2. F O O T S T E P S
Religion and African America
Survey after survey notes the high level of
religiosity expressed by African Americans
Because the Black Church has been and
remains such an important influence on AA
life, various brands, services and causes
have tried to market to African Americans
through the Black Church
3. F O O T S T E P S
But there is no single Black Church
Just as with African Americans in general
there are a number of aspects to what is
referred to as the Black Church
Each has its own emphasis and orientation
4. F O O T S T E P S
Marketing to the Black Church
Rather than brands, services and causes
treating the Black Church as monolithic, more
appropriately these marketers should match
their message with those most likely to
receive it
• Using this approach, it may be fruitful to think of
the Black Church as a type of medium and to
distinguish among its various channels
• But first let’s explore some African American
religious demographics
6. F O O T S T E P S
Religious Composition:
AA compared to total US
US Total Pop %
• Evangelical
Protestant: 26%
• Catholic: 24%
• Mainline
Protestant: 18%
• Historically Black
Protestant: 7%
• Unaffiliated 16%
African American Index
• Evangelical
Protestant: 58
• Catholic: 21
• Mainline
Protestant: 22
• Historically Black
Protestant: 842
• Unaffiliated 75
7. F O O T S T E P S
% Breakdown for
Historically Black Churches
Historically Black Churches 59%
Baptist 40%
Methodist 5%
Pentecostal 6%
Other 8%
8. F O O T S T E P S
AA Data Skews
AA men are more like to be unaffiliated church
members compared to AA women (16% vs. 9%)
Younger AA’s are more likely than older AA’s to be
unaffiliated (19% vs. 7%)
AA college grads (compared to total AA’s) are more
likely to be members of mainline Protestant churches
(9% vs. 4%)
More Southern AA’s are members of historically
black churches (64%) and more Western AA’s tend
to be Catholic (11%)
9. F O O T S T E P S
Historical Perspective:
The Form of AA worship
1800’s/early 1900’s: AA’s went to black Baptist churches in the
South and mainline Protestant and Baptist churches in the North
The Great Migration--1920’s/1960’s: AA’s created Storefront
churches in the Northeast/Midwest which were often non-
denomination/Pentecostal
The Return to the South--1970’s to now: The birth of African
American neo-Pentecostalism -- the decline of mainstream
church attendance and the rise of the mega church
10. F O O T S T E P S
Segmenting the Black Church
While African Americans are members
of every religious denomination in this
country, what may be more
distinguishing than denomination for the
purposes of developing marketing
targets is the form of how they worship
11. F O O T S T E P S
Spirit Guides: Mega Churches
Traditional Black Churches
Storefront Churches
12. F O O T S T E P S
Traditional Black Churches: Saving the Race
13. F O O T S T E P S
Traditional Black Churches
Traditional black churches have long
been associated with a theology of uplift
From the beginning, during Abolitionist
times and through the Civil Rights era, this
church has had a social activist mission
This church has preached a gospel of group
progress through the spirit
14. F O O T S T E P S
Storefront Churches: Nurturing Connections
15. F O O T S T E P S
Storefront Churches
These churches are an urban North
phenomena
They were started by Southern migrants
who were looking for a more homey and
familial kind of worship, much like what
they had back home
This church tended to be more interested in
feeling and expressing the spirit and nurturing
shared communal and familial ties rather than
in uplifting the race
16. F O O T S T E P S
Mega Churches: Personal Uplift
17. F O O T S T E P S
Mega Churches
In part, as a reaction to the 1960’s/ 1970’s
emphasis on a social activist agenda, African
American neo-Pentecostalism struck a chord
among some who felt that their individual
spiritual development needed more nurturing
While Mega Churches are said to be those with
over 2,000 parishioners, a growing number of
smaller churches are following in their spiritual
path
Some disciples of Mega Church ministers
Some currently growing into Mega Church status
18. F O O T S T E P S
Neo-Pentecostalism
A mix of spirit-filled worship and a philosophy
of black empowerment through personal
efforts
In the past two decades, over 1/3 of mainline
black churches (Baptist and Methodist) have
embraced neo-Pentecostalism and nearly all
AA mega churches have as well
19. F O O T S T E P S
A difference in emphasis
Social Activist Minister wants to…
Transform the system to help raise up the race
Their churches tend to be more liberal
Neo-Pentecostalism Minister wants to…
Transform the person so that they might rise up
Their churches tend to lean conservatively
Store-front Minister wants to…
Nurture their families so that they survive in a
hostile environment
Their churches tend to be more apolitical
20. F O O T S T E P S
Summary Perspective
This three-part church segmentation provides a
classic African American profile that frames the
double consciousness reality of African Americans
worshipers and their church
The Mindsets are real and a true descriptions of the
psychology of African Americans
But for marketing purposes the Church form needs to be
dimensionalized and placed in context so that their relevancy to
brands, services, and causes can be unearthed
21. F O O T S T E P S
What is…
Double Consciousness
W.E.B. DuBois: African American
Sociologist/Philosopher (co-founder of the
NAACP)
African Americans understand that we are
seen as group members in America but
amongst ourselves we are judged as
individuals
This creates identity issues to be reconciled
22. F O O T S T E P S
Reconciling the conflict
Double consciousness may seem to be a
duality
but in real life the range of responses (or better
said: reconciliations) often plays itself out in a 3-
part perspective
much like Hegel’s thesis, antithesis, synthesis
Here we refer to the segmentation of the
Black Church as the Trinity
Consciousness
24. F O O T S T E P S
Storefront Churches
Be around those who will identify with your
common plight and provide a like-minded
support group for your survival, growth, and
development
Live insularly within the black community
25. F O O T S T E P S
Traditional Black Churches
Prove oneself in terms of life-long
opportunities by providing a support group
by which to allow you to extend your talents
and dreams
Achievers who engage with the general market
and accept the struggle with its frustrations and
rewards
26. F O O T S T E P S
Mega Churches
Turn to one’s community for one’s emotional
relevancy while embracing the search
outward for new opportunities in the general
market’s community to explore talents
Individually-oriented and community-focused,
directly connected to the ways of the bible, blend
of emotional and mental pathways
27. F O O T S T E P S
Church Resolution of DC
Storefront Focusing inward
Traditional Extending out
Mega Living in and out
28. F O O T S T E P S
Marketing to the Trinity Consciousness
29. F O O T S T E P S
Traditional Black Churches: Badge Products
30. F O O T S T E P S
Badge Products
Those drawn to Traditional Black
Churches are likely to be drawn
towards products and services that
affirm who they are and their place in
society
31. F O O T S T E P S
Storefront Churches: Staple Products
32. F O O T S T E P S
Staple Products
Patrons of Storefront Churches are
likely to be attractive to products and
services that are home-oriented:
anything that has to do with nurturing
the family and taking care of their basic
needs
33. F O O T S T E P S
Mega Churches: Products for the Spirit
34. F O O T S T E P S
Products for the Spirit
Those who attend a Mega Church are
ripe candidates for products/services
that make their spirit feel better and
provide them with a sense of uplift and
personal elevation
35. F O O T S T E P S
Spirit Guides
Church Resolution of DC Categories TC
Storefront Focusing inward Staple Affiliation
Traditional Extending out Badge Affirmation
Mega Living in and out Spirit Elevation
36. F O O T S T E P S
Products and Approaches
By applying the Trinity Consciousness the
same product/service can be approached
appropriately amongst all by tailoring the
message to a church’s unique atmospherics
Traditional Black Churches: Affirmation
Storefront Churches: Affiliation
Mega Churches: Elevation