CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
Background To The Study
Advertising is the well-thought-out and clearly composed impersonal communication activity used to send out information about products (goods/services/ideas) to targeted audiences in a persuasive manner. It may or may not be for commercial purposes. This is usually paid for by an organization and is done through various media mainly the mass media (Radio, TV, print), outdoor (billboards, banners, pull-ups), direct mail, internet adverting among other platforms (Arens, 1999).
Advertising pervades every web and tissue of society. It is regarded both as a reflection and an architect of culture: its words and images reflect the present and even the past, as they contribute new sounds and symbols that shape the future (Bovee, Courtland, Thill, Dovel, Marian, 1995).
To some, the primary goal of advertising is to sell where as to others advertising creates magic in the market place (Leiss, Kline & Jhally, 1989). To many the “Holy Grail” in advertising is its ability to achieve the magic of continuously reaching the prospect wherever they live, work, play and buy convincing them to keep buying or patronizing a service.
Advertising presents a pure and palpable paradox. Though a form of mass communication strategy, effective advertising is aimed at targeted audiences, segmented according to scientifically determined bases, including socio-demographics, psychographics, geographic, behavioural or lifestyle variables.
Brand advertising provides consumers with information about the brand’s value proposition that differentiates it from its competitors, thereby encouraging consumers to choose the advertised brand over competing brands (Krishnamurthy 2000). In recognition of the potential and enormous commercial relevance and value of advertising in the secular settings by religious organizations, there has been an adoption of this marketing tool by religious organizations, especially churches, to give publicity to the sacred.
As Christianity expanded in the postwar era, its primary retailers, local churches, embraced the popular promotional methods of the broader market. Advertising became one of the conduits for religious retailers to adopt and adapt the methods of the marketplace to compete with other businesses for customers. In so doing, these experts of the 1940s laid a new foundation for the industry of religious retail (Hardin 2013).
Church advertising is one of the integrated marketing strategies used by contemporary churches in communicating to their publics. Church communication varies in approach and implementation depending on the model and heritage of the church (Plude, 1994). Thus, the historical antecedence, structure and belief systems of a church determines its acceptance or otherwise of marketing approaches in sacred activities. Over the years, churches have gradually adopted Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) strategies to promote membership growth and encourage commitment (Wilson, Keyton, Johnson, Geiger, & Clark, 1993). The practice of IMC, together with good leadership qualities, is believed to be the major strategy used for church growth (Lau, McDaniel, & Busenit, 1993). IMC, which is made up of advertising, public relations, marketing, and sales promotions, has become a common phenomenon in both the orthodox (Rodrigue, 2002) and charismatic churches (Newman & Benchener, 2008). By using door-to-door evangelism, writing articles in the newspapers, the use of billboards to publicize
their events (Vokurka, McDaniel, & Cooper, 2002), tele-evangelism (Asamoah-Gyadu, 2005), posters, banners (Gordon & Hancook, 2005), media coverage of events, radio advertisement (Newman & Benchener, 2008), websites and other social media platforms (Ihejirika, 2008), churches are communicating more than ever with their varied stakeholders.
