Marketing Research Techniques and Mission Branding/Marketing

Today in reading chapter 5 of Blink, entitled Kenna's Dilemma,I received quite an education regarding the benefits and limits of marketing research (illustrations included the rock star Kenna's failure to attain wide recognition due to the limitations of focus group methodology, the reason for and failure of New Coke, the Herman Miller company's successful Aeron chair, and the expertise of professional food tasters and other specialists).

Amongst other observations, the author notes "simply that when we put something in our mouth and in that blink of an eye decide whether it tastes good or not, we are reacting not only to the evidence from our taste buds and salivary glands but also to the evidence of our eyes and memories and imaginations, and it is foolish of a company to service one dimension and ignore the other" (page 164). In conclusion, with regard to Kenna Gladwell notes that "the people who had a way to structure their first impressions, the vocabulary to capture them, and the experience to understand them, loved Kenna, and in a perfect world that would have counted for more than the questionable findings of market research" (p. 186).

In the discussion of Chef Boyardee Ravioli and the picture of the chef Hector which adorns the can, the author notes that "the general rule is, the closer consumers get to the food itself, the more consumers are going to be conservative. What that means for Hector is that in this case he needs to look pretty literal. You want to have the face as a recognizable human being that you can relate to. Typically, close-ups of the face work better than full-body shots. We tested Hector in a number of different ways. Can you make the ravioli taste better by changing him? Mostly you can blow it, like by making him a cartoon figure… The more you go to cartoon characters, the more of an abstraction Hector becomes, the less and less effective you are in perceptions of the taste and quality of the ravioli" (p. 164).

All this had me wondering what principles are being intentionally utilized behind-the-scenes in how we market missions and the denomination these days. Not being in the know, I wonder exactly how the National Office decides how to "put a face" on missions in their promotional work…. What paradigms are at work with regard to which fields to emphasize, which missionaries to put on special tours and promo-ops at General Council (done frequently and very well at this year's council)? Also, what principles are being utilized in the branding strategies we have been seeing in recent years with the new logo, etc? The comments and insights of anyone in the know about marketing in the national office in this regard would be greatly appreciated!

Recovering God's Heart for His Lost Children by Substitute Teaching

God used several messengers at this year's General Council to speak to me, including Jonathan Schaeffer, Ron Morrison, Dennis Episcopo and Scott Slocum (more on the messages of these three after I have more time to process them!). Regarding the last, Scott passionately exhorted us to regain the Father's heart for His lost children.

One place where God has been reminding me of His heart for people these past few months has been in the public school system of the county where I am spending the last part of home assignment before I return back to the field. My experiences substituting have ranged from very good to very bad. The very first day I substituted I was thoroughly abused by middle schoolers—payback for how my classmates and I regarded our substitute teachers all through my schooling years? However, God spoke. Even as I had lost control of the classroom the last few minutes before school ended, one young middle schooler approached and apologized to me privately on behalf of his class. Actually, I believe his apology was an excuse to have a private talk with me. His father had been incarcerated for several years and there was no man at home with whom he could share his heart. Although I could not pray with him in the classroom, God did give me the opportunity to verbally bless him.

In elementary schools, I taught half-day pre-K and full-day kindergarten classes all the way up to fifth grade. I was a little bit amazed that behavior amongst third graders could vary so dramatically in two different classes in the same school! I was reminded as I dealt with a few of these chronic behavioral-problemed kids of the infinite love and patience which God has for me.

With fourth graders, I was amused that the temperaments of kids who had been warned repeatedly before I moved their clothespins to another color (part of the discipline system in some classrooms) would change so dramatically from loudness and laughter to crying and whining like little babies (I guess maybe many of us were like this at that age also—another reminder of God's patience!).

With fifth graders, I was reminded of our utter depravity as sinners as several girls mercilessly taunted and bullied the new girl in class, new in town for only her second day of school. God gave me the chance to intervene on her behalf on several occasions, and to share with her how I had been through similar experiences when as a kid I moved around from school to school numerous times just like she was doing. At the end of the day, she gave me a picture she had drawn of herself (with a tear dropping from her cheek). A picture is something you'd expect from a 6- or 7-year old but certainly not from a fifth grader. God really touched my heart through that little girl.

Experiences in two local high schools were largely positive; however, there was the time one junior would not leave the class as instructed after having been repeatedly warned about his behavior and I had to call the office to send someone over to get him. Little did I know they would send a police officer!

A couple of times I nearly lost it… Once, I laid a hand on the above-mentioned high school student's shoulder when he refused to cooperate… a move which I could have regretted if things had escalated (he was a big guy and I was invading his space). And then there was another group of fifth graders—knowing thoroughly which buttons to press, almost had me rain down a shower of curses on them… negative reminders of the patience and kindness of God as he deals with his errant children.

But the place where I have most keenly sensed the love of the Father has been in a school for special-ed students where I have subbed frequently as of late. Although every individual school has special education options, we have one school here totally dedicated to the purpose. My students have ranged in age from their lower teens all the way up to age 20, but they've all seemed like little kids emotionally and intellectually.

One day I subbed for the music teacher. Part of my job was to hold bells in the hands of students and help them move their arms to the beat of the music, as they were not capable of moving their arms on their own. For others I played CDs and allowed them to beat on drums, tambourines, etc. I heard that the extent of some of the art teacher's projects for any particular day was to help the students touch and mash a ball of clay. In regular classes, I gave the students training assignments of sorting objects in boxes by color or shape… God truly has a heart for these severely disadvantaged kids and I thank Him for giving me the chance through them to glimpse a little more deeply into his heart for all of those around us.

Mileage-Plus! Credit Card: Good Idea Doesn't Pan Out

I'm about 6-2, so whenever I fly, I'm a bit uncomfortable with the lack
of leg room. So, since I'm travelling alone this summer, in order to
have enough mileage to upgrade to a more roomy seat for my trip back
overseas, several weeks back I decided to apply for the Chase United
Mileage-Plus Visa card (Hey-- they throw in 20,000 or so free mileage
just for joining). If that's not enough, United also throws in a free
coupon for an upgrade for one domestic flight and allows me to earn
additional mileage with each dollar spent on the card. Just in time for
my trip to General Council tomorrow! Great idea right? Just wait a year
and cancel the card before the annual fee kicks in...

Unfortunately, after receiving the certificate this past week, when I
called customer service about the desired Orlando upgrade (because the
website wouldn't process it), I was informed that both of my flights
were "one cabin flights" (i.e. not upgradeable). Interestingly enough
though, when I went online again to print out my boarding pass right
after the phone call, it nevertheless gave the option to to upgrade for
4 additional inches of leg room for only $29. So I guess either the web
page has a error, or they just don't want to let passengers use their
mileage for a free upgrade on this flight when they can make a few extra
dollars on paying customers who want to upgrade by spending cash.

Oh well, no big deal. After all, the big reason I got the card was for
the international flight, right? So since the web page wouldn't process
this upgrade either, I called international reservations (neither time
did the web page tell me why my request couldn't be processed).
Unfortunately, I discovered that the mileage upgrade for overseas
flights is only good for the "H" economy booking class and up. The
travel agency I used procured cheaper tickets on
the lower economy "V" booking class. Aarghhh. Stymied by the system
twice when I thought I was being so clever!

The Chase/United Mileage-Plus! idea didn't work out for me like I had
hoped since I probably won't be flying much for a while after I get back
to the field, but it might be something for some of you to keep in mind.
Unfortunately, I only made these two discoveries after having invested
several hours reading all the fine print, applying for the credit card,
and making today's follow-up phone calls. In the midst of this I was
routed twice by the state-of-the-art voice recognition customer service
computer program over to the domestic department even though I specified
"international" clearly both times (Domestic reservations are, by the
way, outsourced to the Phillipines, while the person I spoke with in
international reservations sounded American). Oh well....

Decision-Making in the Blink of an Eye

Recently and quite inadvertently I picked up three different books pertaining either directly or indirectly with the workings of the mind and how human beings make decisions. In a recent post I alluded to the book Blink, which a friend recommended to me recently. Living in the so-called "Age of Information" as we do, we tend to follow the popular adage that the more information you have available at your fingertips to help you with decision-making, the better off you will be. In fact, all that extra information can be more than useless. In times of war or edical emergency, for example, that extra information can be fatal because it confuses the issues. The book is full of dozens of other examples of other costly misinterpretations of data.

But "extra information isn't actually an advantage at all... in fact, you need to know very little to find the underlying signature of a complex phenomena" (p. 136). Overloading decision-makers with information makes picking up that signature harder.

However, while intense scrutiny and analysis often leads one AWAY from an accurate assessment of any given situtation, "thin-slicing" the data by filtering out unnecessary informational parameters leads to a highly accurate diagnosis in an extremely short period of time-- figuratively speaking, not much longer than the blink of your eye. To be a successful decision-maker, you have to edit. Thin-slicing, i.e. recognizing patterns and making snap judgements, is how you do this process of editing unconsciously (p. 142).

When we talk about analytical versus intuitive decision making, neither is good or bad. What is good or bad is if you use either of them in an inappropriate circumstance (143-144). Of course, we have begun to do this in our society more and more often. How might we be doing this in our churches and on our mission fields? There, that's enough of an informational overload for you about this book.

A New Jewish Mother's Prayer

The prayer of a Jewish woman, who adopted a child from Vietnam who immediately got very sick, as told in the book How Doctors Think :

Dear Lord,
Having been created in Your image
I am full of unrealized potential
The realization of which
Depends upon my acknowledgment of the potential,
My recognition of all the gifts from You with which I am endowed,
And my exploitation of the opportunities that lie open before me.
Please Lord, help me rise to meet the challenge.
Let me use those gifts for the benefit of all people.
Dear Lord,
For all that I am
And all that I can be
I thank You.

The story of how this woman lived out her faith-- practicing what she prayed -- from chapter 5, A New Mother’s Challenge is well worth the read.