| "Telling the truth about a product demands a | | | | just in case you were wondering) - irrelevance. It |
| product that's worth telling the truth about. Sadly, | | | | simply has nothing to do with the product itself |
| so many products aren't. So many products don't | | | | and will appeal to only a miniscule subset of the |
| do anything better. Or anything different. So | | | | market. While niche marketing is all well and good, |
| many don't work quite right. Or don't last. Or | | | | most companies would prefer to cast a little |
| simply don't matter. " - Doyle D. Bernbach | | | | wider net. |
| What do companies do when their product or | | | | Another reason that religiously based marketing |
| service isn't worth telling the truth about? When it | | | | and advertising fails is that it is one of the most |
| doesn't do anything different or better - or just | | | | effective ways to turn off the vast majority of |
| doesn't matter? A lot of the time, they rely on | | | | buyers. Not only will they know that your |
| hype or outright untruths to try to sell their | | | | marketing message has nothing to do with the |
| wares; some go with publicity stunts and other | | | | product or service in question, but they'll wonder |
| bells and whistles intended to blind consumers to | | | | what it is that you're trying to hide about what |
| the inadequacy of the product or service being | | | | you're selling. |
| sold - and others try to appeal to potential | | | | Case in point: the Minnesota auto dealership who |
| customers using a religious message. | | | | tried to sell cars, trucks and SUVs with a billboard |
| Now wait a minute, I can hear some of you out | | | | informing motorists that they had "good news" |
| there saying. What's wrong with using religion to | | | | for them - and in this case, it wasn't about a sale, |
| try to reach out to consumers who share the | | | | 0% financing or any other kind of promotional |
| beliefs of the advertiser? Quite often, the answer | | | | offer. Did it work for the dealership? Well, it did, |
| is everything. It is possible that marketing | | | | at least in the sense that it got people's attention |
| messages using religious imagery or outright | | | | and a little bit of national media coverage - but far |
| professions of faith could be used to sell a | | | | more important is what it didn't do: sell cars. It's |
| perfectly good product or service, but even so | | | | hard to imagine exactly what the owner of the |
| (and it doesn't happen often, if ever), it makes | | | | dealership was thinking, but as any copywriter will |
| many people suspicious, even if they happen to | | | | tell you, it's unlikely that you'll sell many cars (or |
| agree with the religious message. | | | | anything else, for that matter) this way. |
| Think of it this way. Suppose that you were | | | | It's really just that simple; if you're trying to sell |
| trying to sell a product or service. Would you | | | | something, a profession of faith probably isn't the |
| rather communicate the benefits of this product | | | | way to go about it. The best case scenario is that |
| or service to potential buyers or would you rather | | | | you'll make a few sales to a few people who are |
| take up precious (and expensive) ad space trying | | | | genuinely excited by the religious angle - and end |
| to tell consumers about an entirely different kind | | | | up with a truly dismal return on your investment. |
| of "good news"? | | | | The worst case scenario? You'll turn off both |
| Most companies, of course, choose the former | | | | current and prospective customers. They may |
| option. Given that people are interested in what a | | | | say that there's no such thing as bad publicity and |
| product can do for them rather than whether the | | | | most of the time that's true; but it really does |
| people selling these products regularly attend | | | | exist and this is one of the exceptions to the rule. |
| church/synagogue/mosque services. This brings | | | | If you have a product or service worth selling, |
| us to one of the chief problems of using a | | | | then sell the product, not your religion. Otherwise, |
| religious message to market consumer goods (it's | | | | consumers will think you have something to hide - |
| also applicable to business to business marketing, | | | | and they may well be right! |