The applicability of some marketing principles to the Gospel

The applicability o f some marketing principles to the Gospel Geloofsending, Pinkster Protestantse Kerk, Full Gospel Church o f God/Volle Evangelie Kerk van God and Assemblies o f God. From this analysis it was evident that the Pentecostal/Charismatic groups are growing, the English mainline denominations are stagnant while the Afrikaans mainline denominations are declining. The primary objective o f the research was to test the possibility that some modem marketing principles may be applicable in the proclaiming o f the Gospel. The secondary objective o f the study was to ascertain the possibility that the growing group is more open to, and indeed is using some marketing principles in one way or another, that the declining group is the least inclined to using mar­ keting principles, and that the stagnated group lies somewhere between these two extremes. 2. Method o f research The encumbrances o f the Church (manifested by the visible decline in member­ ship and the Church's impotence to influence society at large) referred to above, only appear to be the actual problems. Spiritual discernment recognises these failures to be merely the manifestations o f the core problem. Informal inquiries, perusal of assorted publications, observations, and personal experience have led to the conclusion that the deficiences suffered by the Church were not due to the debasement o f the product, or the introduction o f competitive products the two most common reasons for organisational default (Wolfaardt, 1992:130). These findings necessitated an empirical research. The most obvious route of examining external secondary sources was followed a procedure which resulted in the analysis o f the census figures. After having penised the contents o f internal secondary sources (public and private), it was concluded that this method would not really satisfy the demand for an elucidation o f the identified core problem, and that a primary research project was called for. Since ‘marketing problems’ is a very expansive term, a plethora o f pertinent facts were listed which had to be reduced into a practical questionnaire. Van Doren and Smith (1985:14) designed a self-analysis for non-profit organisations, gauging their marketing acumen. It was consequently decided to use their experience after considerable adaptions to the contents o f their original questionnaire. The questionnaire which was used in this empirical study comprised twenty questions o f which one was open ended, six were simple dichotomous, and thirteen were ranking questions on a sixpoint Likert scale. The questions were divided into 170 Koers 58(2) 1993:169-181 l.D. Wolfaardt & G.J. de Klerk four divisions designed to diagnose the Church's marketing acumen in terms of orientation, research, planning and control. The composition of the population necessitated a sample design which would accommodate the characteristic structure o f the Church. Therefore each o f the methods o f stratified random sampling, cluster sampling and systematic sampling contributed to arriving at a conclusion. A sample size o f 250 was regarded as both practical and reliable enough to yield the necessary accuracy. Initially respondents were contacted by post, some of whom had to be followed up by personal or telephonic interviews. Eventually a total response rate o f 56% was recorded. 3. The stew ardship marketing concept Since the late 1950's the marketing concept has started to exert its influence on the unsophisticated consumer, who was not ready to deal with new phenomena brought about by powerful marketing instruments. Characteristic o f this period of time was that the average consumer, by and large, had no awareness o f what it re­ quired to be a discriminating shopper. Millar (1963:4) states that the consumers were obsequious to shopkeepers, overindulgent to manufacturers and, all too often, merely symbols to be manipulated at will by advertising agencies. The exploitation of consumers and their counter actions through various activist organisations, the abuse o f the profit motive, and the exploited environment are indicative that the marketing concept, in spite o f its superior efficiency to other philosophies o f marketing, and in spite o f the fact that it is not fully applicable to the Gospel, is in any event not an appropriate concept for the Gospel. The reason is that a concept that can be so readily distorted, must have inherent weaknesses which could equally misconstrue the mission o f the Church Because o f the growing concern o f the general public regarding these matters, the social marketing concept found its existence. In spite o f marketing thought having reached its pinnacle in the adoption o f the social marketing concept, it still is an objectionable concept. In essence it remains the profit motive, which is the only driving force for such marketing activities, albeit tempered by an expression o f social responsibility o f some kind. The judgement is not against the motive for profit but against profit being the only or dominant driving force. Even the social marketing concept, although tempered by humanistic ideals, is still not the appropriate concept for the Gospel since it is intrinsically still amen­ able to the failings o f man-made philosophy. Although some philosophies o f marketing were found to be partially applicable, none were worthy o f the Gospel. All the existing marketing philosophies are proKoers 58(2) I993. I69-I8I 171 The applicability o f some marketing principles to the Gospel duct or consumer orientated and rely on a man-made product which can be adap­ ted at will to suit whichever human (producer or consumer) desire. The Gospel is, in its core, a given, perfect and unalterable product. As such it needs a marketing philosophy which will carry its benefits and sacrifices to a market which will benefit from it. A new concept o f marketing the stewardship marketing concept thus had to be formulated. Man is appointed by God to be a steward o f the earth and its re­ sources and o f one another with an ultimate responsibility to his Creator. People should be served by satisfying their (responsible) needs and wants in such an effective, and efficient way that the realised profit will be able to sustain the company, and guarantee its continuation. Stewardship marketing must discover what underlying need man is desirous o f for fulfilment, and fulfil it by a way becoming o f a steward. It is therefore not the Gospel which must be subjected to change in order to be adapted to the desires o f the market, but the stewardship marketing concept, being sensitive to the real need o f people, presenting the Gospel in the most effective manner. It is this philosophy guiding the stewardship marketing concept which has been used as a yardstick to measure the applicability o f some marketing principles to the Gospel. Is it possible, however, to embrace all exchange relationships with the science of marketing, regardless o f what the exchange comprises? This seems to be a pos­ sibility as confirmed by Novelli (1989:15) who states that successful nonprofit marketing has helped to increase public acceptance o f disabled persons, has discouraged pregnant women from smoking, has prevented forest fires, has fought drug abuse, has curbed the spread o f Aids, and has even encouraged people to eat more fruit. Because o f this broadened marketing philosophy it seems to be an equally valid deduction that the stewardship marketing concept could be applied to the Gospel. This deduction has little value if the Church, the instrument God uses to proclaim the Gospel, does not qualify for marketing management as well, and this test was therefore the next critical one. 4. Is the principle o f market segm entation applicable to the Gospel? All the segmentation methods applied to the Gospel were found to be measurable, accessible and actionable (Wolfaardt, 1992:44-50). This means that, potentially, the Gospel can be as effectively marketed through target marketing as any other product, in spite o f the structural unattractiveness o f most o f the segments the 172 Koers 58(2) 1993:169-181 l.D. Wolfaardt & G.J. dc Klerk Church would operate in. It has been indicated as well (see Wolfaardt, 1992:5558) that the Church could, and should, position (and re-position) herself against her many competitors so as to clearly distinguish the product it offers (the Gos­ pel), from the other relatively inferior products on the market. Since light dispels darkness the Church could also reposition its competitors, especially though the tools o f promotion. With conventional market segmentation, consumer characteristics and behaviour have been analysed in detail to identify profitable segments. However, since brands vary widely in their perceived characteristics, marketers should find merit in focusing on the consumer's perception of these characteristics as well. It was established that there is a firm relationship between a product and its brand (Cravens, 1991:391-397). In some cases branding is so strong that it becomes the product in the mind o f the consumer. An example o f this phenomenon is where the brand name adopts the generic name for the product. The same pheno­ menon can be applied to the Gospel. Religious people, meaning people who (most probably) were raised by parents who regularly attended church, and who are still perpetuating the habit o f going to church, tend to judge all spiritual things consistent with their (brand) experiences o f the past and present. Rothberg (1976:223-234), with the concept o f beyond market segmentation, has indicated that people discriminate among the various brands in a market accor­ ding to their perceptions of the brand's real or imagined characteristics, and then choose brands whose characteristics they prefer a preference which is in accor­ dance with their own personality. That explains why the true Church can comprise a variety o f denominations and congre


O b jectives o f the study
The Church, even the dynamic Church, needs some additional m easures to render it more effective in the environment o f the 1990's.Since the science o f marketing plays such a critical role in the success o f modem business it w as decided to enter into a study to test the applicability o f some marketing principles to the Gospel.
Based on census information released by the Central Statistical Service o f the Republic o f South Africa for 1926Africa for , 1951Africa for and 1980, trends in church membership were analysed.The M ethodist and Presbyterian denominations represented the English mainline churches.The N.G.Kerk, N.H.Kerk and the Gereform eerde Kerke represented the Afrikaans mainline churches while the Pentecostal/ Charis matic churches were represented by the Apostolic Faith M ission/Apostoliese

M ethod o f research
The encumbrances o f the Church (manifested by the visible decline in member ship and the Church's impotence to influence society at large) referred to above, only appear to be the actual problems.Spiritual discernment recognises these failures to be merely the manifestations o f the core problem.
Informal inquiries, perusal o f assorted publications, observations, and personal experience have led to the conclusion that the deficiences suffered by the Church were not due to the debasement o f the product, or the introduction o f competitive products -the two most common reasons for organisational default (W olfaardt, 1992:130).These findings necessitated an empirical research.
The most obvious route o f examining external secondary sources w as followeda procedure which resulted in the analysis o f the census figures.
After having penised the contents o f internal secondary sources (public and private), it was concluded that this method would not really satisfy the dem and for an elucidation o f the identified core problem, and that a primary research project was called for.
Since 'marketing problem s' is a very expansive term, a plethora o f pertinent facts were listed which had to be reduced into a practical questionnaire.Van Doren and Smith (1985:14) designed a self-analysis for non-profit organisations, gauging their marketing acumen.It was consequently decided to use their experience after considerable adaptions to the contents o f their original questionnaire.The questionnaire which was used in this empirical study com prised twenty questions o f which one was open ended, six w ere simple dichotomous, and thirteen were ranking questions on a sixpoint Likert scale.The questions w ere divided into four divisions designed to diagnose the Church's marketing acumen in terms of orientation, research, planning and control.
The composition o f the population necessitated a sample design which would accommodate the characteristic structure o f the Church.Therefore each o f the methods o f stratified random sampling, cluster sampling and systematic sampling contributed to arriving at a conclusion.A sample size o f 250 w as regarded as both practical and reliable enough to yield the necessary accuracy.Initially respondents w ere contacted by post, some o f whom had to be followed up by personal or telephonic interviews.Eventually a total response rate o f 56% was recorded.

T he stew ardship m arketing concept
Since the late 1950's the marketing concept has started to exert its influence on the unsophisticated consumer, who was not ready to deal with new phenomena brought about by powerful marketing instruments.Characteristic o f this period o f time was that the average consumer, by and large, had no aw areness o f what it re quired to be a discriminating shopper.Millar (1963:4) states that the consumers were obsequious to shopkeepers, overindulgent to manufacturers and, all too often, merely symbols to be manipulated at will by advertising agencies.
The exploitation o f consumers and their counter actions through various activist organisations, the abuse o f the profit motive, and the exploited environment are indicative that the marketing concept, in spite o f its superior efficiency to other philosophies o f marketing, and in spite o f the fact that it is not fully applicable to the G ospel, is in any event not an appropriate concept for the Gospel.The reason is that a concept that can be so readily distorted, must have inherent w eaknesses which could equally misconstrue the mission o f the Church Because o f the growing concern o f the general public regarding these m atters, the social marketing concept found its existence.In spite o f marketing thought having reached its pinnacle in the adoption o f the social marketing concept, it still is an objectionable concept.In essence it remains the profit motive, which is the only driving force for such marketing activities, albeit tempered by an expression o f social responsibility o f some kind.The judgem ent is not against the motive for profit -but against profit being the only or dominant driving force.
Even the social marketing concept, although tempered by humanistic ideals, is still not the appropriate concept for the Gospel since it is intrinsically still amen able to the failings o f man-made philosophy.
Although some philosophies o f m arketing w ere found to be partially applicable, none w ere worthy o f the Gospel.All the existing marketing philosophies are pro-Koers 58(2) I993.I69-I8I duct or consumer orientated and rely on a man-made product which can be adap ted at will to suit whichever human (producer or consumer) desire.The Gospel is, in its core, a given, perfect and unalterable product.As such it needs a marketing philosophy which will carry its benefits and sacrifices to a market which will benefit from it.
A new concept o f m arketing -the stew ardship marketing concept -thus had to be formulated.Man is appointed by God to be a stew ard o f the earth and its re sources and o f one another with an ultimate responsibility to his Creator.People should be served by satisfying their (responsible) needs and w ants in such an effective, and efficient way that the realised profit will be able to sustain the company, and guarantee its continuation.
Stewardship marketing must discover what underlying need man is desirous o f for fulfilment, and fulfil it by a way becoming o f a steward.It is therefore not the Gospel which must be subjected to change in order to be adapted to the desires o f the market, but the stewardship marketing concept, being sensitive to the real need o f people, presenting the Gospel in the most effective manner.
It is this philosophy guiding the stew ardship marketing concept which has been used as a yardstick to measure the applicability o f some marketing principles to the Gospel.Is it possible, however, to embrace all exchange relationships with the science o f marketing, regardless o f what the exchange com prises?This seems to be a pos sibility as confirmed by Novelli (1989:15) who states that successful nonprofit marketing has helped to increase public acceptance o f disabled persons, has discouraged pregnant women from smoking, has prevented forest fires, has fought drug abuse, has curbed the spread o f Aids, and has even encouraged people to eat more fruit.
Because o f this broadened marketing philosophy it seems to be an equally valid deduction that the stewardship marketing concept could be applied to the Gospel.This deduction has little value if the Church, the instrument God uses to proclaim the Gospel, does not qualify for marketing management as well, and this test was therefore the next critical one.

Is the principle o f m arket segm entation ap plicab le to the G ospel?
All the segmentation methods applied to the Gospel w ere found to be measurable, accessible and actionable (W olfaardt, 1992:44-50).This means that, potentially, the Gospel can be as effectively m arketed through target marketing as any other With conventional market segmentation, consumer characteristics and behaviour have been analysed in detail to identify profitable segments.However, since brands vary widely in their perceived characteristics, marketers should find merit in focusing on the consumer's perception o f these characteristics as well.It was established that there is a firm relationship between a product and its brand (Cravens, 1991:391-397).In some cases branding is so strong that it becomes the product in the mind o f the consumer.An example o f this phenomenon is w here the brand name adopts the generic name for the product.The same pheno menon can be applied to the Gospel.Religious people, meaning people who (most probably) were raised by parents who regularly attended church, and who are still perpetuating the habit o f going to church, tend to judge all spiritual things consistent with their (brand) experiences o f the past and present.
Rothberg (1976:223-234), with the concept o f beyond market segmentation, has indicated that people discriminate among the various brands in a market accor ding to their perceptions o f the brand's real or imagined characteristics, and then choose brands w hose characteristics they prefer -a preference which is in accor dance with their own personality.
That explains why the true Church can comprise a variety o f denominations and congregations with the same product (the Gospel), but each with a different brand image, and each attracting people according to their unique perception o f the brand characteristics.With this concept o f beyond market segmentation there is no need for the different denominations within the true Church to be in strife at all.From this disposition the research for the study has been conducted.

Is the G ospel a product?
The Gospel can be identified by the same ingredients Kotler Style concerns the unique manner o f branding, managing the evi dence, and packaging the environment each intermediary (could be a congregation) displays.

B ra n d name:
Everything the Church does is branded.The con gregation's name (affiliation) is the brand name by which it (the Church) is identified.
The augmentation o f the Gospel is found in the emotional (fellowship) and m a terial (welfare) activities o f the Church.Congregations succeeding in customising their augmented product instead o f standardising it, will (like any other business enterprise) experience exceptional growth, because o f the much needed and appreciated individual recognition that accom panies this policy.This is nothing other than taking a sincere, loving interest in a fellow human being.
Since the Gospel, as a product, lends itself to product support systems the m ar ketplace can experience the promised benefits and satisfactions.The Church can manage a pre-sale service strategy (where the service must be tangibilised and the evidence sincerely managed), and a post-sale service strategy.The most impor tant aspects o f a post-sale service strategy deals with after sales anxiety, repair services, training services and maintenance service, which the Church is quite capable of.Once a prospect becomes a client, a relationship is established which embodies a certain amount o f equity.This equity must be enhanced lest the delicate relationship becom es jeopardised by com petitors or disillusionment.
There are a number o f ways in which the Church can enhance the equity even through systemisation and industrialisation (which is an area to explore in further studies).
Since the characteristics ordinarily inherent in tangible products com pare well with those possessed by the G ospel, it would seem that the premise put forward by Fine (1981:22) is substantiated that an idea can serve as a substitute for see-mingly unrelated tangible products.That is why the Gospel is a substitute for any product and therefore in a broad sense every product is in competition with the Gospel, rendering idolating a common practice today as in ancient times.

Can the G ospel be exchanged for scarce resources?
In its simplest form marketing can be described as the exchange o f tangibles and intangibles.This definition presupposes discernible value, and at least two par ties for a transaction to take place.If an exchange has not been transacted there could have been no marketing.These w ere the criteria, in terms o f price, which w ould qualify the Gospel for marketability.
Price is what a consumer must sacrifice (give up) in order to obtain the benefits being offered.Money, however, is only the monetary element o f price.Fine (1981:84-86) has, for instance, indentified four non-monetary ingredients o f price.
Examples o f non-monetary price, particularly relevant to the Church, include sacrifices like time, effort, love, power, prestige, pride, friendship, family rela tionships, abstention, and adaption o f a different life style.A close look at these various elements o f non-monetary prices seems to justify the term social price.
It has been proven (see Wolfaardt, 1992:84-97), through the concept o f social cost, that all the price and value activities involving the Gospel relate to mar keting actions, and even marketing terminology like value, cost, price, pay, sacrifice and buy are well used theological terminology, as found in the Bible.
Since an industry is made up o f close substitutes it follows that these substitutes have a high cross-elasticity o f demand, explaining why, if one product rises in cost, the dem and for the other will rise.This is true for the Church (industry o f religion) as well.If the social cost o f the Gospel in a particular congregation rises, the dem and for other congregations will increase.The findings o f this re search (W olfaardt, 1992) seem to allude to the supposition that a substantial part o f new members gained by one growing church can be due to brand switching from other less dynamic churches instead o f the Kingdom o f God being expan ded.
In selecting the pricing method it is acknowledged that there is a cost element (crucifixion o f the self), which is fixed (fixed cost), but the variable cost (social cost), and the impact o f quality (the meeting o f needs), are valuable elements o f pricing to enhance the total value.Value can be enhanced by cost control, w aste control and quality control through responsibility accounting (Rayburn, 1979:7).
Conversion is a (major) purchase decision, and typically, the need arises to evaluate the expenditure.This post-purchase behaviour can (and should) be pro-perly managed since it will have a direct influence on repeat purchase behaviour, brand loyalty, and post-purchase equilibrium.
The Gospel is in fact being priced by the Church, whether the Church know s it or not, and all the pricing tools and strategies are available, and must be managed by the Church.

Is the potency o f prom otion tools ap plicab le to the G ospel?
Van der Schroeff (1965:10-11), who could not have been influenced by the more recent development o f concept marketing, stated in 1965 that the value o f an asset is based on two factors: * the utility it represents/exudes/releases to the owner, * and the sa crifices which will be encountered/dem anded to replace it with a substitute.
Here in short (even defined in cost accounting terms), is defined the importance o f promotion to the Gospel.Through promotion the target market must be in formed (communicated to) what utility God has created for mankind, and through promotion the target market must be informed w hat will have to be sacrificed should the Gospel be substituted for any other product (satisfier o f needs).The individual must know and recognise what benefits a product (the Gospel) will offer him in order to want it, and he must also know what loss he will suffer if he goes without it.He must also know the negative characteristics o f a product which will prevent him from wanting it.This statement summ arises the role pro motion strategy can play in the marketing o f the Gospel.
The negative pow er in the art o f communication w as recorded by Clark (1988: 260), in his recount o f how Smirnoff vodka w as prom oted to be the desired drink o f the sixties and seventies within a juvenile consumer public.
On the positive side, it would seem that, from w hatever angle promotion is viewed, the Gospel can be, and should be promoted by the same business and marketing principles as any other product.

C onclusive findings o f the em pirical research
Because o f changing perceptions and w ants, to name but tw o volatile elements in society, it is inconceivable that any organisation can be lethargic in the midst o f relentless activity.The dynamic environment thrusts a life cycle on any product, brand or organisation, whether the affected recognises it or not.This means the Church is subject to the same life cycle concept as described by Dalrymple and Parsons (1982:356-359).According to these authors an introductory phase is followed by various stadia o f growth ending in decline, with the eventual demise o f the product.
Jesus introduced the Church and because o f acceptance, the Church entered into a dynamic growth phase for the first two hundred years culminating in almost the whole known world being converted to Christianity (see Cerullo, 1979:60).A long period o f maturity, with a 'cycle-recycle pattern' followed (this pattern w as due to m ajor revivals that took place).Some churches are now in a serious declining stage (see paragraph one), some have becom e obsolete and have disap peared already, and some are on their way to dem ise for the very same reasons products become extinct (see Towns et al., 1983:173-184).A church can be come stale, changing her characteristic function to becom e inactive (dead), neither experiencing nor discharging the vibrant life o f Jesus Christ, and in the process becomes part o f the false church -which can perish as has been con clusively proven by the demise o f churches in the post W orld W ar II in Europe.
(See Towns et al., (1983:13), Burger, (1990:3); also Rev. 2:5.) The object o f this empirical research was to establish whether the successes or failures denominations experience in their growth, indicated by their status on the Product Life Cycle (PLC) curve, correlate with their level o f marketing pro ficiency.Since there was a remarkable difference in growth figures betw een the different strata, it w as premised that some inferences should be possible.
Experience taught Van Doren and Smith (see paragraph 2) that a non-profit orga nisation with a total o f between 80-100 is 'marketing sm art', a score o f 60-79 suggests good marketing sense, while a total o f 40-59 indicates a w eak aw areness o f marketing, but any lower count calls into question the organisation's ability to survive.
Based W hereas the three different strata w ere specifically tested for their marketing aptitude, and whereas the results are summarised in Table One, it is logical to deduce that one o f the reasons for stratum C's superior growth perform ance must be her acumen to employ some marketing principles contrary to stratum B which displays a low marketing disposition, and stratum A which divulge a very low marketing disposition.The secondary objective o f the study undertaken has been attained by this substantiation o f the supposition.
Although some marketing principles have been found to be applicable to the Gospel, strata A, B and C has each in its own way (revealed by the analysis o f the questionnaire) dem onstrated the serious lack o f the Church to employ these principles to the benefit o f the Kingdom o f God.Since the deficiency vests in the Church (people, and not God), and the Church is part o f the distribution system, The denominational Church is used to an exclusive distribution system where each congregation has its own territorial rights.This is common business practice and protects the profitability o f the retailer, but can also encourage staleness.
Another common business practice is selective distribution and its application is found in the hierarchy o f the International Fellowship o f Christian Churches (IFCC).This fellowship com prises almost all the independent Charismatic churches founded after 1980.They carefully select and test an applicant before approval to affiliation is given.
There is merit in both systems, except that, standing alone, it does not allow for intensive distribution, which, in the case o f the G ospel, does not militate against exclusive, or selective distribution methods.In proposing a new distribution policy for the G ospel, there is no need for substitution -only for supplementation.The Church can err by seeing itself as a strictly facility-dependent service with a heavy reliance on capital intensive fixed assets, sited at convenient points around the community.However, the Church is in the fortunate position to perform its services independent o f fixed structures o f mortar and brick, to be also a facilityindependent service.Its services are deliverable and can therefore be separated from the facility.Therefore electronic and print media as well as a host o f other channels for example cnisades, street and/or house to house/office to office and numerous kinds o f person to person outreaches (by means o f personal encounters, telephonic contacts or direct mail) to name but a few examples, can be employed simultaneously -devices which would therefore constitute a multi-channel marketing system.Koers 58 (2) 1993:169-181 This suggested relationship for the Church keeps existing hierarchies intact since it does not depend on ownership or on an agreement, but on leadership -stem ming from expertise, financial, and administrative resources through able faci litators.

A new channel strategy for the Church
The proposed strategy is primarily based on three principles underpinning this new channel stratagem: * The 'p u ll th rough ' p rin cip le.

*
The m ulti-channel m arketin g system .

*
The a d m in istered v ertica l m arketing system .
Such a strategy is based on a facilitator which should develop a coordinated multi-marketing strategy for the Gospel.Since no individual channel-member is qualified (in terms o f training, financial, or administrative resources) to take on the role o f leader, a new qualified, and non-sectarian channel-leader must be created who can, 011 behalf o f all the cooperating churches, build an aw areness o f the Gospel (pull through principle) for intensive distribution through a multi channel marketing system.This strategy can be described as a multi-channel administered vertical marketing system.

C onclusion
product, in spite o f the structural unattractiveness o f most o f the segments the l.D. Wolfaardt & G.J. dc Klerk Church would operate in.It has been indicated as well (see W olfaardt, 1992:55-58) that the Church could, and should, position (and re-position) herself against her many com petitors so as to clearly distinguish the product it offers (the G os pel), from the other relatively inferior products on the market.Since light dispels darkness the Church could also reposition its competitors, especially though the tools o f promotion.
(1988:446-447) uses for secular products.*Thecore product: The core o f what the Gospel offers to man is spiritual fulfilment.Benefits o f spiritual fulfilment must be offered, and not merely the features o f the Gospel.The marketer o f the Gospel know s that when the benefits o f this product are experienced it will be more fulfilling than any other substitute.Peace with God and man, for example, will obviate the use o f liquor, drugs or status symbols.When applying marketing principles to Koers 58(2) 1993:169-181 the Gospel, it is possible to translate the core product into a tangible pro duct.*Thetan gible product: The tangible product can be identified by four typical characteristics:• Q u ality denotes the com petence (spiritual and organisational) with which the Gospel is presented, through various services, by people o f diverse ministries.•F eatures represent the practical value o f the Gospel in everyday circumstances.Services and fellowship in various forms, including home gatherings and visitations, are examples.
Stratum C comprises the Apostolic Faith Mission and International Fellowship o f Christian Churches (being the Pcntccostal and Charismatic Churches respectively).Stratum B comprises the Methodist and Presbyterian Church Stratum A comprises the N O .Hcrvormdc and Gerefomieerde Kerk distribution system which must be corrected and therefore the distribution system needs special attention.9.A suggested distribution policy for the G ospel 9.1 M u lti-c h a n n e l m a r k e tin g s y s te m s 9 .2T h e a d m in is t e r e d v e r tic a l m a r k e tin g s y s te m -a n e w a p p r o a c h f o r th e C h u r c h to m a n a g e s o p h is tic a te d m a r k e tin g te c h n iq u e s Traditionally this marketing system is recognised by the coordination of successive stages o f distribution and origination through the significant role of one o f the parties in the system.Thus, a joint venture under the leadership o f any o f these participants boost their individual turnover by promoting a common cause.None o f these parties experiences any conflict o f interests as all o f them build their respective kingdoms.

*
The stew a rd sh ip m arketing co n cep t fully applies to the Gospel.*Thecreation o f an assortment o f utilities can be facilitated by effective m a r ket segm entation.*TheGospel can be regarded as an intangible p ro d u c t which can be m arketed through concept marketing.*TheGospel can be transacted; it has a p ric e , and therefore an exchangeable value, which can be enhanced through cost, quality, and w aste control by means o f responsibility accounting.* Advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, publicity, and reseller support -the five major tools in p ro m o tion -are applicable to the Gospel.*TheGospel is disseminated to people through a variety o f intermediariesthe distribu tion systems which form the distribution structure unique to the Church.