It's worse than you think
May. 8th, 2003 09:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elfsYou've probably heard recently the big row over Wal-Mart removing certain literature like FHM, Stuff, Maxim, and other "men's" magazines that feature semi-naked women with huge boobs and sultry eyes on their covers. Most of the press has concentrated on Wal-Mart's assertion that they're trying to make themselves a "family friendly place to shop." What you don't know is why Wal-Mart is seeking this family-friendly perception.
Kingdom Ventures is a venture capital company dedicated to the growth and success of evangelical Christian church-based organizations. Their most successful project is the Christian Merchants Association,, a synergistic advertising campaign in which merchants get special advertising and marketing access to churches and churchgoers, and in return the churches get up to 15% of the money their flock spend at these merchants. (I suspect the "up to" is misleading; it's probably 1-2% in most cases.)
You've probably made the connection between those two paragraphs. Wal-Mart is seeking approval to join the Christian Merchants Association. Not only does this give Wal-Mart an advertising vector with high consumer pre-approval ratings, but it also gives Wal-Mart an additional outlet for their wares: the Kingdom Catalog, a "private label, direct mail catalog" distributed only to churchgoers whose churches participate in the CMA.
What you may not know, but what is of interest to those of us in the Seattle area (as well as others), is that another Seattle institution is currently seeking to join the CMA as well. According to this press release from Kingdom Ventures, Costco has also recently been certified as "A Christian merchant."
I'm not about to suggest that anyone modify their buying habits. But knowing about this little detail-- deftly and quietly kept away from the eyes of the non-Evangelical community-- is important.
Kingdom Ventures is a venture capital company dedicated to the growth and success of evangelical Christian church-based organizations. Their most successful project is the Christian Merchants Association,, a synergistic advertising campaign in which merchants get special advertising and marketing access to churches and churchgoers, and in return the churches get up to 15% of the money their flock spend at these merchants. (I suspect the "up to" is misleading; it's probably 1-2% in most cases.)
You've probably made the connection between those two paragraphs. Wal-Mart is seeking approval to join the Christian Merchants Association. Not only does this give Wal-Mart an advertising vector with high consumer pre-approval ratings, but it also gives Wal-Mart an additional outlet for their wares: the Kingdom Catalog, a "private label, direct mail catalog" distributed only to churchgoers whose churches participate in the CMA.
What you may not know, but what is of interest to those of us in the Seattle area (as well as others), is that another Seattle institution is currently seeking to join the CMA as well. According to this press release from Kingdom Ventures, Costco has also recently been certified as "A Christian merchant."
I'm not about to suggest that anyone modify their buying habits. But knowing about this little detail-- deftly and quietly kept away from the eyes of the non-Evangelical community-- is important.
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no subject
Date: 2003-05-08 01:59 pm (UTC)""Costco and Wal-Mart have been unilaterally pre-approved into our
program because of their strong track record in promoting
Christian products. They are committed to the Christian books and
music category. We believe their focus has been on bestsellers,
and growing the category in the areas where growth is hot.
Wal-Mart and Costco could continue to be the price leaders for
Christian books and music titles, defining the benchmark price
against which other Christian stores will be measured. The
pre-approval enables these companies to join our program at
will," says Jackson.>
It looks like it's up to Costco to determine whether they want to participate or not. Same with Wal-Mart. Thanks for pointing this out. I'm going to wait to see what Costco does about it before I change my buying strategies.
no subject
Date: 2003-05-11 02:33 pm (UTC)Good for you. So far, neither Costco, Borders, nor Barnes & Noble have accepted their "pre-approval" into this organization. A bit more careful reading (like the one you did---and thanks!) would have made it clear that Costco hasn't accepted. I've found nothing ANYWHERE that says otherwise. Of course, this may change, but Elf jumped the gun a bit on this one.