The Church in the Market Place: Advertising and Religion in a Secular Age

Can you market God? A case study of the ‘God Speaks’ social marketing campaign

“…A second possibility is that PSAs, or any media or social marketing campaign, would not work for this particular issue despite the fact that many religious organizations utilize marketing tools as they adopt a more consumer‐oriented mindset (Martin, 2006). However, there are examples from the United States and Great Britain of campaigns that have been successful—from the 1990 Christian Aid poster campaign which raised awareness for the charity and significantly increased donations (Percy, 2000), to the programs of the Augustinians of the Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova that utilized a tagline, direct mail, and a branding video, to raise more than $1 million (46% over their goal) (Religious Order Embraces Marketing, Builds Annual Fund, 2008).…”

After Heroism: Religion versus Consumerism. Preliminaries for an Investigation of Protestantism and Islam under Consumer Culture

“…The most obvious case is US-American televangelism. But a more traditional organization, such as the Church of England also spends money on advertising, contracting a high-profile public relations agency (Percy, 2000). The most recent advertisement alludes to the virtual world, asking 'Wanting a second go at life?'…”

Advertising God in Hinduism and Islam

“…It is believed that the success of Mel Gibson's ‘The Passion of the Christ’ in capturing not only the ‘imaginations’ of people (Christian or not) but also its box office success in 2004 was due to the use of the modern film industry in marketing religion (Einstein, ). Percy () classifies the poster and press Christian advertisements in the UK into two groups: those addressing adherents (Literalistic and Evangelistic forms of advertising) and the three categories of Modern, Ironic and Postmodern. The first category is limited in its appeal and scope, while the second group ‘attempt to engage with culture, recognizing that churches are part of the “market place”’ (Percy, , p. 104).…”

“…Percy () classifies the poster and press Christian advertisements in the UK into two groups: those addressing adherents (Literalistic and Evangelistic forms of advertising) and the three categories of Modern, Ironic and Postmodern. The first category is limited in its appeal and scope, while the second group ‘attempt to engage with culture, recognizing that churches are part of the “market place”’ (Percy, , p. 104). He argues that ‘the most potentially effective forms of Christian advertising, in all probability, are visual’ (Percy, , p. 110).…”