How might we bring church to the U.S. faithful using current knowledge of branding and marketing??
Marketing to the Heartland How to build brands for the U.S. faithful
By Paul Jankowski, in AdWeek
There is a new Heartland that is as complex and diverse as the rest of the U.S. It’s comprised of the Midwest, Southeast, and parts of the Southwest—which have more in common than you might think. It includes large, cosmopolitan cities, small rural towns, and spots in the middle of nowhere. Its residents are corporate executives, factory workers, celebrities, soccer moms, debutantes, tobacco farmers, and former U.S presidents.
Marketers no doubt conduct volumes of market research to find ways to engage these customers. But if you want to form a deeply rooted relationship with the 177 million “new Heartland” consumers, you must first understand their lifestyles and core beliefs.
What I found was a very strong common values system that can determine whether the Heartland is won over or turned off. It’s called faith, and it’s a vital lens through which Heartland residents view your brand.
Faith is a massive tenet of America, not just in the Heartland. Notice I didn’t say Christianity? Although that’s certainly the most prevalent, it’s the basic faith in God or a spiritual power that leads us to contemplate our existence here on earth and what happens after we die.