Filed under: Comment
So while I was in La La Land, I saw this:
Yes, that’s right, a dating site for Christians.
A place where you can meet someone who gets off on reading passages from the bible … where every glass of red wine reminds them of the blood of Christ and where at the end of every date, you are guaranteed to get nothing more than a firm handshake.
OK, I’m being a prejudiced twat … especially as there’s 5 million of the buggers on this site alone … but I find the religious market fascinating, if only for the fact they are consistently ignored by so many agencies and corporations.
Alright, I understand that in many cases, these are everyday people who consume the same brands and products as the rest of us, however as Guitar Praise showed us, there are many opportunities to develop brand extensions that specifically appeal to this ‘mass niche’ group.
Sure there’s the chance that directly appealing to a religious group may put off others – however if the product/brand has been customised to appeal specifically to that group, I don’t think it would alienate the other customers, especially because they’ll probably not even see it, let alone know about it.
So next time you have a campaign to do for a client – think about what you can do to make specific groups of people be particulary attracted to your brand rather than simply chasing the masses … trust me, it’ll not just make your job more exciting and interesting, it’ll make case-study magic.
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five fucking million people all looking to go out on dates where you get no fucking action till the rings have exchanged? they might as well chuck their fucking cash on the fire.
Comment by andy@cynic December 15, 2011 @ 6:51 amgood job theyre a bunch of fucking hypocrites and will bang as much as the next person. unless the next person is billy.
Comment by andy@cynic December 15, 2011 @ 6:52 ampeople should be glad for christian mingle, in this age of everyfuckingthing digital, theyre taking the “waste of time and energy” singles out of the dating pool so the rest of us can focus on finding the people who wont object to giving a blowjob on the way to the cinema.
good work.
Comment by andy@cynic December 15, 2011 @ 6:56 ami should start catholic girls mingle. everyone knows those girls put out and then just ask for forgiveness later. what a fucking great religion that is.
Comment by andy@cynic December 15, 2011 @ 6:57 amfind gods match for you? since when did he get so fucking lazy?
fuck me, if he can make the earth in 7 days he should be able to connect some bible basher to another in a blink.
shit headline. or anti christian headline. or some bollocks.
Comment by andy@cynic December 15, 2011 @ 6:59 am+1
Comment by Billy Whizz December 15, 2011 @ 9:50 amalmost a decent point in all this shit campbell.
that holiday managed to do something 20 years of professional education failed to do. fucking amazing.
Comment by andy@cynic December 15, 2011 @ 7:01 amIs Andy, Richard Dawkins?
Comment by DH December 15, 2011 @ 7:08 amare you calling me a fucking dork? fuck you richard twatins.
Comment by andy@cynic December 15, 2011 @ 7:16 amYou’re on excellent form today Andy. Unless you’re religious, then you’re the devil personified.
Comment by Rob December 15, 2011 @ 8:41 amA fine example of an excluding campaign. The ungodly need not apply, nor those with a QR allergy.
Comment by Chris December 15, 2011 @ 7:08 amim all for the excluding shit, would you want these fuckers in your dating pool?
Comment by andy@cynic December 15, 2011 @ 7:53 amGood point, Andy. They’re providing a public service.
Comment by Chris December 15, 2011 @ 4:35 pmI hadn’t realised Billy was religious, but since Andy suggests that his dates are one long firm handshake, what am I to conclude?
Comment by John December 15, 2011 @ 7:45 amhe has the personality of a planner. at fcb.
Comment by andy@cynic December 15, 2011 @ 7:50 amReligion baffles me. So much so that I recently went on an Alpha course to see if I could better understand faith and believers. I’m still baffled, but your point about focussed marketing is on the money because it’s exactly that focus which shows you understand them and avoids you making generalisations that can actually alienate those people you’re pursuing.
Comment by John December 15, 2011 @ 7:54 amyou mean you went to find some chicks.
Comment by andy@cynic December 15, 2011 @ 8:04 amNo, that would have been a rookie error.
Comment by John December 15, 2011 @ 8:11 amand stop complimenting campbell, its fucking disturbing.
Comment by andy@cynic December 15, 2011 @ 8:05 amAll the women on that site sign up because they’ve been with me and they think they’ve been touched by god. Love god.
Comment by Billy Whizz December 15, 2011 @ 7:58 amas deluded as a fucking moonie.
Comment by andy@cynic December 15, 2011 @ 8:09 amNot wishing to be argumentative with a celebrated planning director etc but I think I disagree. A close look at data suggests thar buyers of one brand are not that different to another apart from extreme examples like the one you use. I wonder if the trick is more about being distinctive in a relavent way to a big slice of the Market rather than talking to a minority that doesn’t really exist. and yes Andy my kids are keeping me up and yes Andy I’m talking planner bollocks. Deal with it
Comment by Northern December 15, 2011 @ 8:00 amI agree with you too. Colour me baffled.
Comment by John December 15, 2011 @ 8:04 amcolour me baffled? isnt that the name of some shit band campbell played with in the 80s?
Comment by andy@cynic December 15, 2011 @ 9:01 pmthat depends on the fucking person doesnt it groper?
and what is extreme? religion? there might be a bunch of fucking nutters in there but theres a fuckload of the bastards that are more normal. on the outside at least.
on face fucking value it might look like they all want the same things, but look a bit deeper and a religious fucker might also want someone who shares the same faith as well as the same values and that little addition to the dating criteria can make a big fucking difference to a brand and its fucking profits if it understands them and does something with it.
you fucker, youve got me talking your planning bollocks as well.
Comment by andy@cynic December 15, 2011 @ 8:13 amBut you didn’t enjoy it – that’s the key difference.
Comment by John December 15, 2011 @ 8:22 ami enjoy being fucked off. work that bastard out freud.
Comment by andy@cynic December 15, 2011 @ 8:38 amIt’s like the magic of Christmas time : Water becomes wine, animals speak with human voice, Andy talks like a planner.
Comment by toto December 15, 2011 @ 10:40 pmmore importantly, do all kids have sleep defects?
what the fuck have i done!
Comment by andy@cynic December 15, 2011 @ 8:14 amAnd you thought you’d been generous with the love shack purchase.
Comment by DH December 15, 2011 @ 8:14 amjust saw this. yes dave, i fucking did and i fucking was.
Comment by andy@cynic December 15, 2011 @ 8:57 pmMinority is in the eye of the beholder.
That’s deep.
Comment by DH December 15, 2011 @ 8:15 amI understand what you’re saying Northern – and I agree to a degree – but apart from the fact ‘audience understanding’ data is quite dependent on what the audience understanding data has been set up to ‘discover’, we – as an industry – tend to favour ideas that appeals to the largest mass of audience as is physically possible which often translates to ideas that causes the least offence rather than has the greatest meaning.
Now I understand why that happens – and in many cases, there are brands or products that appeal to people regardless of their cultural/ethical/religious attitudes and beliefs [eg: tissues] … however my argument is that there are occasions where with a bit of NPD or comms adaptation, you could make your brand/product much more specific to an [oxymoron alert] “large niche” meaning that you will get them seeking you out rather than you chasing them through pure price, distribution and advertising channels.
Would the LG Mecca phone [the one that had the digital compass built in so Muslims would know which direction to pray] of sold 2.5 million phones if they’d simply sold it as a phone with a compass?
Who knows … but gut tells me by targeting this ‘large niche’ group specifically, it made more of an impression – and had more meaning – to people looking for a phone than if they hadn’t.
It’s not always right … it does have many issues that need to be appreciated, but to discount it just seems like we’re doing ourselves – and our audience/clients – a disservice.
Now, can you tell me who this celebrated planning director is you’re talking about because there’s no one here of that description.
Comment by Rob December 15, 2011 @ 8:59 amThis comment scares me. I haven’t read it, I’m just scared by it.
Comment by Billy Whizz December 15, 2011 @ 9:22 amWith respect, ‘large niche’ was what I meant by large slice.
Comment by northern December 15, 2011 @ 11:54 pmIt’s bloody Weigel’ fault getting me to read that Ehrenberg Bass stuff, I’m not entirely sure what I think yet, but the it fascinates me see that Nike customers for example don’t seem that different to Adidas, and at least half buy both. What I’m taking out at the moment is that it’s more important to be distinctive rather that worry too much about being differentiated.
Naturally, the question is then how to be distinctive, which is where, but I believe that’s where looking at how the category fits into wider life becomes important, what tensions exist in that and providing some sort of answer, challenge or point of view.
That brings me to a white hot rage at social media gurus who assume anyone can be arsed to spend time with brands. They can’t. Fucking co-creation. The only people that can be arsed to do that are the 10% of wierdos who actually love your brand. MAYBE they can act as advocates, but that’s a big bet.
Anyway, what’s Dodds doing agreeing with me? Must a ruse for something
So we’re basically agreeing … we just have different ‘terms’ for what we’re saying.
Basically.
Bloody typical.
And good call on blaming Martin, he’s my justification for everything good/bad as well.
Comment by Rob December 16, 2011 @ 8:11 amAren’t we getting back to target the behaviour not the person?
Comment by John December 15, 2011 @ 8:21 amwhy the fuck did we ever stop targeting behaviour? its not all about actions its also about opinions but if you find what people say and compare it to what they fucking do, then you are on to something that can make fucking great shit happen. cultural provocation as planning twats like campbell say. or just good fucking ideas as i say.
Comment by andy@cynic December 15, 2011 @ 8:37 amBecause behaviours don’t fit into spreadsheet cells.
Comment by John December 15, 2011 @ 8:46 amIt’s not just what people do … it’s also what they wish they could do, but don’t/can’t because of ten million factors. That’s called insight. It’s quite good at times.
Comment by Rob December 15, 2011 @ 9:00 amSloppy use of the term “behaviour” on my part.
Comment by John December 15, 2011 @ 9:09 amyawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwn.
Comment by andy@cynic December 15, 2011 @ 9:16 amim yawning at campbell doddsy, not you. for once.
Comment by andy@cynic December 15, 2011 @ 9:16 amI like this post, especially what you say in the last paragraph. It’s something that is too often forgotten, by marketers as well as agency people.
I don’t think I agree with Northern’s point while I do, scarily, think I agree with Andy’s “beyond face value” and Dave’s “minority” comments.
Marketing to subgroups has many implications, however 5 million members of Christianmingle.com suggests this is not an audience that should be commercially ignored. It also suggests this is an audience that will respond favorably to brands that build their offering around people’s religious beliefs rather than purely their romantic requirements.
Having once worked on match.com, I know they also a religious ‘option’ in their dating criteria and on face value, this should be enough to satisfy everyone. However I believe for people who are strong practitioners of the Christian faith, they would favor a location that is built with them specifically in mind and the numbers being claimed by this organization seems to validate that decision.
Comment by Pete December 15, 2011 @ 8:29 amyou had me at “i agree with andy”.
best fucking insight youve ever had.
Comment by andy@cynic December 15, 2011 @ 8:35 amIn view of the QR code, there are 5 million tech-savvy members. There’s an opportunity to market tech products to them.
Comment by Carol December 15, 2011 @ 8:38 amAs a recent facetious tweet said: outside of people who work in marketing, media or tech, 2011 has seen a doubling from 4 to 8 in the number of people scanning QR codes.
Comment by John December 15, 2011 @ 8:42 amI’m with Doddsy on this …
So much is done by adland because of what they want rather than what their audience want. Sure, it can help ‘lead change’, but in too many cases, it appears it’s done so they can show their clients how ‘in the know’ they are because they’ve sold all the other reasons why they should be embraced down the river.
Comment by Rob December 15, 2011 @ 9:05 amoh fuck, this is going to be one of those serious fucking posts isnt it. im going for dinner with the child carrier. need to convince her that my beauty sleep is much fucking more important than hers. or the beautiful demon child.
Comment by andy@cynic December 15, 2011 @ 9:08 amOh what I’d give to be a fly on the wall. Hope you’re wearing protective gear Andy.
Comment by Rob December 15, 2011 @ 9:21 amGod can haz QR codz.
Comment by Marcus December 15, 2011 @ 5:24 pmAm I missing something with all this ‘z’ stuff? Is it like Allianz who are doing that horrible ad campaign that ends with the line, “Change Happenz”.
Sorry, long day. As usual.
Comment by Rob December 15, 2011 @ 5:55 pma long day of doing fuck all doesnt count campbell.
hello marcus.
Comment by andy@cynic December 15, 2011 @ 8:58 pmgood post. and discussion.
Comment by toto December 15, 2011 @ 7:53 pmi hope youre feeling happy with yourself toto. you were the fucker that wanted campbell to return to writing this shit.
Comment by andy@cynic December 15, 2011 @ 8:59 pm