An historical cultural segmentation by Footsteps to bring to light the variations of places of worship within the African American community

1. Spirit Guides
A Segmentation of the Black Church

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

5. F O O T S T E P S
AA Religious Context

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

23. F O O T S T E P S
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