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The Foster Letter —

Religious Market Update

The FOSTER Letter is a bi-weekly e-mail religious market intelligence report 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 in a convenient summary format  Better informed leaders make better choices!

Researched, Edited & Published by Gary D. Foster

Excerpts from the

July 25, 2007 edition of

The FOSTER Letter—Religious Market Update

Beating Back Wal-Mart The 4/07 BIGresearch Consumer Intentions & Actions study found traditional national chains were preferred for prescription drugs 3 to 1 to Wal-Mart. The point is Boomers (and other consumers) will pay for “trusted advice.” Expect to see more of it in other retail categories. This is a trend to watch. (Boomer Marketing News 7/07) 

Greatest Interview Question Ever Whenever I interviewed a prospect for a staff position, I carefully avoided details about what I was looking for—and then about 20 minutes into the interview, I asked the greatest interview question ever. “Joe, talk about the best job you’ve ever had. You’re driving home after work—and all of a sudden it hits you. ‘Wow! That was a really great day at work!’ Tell me. What happened at work that caused that little celebration?” Joe’s eyes light up. His interviewee nervousness disappears—and what gives him joy at work quickly oozes out. I’ve never seen anyone manufacture an answer to that question (Your Weekly Staff Meeting, JohnPearsonAssociates.com 6/25/07)  

Women Don’t Talk More A new Univ. of Texas at Austin study debunks the stereotype that women speak 3 times more words per day than men. Both genders average about 16,000 words a day, says Science magazine. (USA Today 7/6/07) 

Mediocre Vs. Wild Success As a professional Christian market channel authority, my objective input in the early development and planning stages of new product or business/ministry strategy can spell the difference between mediocre and out-of-the park success. Contact me at 419-238-4082, GFosterCns@rmi.net or www.GaryDFoster.com. 

More Or Better Leonard Sweet, author of The Gospel According to Starbucks (WaterBrook 07) illustrated how quantity is becoming less important than quality with 2 heads of lettuce during the 07 ICRS. A head of “more as bigger” iceberg lettuce was bigger and cost less than prepackaged lettuce. Yet the smaller, prepackaged “more as better” expensive lettuce is far more popular with consumers. With left-brain jobs being outsourced to other nations, Sweet said imagination and right brain skills will become more important. In the future, businesses will have to choose between more and better. While companies will need to do both (be better at what they do and different from others) they’ll need the differentiation most. The key—make both EPIC (experiential, participatory, image-rich and connective). (CBA Retailers+Resources Industry Briefing 7/12/07) 

Emotion Pix Researchers in Germany have developed technology that can recognize emotions from facial expression, a tool that could have huge potential for advertisers. A video camera records the face of each person who passes an ad in, say, an airport and registers if he or she looks happy, surprised, sad or angry. Then algorithms find faces in the video image, count the number of people watching, distinguish between men and women and then analyze their expressions -- all in real time. To minimize privacy concerns, the software only compiles information and offers it as statistics (dw-world.de 7/12/07) 

Boys at the top of the pecking order (either by birth or because their older siblings died) score higher on IQ tests than their younger brothers. Norwegian researchers report it isn’t a matter of being born first, but growing up the senior child, that seems to result in the higher IQ scores. It’s what they call social rank in the family. They found the average IQ of first-born men was 103.2, second-born men averaged 101.2 but second-born men whose older sibling died in infancy scored 102.9. For third-borns, the average was 100.0. But if both older siblings died young, the third-born score rose to 102.6. The older child benefits by having to organize and express his thoughts to tutor youngsters while the later children may have no one to tutor. (USA Today 6/22/07) 

Wealthy The 11th annual World Wealth Report claims there are 9.5 million people worldwide who hold more than US$1 million in assets. (2007 World Wealth Report, Merrill Lynch) 

Christian Product Sales A new CBA study shows sales of Christian products by CBA member suppliers through all distribution channels were $4.63 billion in ’06, up from $4.3 billion in 04, $4.2 billion in ‛02, and $4 billion in ’00. Sales through the Christian retail channel grew 2.4% from ’04 to ’06. The channel sold 52% of Christian products while general market channels sold 33%. Other channels sold 15%. (CBA Aspiring Retail Industry Brief 7/5/07)

Unconfessed Only 26% of Catholics go to confession at least once a year, according to a ’05 Georgetown University poll. In the early ’80s Notre Dame study it was 74%. (Albany times Union 6/24/07) 

Retail Challenge The 6 most crucial challenges to U.S. independent retailers are: (1) The Changing Nature & Effectiveness of Marketing & Advertising. Mass media is cost-prohibitive, but direct marketing (mail and e-mail) are among the most effective options. (2) Difficulties in Product Sourcing & Merchandising Acquisition. As suppliers get larger and impose minimum orders beyond what smaller retailers can afford, reliable smaller suppliers and buying groups become viable solutions. (3) Speed & Overwhelming Nature of Technological Change. Cutting edge technology is not required, but falling behind can be fatal. (4) Need for Delivery of Higher Levels of Service: Independents should own customer service after all, customers are often neighbors. Yet it can’t be delivered by poorly trained staff. (5) Transparency of Products & Price Information. A Web-enabled cell phone and a froogle search will find the 5 lowest prices on any UPC or ISBN coded product. Customer service and individual customer attention can trump price. (6) Limitation of Management Skills & Capabilities. Managers and staff must be life-long learners. (CBA Retailers+Resources 7/07) 

Save Marriages & Money Dr. Ben Caldwell, Alliant International University, has found a divorce costs taxpayers an average of $30,000, while a full course of marital therapy costs about $1,500. Although counseling therapy doesn’t work for everyone, if government paid for the screening and treatment of marriages in trouble, they would get a return of about $1.85 for every dollar spent. (One News Now 7/19/07) 

International Sales Growth Jim Powell, Christian Trade Assoc. Int’l, observes, that 25 years ago 2%-4% of Christian product companies’ business came from outside the U.S.; today it’s frequently 15%. (Christian Retailing 7/2/07) 

China Online Explosion There are now an estimated 137 million internet users in China, second only to the U.S.’s estimated 165 million to 210 million. China is projected to overtake the U.S. in the total number of users within a few years. (PewInternet.org 7/12/07) 

Catholic Conundrum Barna Group research finds 68% of U.S. Catholics say their religious faith is very important in their life, which is also true among non-Catholic adults. But Catholics are only half as likely to say their faith is their highest life priority. A majority say family is their priority. Only 44% claim to be “absolutely committed” to the Christian faith vs. 54% of American adults. Also Catholics are less likely than average to discuss their religious views with others, attend church, and to read the Bible. Yet they are 16% more likely to attend church and 8% more likely to pray to God. They are  less likely to attend a Sunday school class (67%); share their faith in Christ with someone who has different beliefs (20%); say their religious faith has greatly transformed their life (24%); and have an ‘active faith’ (36%). Catholics are significantly less likely to believe the Bible is totally accurate; half as likely to share their faith; more likely to say Satan is not real, to believe eternal salvation is earned, and to contend Jesus sinned while on earth. They are also more likely to view Internet porn, use profanity, gamble and buy lottery tickets, yet less likely to say mean things about others behind their back. (Christian Post 7/10/07) 

Marketers have to be careful about using humor when targeting older Boomer consumers. They still like a good laugh, but prefer humor that is more self-deprecating and gentle, vs. humor that relies on belittling someone or something, or is in your face. If you want to successfully navigate this minefield. call 419-238-4082, GFosterCns@rmi.net or www.GaryDFoster.com. (Boomer Project 7/12/07) 

Divorce Decline An Institute for Marriage & Public Policy study shows no-fault divorce leads to a 10% increase in the divorce rate, and divorce is dropping among college grads. Study leader Douglas Allen explains that no-fault divorce increases the divorce rate because “it becomes easier to divorce, less penalized by law.” However, it tapers off after 10 years or so because “young couples delay marriage and search harder for a better spouse.” (Catholic News Agency 7/17/07) 

China Booms The National Bureau of Statistics reports China’s annual economic growth chalked up its 5th straight year of double-digit growth and will soon overtake Germany as the 3rd biggest economy in the world. (USA Today 7/19/07)
Mom Prefers Part-Time Among working mothers with children ages 17 and under, just 21% say full-time work is the ideal situation for them, down from 32% in 97, according to a Pew Research Center survey. 60% (up from 48% in 1997) of working mothers believe part-time work would be their ideal, and 19% would prefer not working outside the home at all. (To The Point 7/20/-07) 

Gifters The typical U.S. gift giver spent $2,643 on gift purchases in 06, plus $78 more on gift cards, wrapping paper, ribbons and other accessories.(Unity Marketing 7/18/07) 

ECFA The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA), a parachurch oversight and accreditation organization, has created a new church division. The new service will help churches demonstrate the highest standards of accountability that convey God-honoring, ethical practices. Benefits include leadership, governance, financial stewardship, fundraising and accountability continuing education. ECFA has also created an affiliate membership, designed for smaller ministries. Affiliate membership does not require the costly CPA audit required for existing accredited membership. (Religion News Service 7/13/07) 

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