Selling Salvation

Shhh. Don't let anyone hear you say this in your local church or temple: Singapore's religions are powerful marketing machines.

Not the most sensitive observation to make in a country in which 85% of citizens and permanent residents profess to be religious. But one need only look at the huge queues for New Creation Church at Suntec City on a Sunday, or the processions of drum-beating young Buddhists in Chinatown, to see that marketers have much to learn from religion.

The poor economy may have thinned the crowds on Orchard Road, but it is having the reverse effect on religious gatherings.

Though they won't give numbers, the Singapore Buddhist Federation, The Muslim Council and the Singapore Council of Christian Churches - the country's three most popular religious groups - all have revealed to Marketing that their follower-bases have grown this year.

"It makes perfect sense that a bad economy translates to higher church attendances," Hari Ramathanan, the regional planning director of Y&R, says. "In times of mental stress, people out of faith come back in. And those without it, seek it."

Religions are competing for this growth in faith-seeking Singaporeans. Master Chan is one of the instructors at the Chinese Buddhist Association, Singapore's largest religious group with 42% share of religion-believers. He says that, though few like to admit it, religions are businesses that rely on marketing to sustain themselves.

"We use marketing to communicate our values and spread our message. We need to stay relevant and tell people why they need us, which is particularly important in the current economic climate," Chan says.

But communicating, even talking about religion is not easy in a country in which promoting religious beliefs can be seen as rocking the boat of the country's delicately balanced religious and racial harmonies.

Singapore's constitution allows for all sorts of religions to be practiced, so long as their activities do not disturb "public order". To try to actively convert people is not acceptable. This is partly why Jehovah's Witnesses, best known for door-to-door preaching and the mass distribution of books, is not legally recognized in Singapore.

Be careful what you say

The government's position on religion meant that the ‘Love Singapore' campaign, created by Ogilvy in 2001 for the country's network of 150 Christian churches, was banned and US$1 million worth of TV commercials pulled before they reached the airwaves. (Even so, the point of the campaign - to position God as a personable, approachable being - was well discussed in the frenzy of media exposure that followed.)

Religion falls within what the former Minister for Information and the Arts George Yeo coined ‘OB (out-of-bounds) markers', the boundaries of what is politically correct to talk about publicly. This seems to apply to communicating religious values too, and to different religions in different ways.

"If Islam tried to advertise itself on a large scale, it would attract suspicion because of its reputation in other parts of the world," Ramanathan says. "It could be seen to be like Union Carbide trying to push batteries or banks selling default swaps."

Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity, however, can speak freer he says. "They don't have the baggage that Islam carries."

Unfortunate stereotypes or not, Singapore's religions are acting on the need to protect their public image and galvanise support.

Islamic groups inform the public about upcoming religious events by advertising in Malay-language newspapers, paid for by travel agents which arrange travel plans for the Hajj, annual Muslim pilgrimages to Mecca. Posters to encourage young Muslims to attend seminars, lectures and fun camps are hung outside mosques, where leaflets are distributed to promote a better understanding of Islam among non-Muslims.

A volunteer at the Sultan Mosque, Singapore's largest mosque with capacity for 5,000 worshippers, says that Islam enjoys a better image than in other countries in Southeast Asia, but says that Islam has "branding legacy issues", mostly because of the planned attacks on Singapore by terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah in 2001.

Re-capturing youth

A strategic focus of Islam, the volunteer notes, has been to instill moral values among youth, build self-esteem and temper the rise in delinquency and unwanted pregnancies. This is a worry for Christians too, and both religions have started to address the issue using the same marketing tool: cell groups.

"Youth are at an impressionable phase in their lives where they are discovering and building their identities. Religion is able to fulfill many voids that they might feel at this point," Kim Tan, a strategic planner at McCann Worldgroup Singapore, says. "Cell groups play a support function allowing them access to a trusted group that they can turn to for advice, encouragement and comfort."

Buddhist organisations, such as the Chinese Buddhist Association, engage young people through cultural activities such as lion dances, charity shows and martial arts training, and through youth groups such as the Buddhist Mission Youth and the Youth Ministry of Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Temple, the largest Buddhist temple in Singapore.

Buddhists are active in universities too, with religious societies set up in all the major high education institutions. So are Christians. The Campus Crusade for Christ has, according to its website, a mission to "build a spiritual movement on every campus in Singapore by turning lost students into Christ-centred labourers for the global harvest".

"The sense of belief and belonging that religion offers bring some semblance of stability, and offers young people a common rallying cry that they can stand behind," Tan says.

Jesus Christ Super-Star

While Buddhism still has the largest share of believers in Singapore, it has not been as aggressive at marketing itself as Christianity, which punches above its weight in terms of brand visibility.

In the past 20 years, the country's Christian population has grown by more than a half, up from 10% to about 15% in 2008 - a good proportion being converts from other religions that they were born into.

Christianity's rise has been so fast that Singapore has become a strategic hub for the religion in Asia, and a base from which Christian missions are launched.

"Christianity undoubtedly remains the most high profile of religions in Singapore, and this is due in large part to the evangelising nature of the religion. Christians are not just brand loyalists, they're active brand advocates," Tan says.

The fastest growing Christian groups have been the evangelical mega churches such as City Harvest and New Creation Church, which Chan of the Chinese Buddhist Association concedes have been "very well organised" in how they reach out to young Singaporeans.

Known for "loud" services led by charismatic pastors, New Creation has grown its membership base from 150 in 1990, to 2,000 in 1997, to 19,000 and growing this year.

City Harvest has more than 27,000 members - and more than half are below the age of 25. For special services at Christmas time, City Harvest has pulled in audiences of more than 57,000 - among the largest congregations in Asia.

How they do it

First-time attendees to New Creation are ushered to the front of the queues that amass at Suntec City's Rock Auditorium before each of four services on Sundays. After the service, new members are led to a "welcome room" where a white-shirted "server" takes down personal details and gives them a welcome pack.

Inside the pack is a booklet on the values of the church, a directory with information on services, meetings and contact details of cell group leaders, an introductory CD of the sermons of "rock star pastor" Joseph Prince, and a church magazine title Solid Rock. The latest issue contains an article on how pastor Prince helped a man with a locked knee walk again by allowing Jesus to work through him.

Outside the auditorium is a gift shop where CDs, DVDs, postcards, posters, books - many written by Pastor Prince - and other New Creation memorabilia are on sale. New Creationists can buy all this on the web too, either at Pastor Prince's online store or at newcreation.org.sg.

The website features a break down of New Creation's finances, which have caused a PR headache for Prince in the past because of his large salary, plush condo and luxury cars. This year, The Straits Times reported that Prince earns more than $S500,000 a year.

Critics also like to point out that Prince's teachings have such appeal because they push the "prosperity message" of financial and material gain. "It is no wonder he gets so many followers," Rien van de Kraats from the Back to the Bible Workgroup is reported to have said.

City Harvest has attracted unwanted media exposure too. It, too, has an healthy balance sheet and plans to build more churches to cater for rocketing attendances have turned heads. As well as its main building on Jurong West Street, the church currently rents an exhibition hall at Singapore Exp, which can seat 8,100 people in a single service.

Like New Creation, City Harvest publishes a magazine, Harvest Times, in English and Mandarin, which have a combined readership of 95,000. The church has its own TV show, Harvest Time, which is broadcast on 13 cable TV stations to a claimed audience of 640 million people worldwide. Services are webcast to 600,000 viewers in 131 countries.

At a service last month, an American pastor used H1N1 as the theme of his sermon, and coined a term of his own: E1R1. Short for "Each one, reach one", it was a call to action for City Harvesters to recruit new members.

A use of topical language delivered with local humour is combined with what observers say is these churches' most effective marketing platform: music.

"The evangelical Christian churches have been brilliant at drawing the young crowd with good-looking, witty pastors with sharp suits and gelled hair," Pat Lim, the managing director of PHD Singapore, says.

"But the secret is music. City Harvest is like one big karaoke session - a sort of religious version of Singapore Idol," she says.

New Creation and City Harvest both have their own music publishing businesses that have propelled them into mainstream culture. Associations with celebrities have helped too. Sun Ho, the wife of Reverend Kong Hee, one of the co-founders of City Harvest, has won fame from working with big names like F.I.R, Diane Warren and Wyclef Jean.  
 


An offshoot of City Harvest, Heart of God, reportedly has plans to quite literally put its brand at the heart of the mainstream by building a mall with a church in the middle, and shops, cinemas and restaurants positioned around it.

High visibility and "mainstream appeal" has, says one media agency CEO, enabled the evangelical churches to attract affluent, upper-middle class Singaporeans who help the church expand faster (and spend more on marketing) thanks to the generosity of their donations.

"It is virtuous cycle," he says, using as an example the $19 million New Creation raised in 24 hours to fund the building of its new premises at Buona Vista, on what it called "Miracle Seed Sunday" in February this year.

God 2.0: lessons from above

Street preachers, a familiar sight on Orchard Road ten years ago, are not so common these days. While it is hard to can beat peer-to-peer networking to win an audience, Singapore's religions have not been slow to use new media to spread their word.

New Creation's Facebook group has more than 3,000 members to whom it regularly sends promotional messages like this one:

"Join us for a rousing and heartwarming time of songs and festivities that will definitely lift your spirits! Come and be blessed by a powerful message of hope. Price: $10 per ticket (exchangeable for a box of mooncakes)."

New Creationists can also follow their church on Twitter, reads its blogs and watch one of Joseph Prince's 4,570 clips on YouTube (his video ‘Become unshakable in times of shaking' is currently the most popular with more than 26,000 views).

Buddhist, Hindu and Islamic groups are embracing web 2.0 too, having recognised the need, as McCann's Tan points out, to turn brand loyalists into brand advocates.

"The peer-to-peer networking structure that religion employs, empowers followers on every level to be an advocate," she says.

The value of the ‘feel good' factor is something else brands can learn from religion.

"One almost always feels good after going to the church/temple/mosque and making a donation because they believe they're earning good karma," she says. "This is a particularly important lesson for brands in light of the current economic situation where many are losing their jobs and have to tighten their belts. Those who have may feel guilty when they spend."

Brands can alleviate this sense of guilt by adopting CSR initiatives linked to the consumer experience. Tan uses her client KFC as an example, which last year donated $0.10 for every Christmas Buddy Meal purchased to the Singapore Association for the Deaf.

One of religion's most successful strategies has been its immersion in local communities. Religions support local activities, raise funds for charities and set up schools. Nestlé's sponsorship of the Community Sports Festival is one example of a brand building bridges at a local level.

Probably religion's biggest allure is that it gives consumers values they can live by. Brands should follow suit, Tan says.

"The values that religions preach are open to interpretation, allowing followers to make it their own. In this way, they don't feel like they are buying blindly into something, but rather adopting a belief system that they genuinely aspire to and abide by in their daily lives."

Appetite for religion in Singapore is likely to grow as the economy continues to wobble, and brands would do well to observe how religions respond through marketing.

Robert Campbell, the managing partner of the brand consultancy Sunshine, has the final word: "Like it or not, an uncomfortable truth is that Singaporean culture has a value system linked to materialism. Religion helps people in their quest for a deeper level of fulfillment. This is their secret. Brands take note."

Box 1: How religious are Singaporeans?

% of the pop. with a religious belief                   Country

99                                                                    Malaysia

98                                                                    Indonesia

85                                                                    Singapore

31                                                                    China

25                                                                    Japan

22                                                                    Hong Kong

SOURCE: CIA World Facts

Box 2: ‘Market share' of Singapore's religions

Religion            Share of population (%)

Buddhism         42.5

Muslim 14.9

No religion       14.8

Christianity       14.6

Taoism             8.5

Hinduism          4

Sikhism            0.5

Other               0.2

SOURCE: Singapore Census