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Engel’s Strategy Classic: THE ISSUE OF MANIPULATION
By chris | January 12, 2008
From the 1975 classic “WHAT’S GONE WRONG WITH THE HARVEST” by James Engel
Dr. Engel is the retired Distinguished Professor of Marketing and Director of the Center for Organizational Excellence at Eastern College, St. Davids, Pennsylvania. In his career, Professor Engel shifted his emphasis from consumer goods marketing to the application of nonprofit marketing principles to religious organizations worldwide. He has served as a consultant and management development specialist with hundreds of organizations in more than sixty countries.
THE ISSUE OF MANIPULATION
Some will immediately protest that the adaptive strategy is little more than Madison Avenue manipulation. The fear is frequently voiced that a focus on the audience will give the communicator an ability to control the mind of the recipient of the message and somehow circumvent logical thought patterns.
At times, this type of objection is, in essence, an objection to the change that almost inevitably accompanies conversion. “Why do you want to change people?” the evangelist is asked. The best answer is found in the example of Jesus, whose stated purpose was to bring change — to set people free. If the gospel is eternal truth, then change also must be the objective of, every Christian communicator who takes the Great Commission seriously.
Others err by attributing an undue amount of power to the communicator. We must not overlook the fact that each individual is sovereign — each of us determines through a filtering process what persuasive communication we will consider. There is no method known to man by which the filter can be circumvented and lasting change brought about.1
Why, then, is there so much fear of Madison Avenue? Probably the answer lies in the large numbers of advertising success stories and the natural tendency to attribute some semi-magical power to the advertiser. When the facts are examined carefully, they lead to quite a different conclusion. Secular communicators also succeed only if they follow the very principle Jesus and others of New Testament times followed: adaptation of message and media to an understanding of the audience. Those who try a contrary strategy run a dire risk, because nearly 90 percent of all new products introduced each year fail. For example, the makers of a new deodorant, Mennen E, discovered that the product did not survive its national introduction even though $12,000,000 was budgeted for advertising.2 The apparent reason for their failure was that the advertising stressed a product attribute, the addition of vitamin E, which was not relevant to the consumer. On the other hand, Gilette introduced a new men’s hair spray with the theme “The wethead is dead. Long live the Dry Look from Gilette!”3 In two years this product jumped from a 12.2 percent share of the market to 20 percent, and the product did not even exist prior to 1968. Few men want their hair to look greasy or plastered down and Gilette offered a product that met this need.
Secular experience has amply demonstrated that no amount of advertising, no matter how “persuasive” (assuming that there is no deception — quite an assumption in today’s world), will succeed if the program goes against the grain of consumer demand. Most marketing successes begin with a study of the consumer — his needs, interests, and lifestyles — to discover those needs that are not now being met by competitors. Then a complete marketing strategy (considering product, price, distribution, advertising, and selling) is developed and adapted to these demand forces.
By no means are we suggesting that the church naively apply what the secular world knows. in reality, the secular world has discovered and applied the very principles that our Lord Himself used. The need for the Christian communicator today is to follow the Lord’s example, recognizing, of course, that the world is characterized by complexity and change. Thus the adaptive philosophy often requires a formalized approach to planning, complete with audience research and measures of effectiveness. In all probability, the apostle Paul would have used such methods also if he were here today. But the basic task is the same: begin with the audience and focus the Word of God on people so that it speaks to their needs.
1 For a review of the evidence on this point, especially the issue of subliminal persuasion, see James F. Engel, David I. Kollat, and Roger D. Blackwell, Consumer Behavior (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1973), ch. 8.
2 T. G. N. Chin, “New Product Success and Failures — How to Detect Them in Advance,” Advertising Age (September 24, 1973), p. 61. 3 Ibid.
Topics: Engel's Strategy Classic |