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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

September 25, 2008 edition of

The FOSTER Letter—Religious Market Update

Shopper Change While it’s no news the softening economy is changing consumers’ retail preferences, it is a little surprising by how much: A TNS Retail Forward survey finds 26% of U.S. consumers are now shopping at stores other than their usual favorites to save money, and they are consciously avoiding more upscale and specialty retailers. Power centers continue to gain share, stealing it away from strip centers and regional malls, with 60% of shoppers saying they shopped frequently at these types of shopping centers in July vs. 56% in June. Consumers are also making a concerted effort to save money on gas with 75% planning their errands differently, 58% seeking out more one-stop-shopping sites, and 55% looking for stores closer to work or home. And 26% are shopping online more frequently--a trend especially strong among women, midlifers and more affluent shoppers. (Marketing Daily 9/3/08)

Megachurch Growth U.S. Protestant congregations with at least 2,000 people in a typical weekend averaged a 5-year growth rate of 50%. Over 20% of megachurches had an increase of 100%. Slightly more than 10% showed stagnation or decline. The findings come from a study entitled Changes in American Megachurches: Tracing Eight Years of Growth and Innovation in the Nation's Largest-Attendance Congregations. Despite the bigger congregations, these churches have not expanded facilities. Average weekend megachurch attendance in ’08 is 4,142 while average main sanctuary seating is 1,794 due to an average of 5 weekend services. 37% hold satellite services and 22% more are thinking about it. Megachurches average 2 satellite locations offering a total of 4 services. (Christian Post 9/13/08) 

When Marketing to Women, treat them with respect. Make sure they know you value them and feel they’re important. Women want to be referred to as women, not ladies or girls or (gasp) ma’am. Offer choices and time. Women don’t want things to feel impulsive. They want to research and be offered time to make decisions and have choices. Women are loyal. If they have had a good experience, they’ll keep coming back and tell their friends. Women develop psychologically through relationships, so human transactions are important in their everyday lives. They relate to faces. Put resources into expanding your market to women, including marketing new products and training in customer services. Women are fiercely loyal once they sign on as a customer, so it’s worth the investment. Pay attention to details. Women absorb details about everything. Biologically they are caretakers and gatherers, and our culture and socialization condition them to pick up nuances and to read their environment. They use both the right side and left side of their brains and cross hatch information easily. It all matters. (American Marketing Association Newsletter 8/9/08) 

Trend Watching is about observing and understanding what’s already happening, the major and the minor, the mainstream and the fringe—in our case, in the consumer and Christian ministry/business arena. While spotting and tracking trends, not everything applies to everyone, and virtually every trend has its anti-trend. Furthermore, the new doesn’t always kill the old. I can help you identify current trends and how likely they are to impact your organization. Contact 419-238-4082, gary@garydfoster.com or www.garydfoster.com. (Trendwatchers 9/5/07) 

R.G. Mitchell Closes 74-year-old Ontario-based R.G. Mitchell Family Books, Canada’s largest Christian distributor, has closed its doors. The company recently filed for bankruptcy. Its 7 Christian retail stores are also closed. Company officials could not be reached for comment. (Christian E-tailing 9/18/08, Foster Network 9/16/08) 

Church Kids Get Better Grades Church attendance has as much greater effect on a teen’s GPA than whether the parents earned a college degree. 7th to 12th graders who went to church weekly also had lower dropout rates and felt more a part of their schools. On average, students whose parents received a 4-year college degree average a GPA 0.12 higher than those whose parents completed only high school. Students who attend religious services weekly average a GPA 0.144 higher than those who never attend services, found the Univ. of Iowa study. Why do these students do better? • They have regular contact with role model adults from various generations. • Their parents are more likely to communicate with their friends’ parents. • They develop friendships with peers who have similar norms and values. • They’re more likely to participate in extracurricular activities. Other studies have shown regular church-goers breathe easier and live longer. Kids whose parents go to church are better behaved and more well-adjusted. Researchers cite the social-network and psychological benefits of churches. (CR Online 8/23/08) 

Donors cite the #1 reason for ceasing their support is the way they were treated, from not being thanked to an avalanche of needy appeals. It is indeed cheaper to keep a customer/donor than to find a new one. Thank your donors 3 times as often as you appeal for donations. Make your thank-you message personal and show them their impact. (Network for Good Learning Center 8/14/08) 

Ad Challenge According to an Association of National Advertisers survey, 53% of marketers from a broad cross-section of categories and industries expect their advertising budgets to be reduced in the next 6 months as a result of the tough economic climate. 87% are already being challenged to find cost savings or reductions within current marketing and advertising efforts. (Center for Media Research Brief 9/10/08) 

Asian Americans Although Asians only represent 5% of the U.S. population, they are among the most educated and affluent U.S. consumers. Census Bureau data reveals the median age among Asian Americans is 34.8 vs. 36.2 for the total population. They spent $459 billion on products and services in ’07. Direct-mail influences 22% of their product purchases. 48% have earned a bachelor’s degree, and they earn an impressive median annual income of $63,900. They are also among the most active in the digital world. (Deliver Magazine Issue 4, Vol. 4, 9/08) 

Zondervan will publish a new biography of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the running mate chosen by Republican presidential candidate John McCain. To be released 10/10, Sarah Palin: A New Kind of Leader by Joe Hilley will explore Palin’s career in politics, her life as a hockey mom and her committed Christian faith. It also explains how they influence her style of leadership and alignment with the country’s changing economy in the information age. (Christian E-tailing 9/8/08) 

Leading Indicators Every business and ministry must identify their “Top 10 Leading Indicators”—those critical activities and results that must be ruthlessly measured.  The Top 10 List requires board, CEO and senior team buy-in. Columns on the one-page report will show the weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual goals—with actual results and variances against the goal for those reporting periods. I can help you identify yours. Contact me at 419-238-4082, gary@garydfoster.com or www.garydfoster.com. (John Pearson’s Your Weekly Staff Meeting 9/18/07) 

Global Web Capacity Growing For years, stories have emerged claiming that the Web is heading for a massive traffic jam, but according to TeleGeography Research, international Web traffic surged 53% in ’07, but Internet capacity grew even faster, easing the burden on many Internet backbones. Traffic grew 47% in the more-mature U.S. market vs. 112% in Central and Latin America. (Publisher’s Lunch 9/5/08) 

Ad Pages might be down and circulation unsteady, but magazine audiences are still growing, finds Mediamark Research and Intelligence. A comparison of data for reading consumer magazines from spring ’08 and spring ’07 reveals 74% saw their audience increase 4.3% while business magazines saw double digit growth. (Media Daily News 9/17/08) 

Today’s Most Avid Book Readers are seniors. They know, treasure and can afford good books. Neglect them and miss sales! I can help you find and even update the titles from your backlist they will want to buy and read. Let me help you mine your backlist today. Contact me at 419-238-4082, gary@garydfoster.com or www.garydfoster.com. 

Promise Keepers Bill McCartney, 68, has returned to Promise Keepers as CEO and Chairman 5 years after having resigned. He also brought back former PK executive Raleigh Washington as President. The leadership change comes as attendance has been declining at PK events for years. Tom Fortson, former President and CEO, has voluntarily stepped down. At its peak in ’96, the organization held 22 stadium conferences and drew 1.1 million men. Although the number of conferences has remained stable, attendance keeps falling. In ’06, some 132,000 participated in the organization’s 18 conferences. The new leadership will be rolling a fresh new vision and plans very soon. (Christian Post 9/14/08) 

Debt Burden The average American household is now buried under mortgage debt of $84,911, car and tuition loans of $14,414, home equity loans of $10,062 and credit card debt of $8,565—in sum, outstanding debt totaling $117,952. Federal Reserve data says the average household savings this year are a mere $392. (AARP Bulletin 9/08) 

Social Media Sleuths A new CareerBuilder.com survey finds 22% of all hiring managers have combed through social media profiles (mostly on LinkedIn and Facebook) to help evaluate potential hires, up from 11% in ’06. Checking out some of the more serious blogs often helps identify top notch communicators or creative types. About a quarter of those who had used social media in the hiring process said they found content “that helped solidify their decision” to bring in a specific candidate. On the other hand, more than a third found content that disqualified a potential hire. The top 3 disqualifiers were the person had posted info about themselves drinking or using drugs, inappropriate photos, or showed they had poor communication skills. Some hiring managers also look at peoples handles on Plurk or Twitter, noting, “They can be very telling.” People are on their best behavior during an interview, but when they’re on MySpace or Plurk, they’re showing the world who they really are. (Online Media Daily 9/11/08)

For information on how to become a subscriber to the entire 3-4 page Foster Letter---Religious Market Update, E-mail us at: subscribe@garydfoster.com