education = Long Life The one social factor researchers agree is consistently linked to longer lives in every country where it has been studied is education. It is more important than race; it obliterates any effects of income. (NY Times 1/3/07) Customer Loyalty means nothing less than getting people so jazzed about your brand that they become engaged contributors to your company’s sales, marketing, and innovation efforts, and ultimately its success. How does that happen? By knocking down the walls between “you” and “them” and creating a larger, looser community that is inviting to both your constituents and your employees. Starbucks and Costco have proven big companies can be adept at cultivating extremely passionate customers, shrinking the advantage smaller companies traditionally have had from their closer relationships with their base. Small companies must spot loyal customers and start real conversations with them. Customers should have multiple channels through which they can express their views, and employees should respond by addressing their concerns, enlisting their involvement, and collecting their suggestions to improve existing products and services and create new ones. Research by Bain & Co. over the past decade found revenues of companies with the highest levels of customer loyalty grew more than twice as fast as those of their competitors. (BW Small Biz, Winter ’06) Faith Trends Researcher George Barna says his findings indicate these coming trends in the faith of Americans: Diversity: There will be new forms of spiritual leadership, different expressions of faith, and greater variety in when and where people meet together to be communities of faith. Ecumenism: As emerging generations pay less attention to doctrine and more attention to relationships and experiences, there will be a broader network of micro-faith communities built around lifestyle affinities, such as gays and marketplace professionals. Bifurcation: Expect a widening gap between the intensely committed and those who are casually involved in faith matters. Media: Spiritual content and experiences will be increasingly related to the use of media. New technologies will significantly reshape how people experience and express their faith, and the ways faith communities form. (Barna Update 12/20/06)
How Do We Keep Our Organization As Agile As A Startup?
Often an objective set of outside eyes like mine can see opportunities
you have overlooked, but ones your competition could leverage against
you. Then beat the competition by being your own competitor and
exploit those opportunities yourself.
Contact me at 419-238-4082,
GFosterCns@rmi.net or
www.GaryDFoster.com. (Monday Morning memo 5/1/06) Disabled Friendly 25% of all computer users have some form of visual impairment. Target is currently being sued for failing to make its web site useable by visually impaired consumers. Regardless of the outcome, this is a wake-up call to all businesses and ministries with web sites. Two simple steps to take are: (1) Make readily available a list of keystroke commands that can duplicate the effect of mouse clicks on your site. (2) Educate users how to use tools built into computer operating system software that enlarge type and adjust pixel count on web pages. A more sophisticated step is to make sites compatible with software that translates web page content into audio files. (Internet Retailer 1/07) Shoppers The best way to win them is by having a well-stocked store and a simple return policy, finds a KPMG survey. 81% of consumers shop at the store that has their desired item in stock, and 75% say a simple return policy helps them decide which retailers to patronize. Price was the deciding factor for only 19% of shoppers, vs. ‘05’s poll where price beat selection and convenience. 39% of ’06 holiday shoppers reported shifting to retailers who best met their needs, underscoring the importance of having the right merchandise at the right time. (AP 12/28/06) The Top 5 Forms of Evangelism among U.S. Protestant denominations are: VBS-75%, Literature-59%, Events-56%, Musical Events-51%, and Mailings or Fliers-50%. (Facts & Trends 1-2/07) Churches Change & Grow Congregations willing to change to meet new challenges experience greater growth. The Cooperative Congregational Studies Partnership’s Faith Communities Today 2005 survey finds 46% of congregations that “strongly agree” they are willing to change experienced the highest level of attendance growth. Among those saying “somewhat agree,” 37% are growing strongly vs. just 15% among those who disagree to change on any level. Congregations located in newer suburbs are more likely to experience growth with metro downtown or central city areas next. Those in rural areas and small towns are least likely to grow. Multiracial congregations are more likely to grow. The older the congregation, the less likely it is to grow. Surprisingly, the survey found a higher proportion of women in the congregation is associated with decline rather than growth. There is a lack of growth among Catholic congregations despite continued increases in the overall Catholic population. Another surprise there is very little relationship between growth and theological orientation. Growing churches are clear about why they exist and what they are to be doing. 45% of churches that “strongly agree” with being spiritually vital and alive are experiencing growth compared to 15% who “strongly disagree to unsure.” Churches that describe their worship as “joyful” are more likely to grow than “reverent” worship churches. Other factors for growth are developing recruitment plans, church members actively involved in new member recruitment, having a website, support groups, conducting visitor follow-up, and being financially healthy. (The Christian Post 1/4/07) Integrate Ads When combined, search and display ads deliver much better results than when used independently, finds a comScore study. Internet users exposed to both the search and display ad campaigns increased their page views relative to competitive sites by 68% and time spent by 66%. Purchases by consumes exposed to both media increased by 244% online and 89% offline. (Internet Retailer 1/07) 250 Million Christians worldwide will face persecution in 2007 for following Jesus Christ according to persecution watchdog, Release International. Persecution is growing fastest in the Muslim world. (CP Today 1/2/06) ’06 Giving 83% of U.S. adults say they have contributed to a charity in ’06. About a third say they donated to religious, hunger and food-related, or health and disease-related charities in the past year finds a Harris Poll. The top charitable giving motivators were: the right thing to do (76%), belief it will make an impact (52%), and tax write-offs (26%). (PWB 1/5/07) Sexually Active Teen Girls are more than 3 times as likely to be depressed, and nearly 3 times as likely to attempt suicide, than girls not sexually active. (Wall Street Journal 12/14/06) The U.S. Census Bureau projects the 1/1/07 population was 300,888,812 -- up 2,863,990 or 1% from New Year’s Day ‘06. In January, the U.S. is expected to register 1 birth every 8 seconds and 1 death every 11 seconds. At the same time, net international migration is expected to add 1 person every 27 seconds. The result is a net increase in the total population of 1 person every 15 seconds. (Census Bureau 12/29/06) Inspirational Gifts and Merchandise Sales were estimated to be $1.9 billion in ‘05, an 11.8% increase from ‘04, according to a Packaged Facts report. They project 26.3% growth to $2.4 billion in sales in the sector by 2010. (The Christian Post 12/25/06) Postal Reform U.S. lawmakers have passed The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act which will cap future postal rate increases to the rate of inflation, thus providing mailers more predictable (and hopefully smaller) rate increases. (DM News 12/18/06) Evangelistically Ineffective A church is considered evangelistically effective if at least (only!) 1 person in 20 in that church leads a person to Christ in a year. This would mean that a church of 100 people would see five people trust Christ in their ministry. Based on this theory, only 3.5% of U.S. churches are evangelistically effective. (Outreach 1-2/07) For information on how to become a subscriber to the entire 3-page Foster Letter---Religious Market Update, E-mail us at:
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