Shreddies & The Church
Who would think that the 67 year old breakfast cereal "Shreddies" could serve as a lesson to the church in the 21st century?
While reading the Montreal Gazette’s Business Section I came across a marketing article about the successful campaign to reposition Kraft’s Shreddies. In the extremely competitive world of breakfast cereal its market penetration had declined by 8% and since 1998 its sales volume had decreased by 2% per year. While studying the situation it was determined that the problem wasn’t the product it was the perception of the product. They didn’t need a new product they just needed something to draw the consumer’s attention to what they already had. So, rather than introduce a new cereal they began a campaign introducing "Diamond Shreddies", a campaign that has won awards for advertising and increased sales by 18%.
Now, here’s the rub. Diamond Shreddies are simply regular Shreddies rotated 45 degrees. They’re not a new product, they are simply a repackaging of an old product. In the words of an advertising executive "Our strategy was to make Canadians think about Shreddies again." They did a great job, inspiring spoof videos on YouTube and even the sale of the "last" box of square Shreddies on Ebay for $36.
You may ask, what does that have to do with the church? The miracle of marketing Shreddies was that they knew they didn’t need to change the product - they needed to change the packaging and perceptions of the product. The church must stand strong with the uncompromising and unchanging message of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the authority of Scripture but the presentation of the gospel and the ways that the gospel is communicated will and must constantly be changing as the culture around us changes.
Over the last 25 years we have seen the rise of electronic instruments over church organs and acoustic pianos. Where years ago the debate was about whether there should be drums in the church now it is over whether preaching must be done while standing and screaming or whether communicating while sitting on a stool can be classified as preaching.
My generation was taught in Bible College that a tie was a mark of a minister. Some would even wear one while splitting wood or mowing the lawn. The tie wasn’t Bible, it was traditional yet it was accorded almost sacred status. Now the pendulum has swung in the other direction to what in my opinion is an over casualization and craving for hipness. Yet, it’s all part of the packaging of the gospel.
Churches used to be built with cathedral ceilings and oak benches but now are more likely to be steel structures resembling warehouses with ventilation systems showing in the ceiling and chairs instead of pews. An emphasis on function over form and money for ministry rather than ornate buildings.
Church growth strategies come and go, from bus ministry to Home Bible Studies to cell groups to giveaways. Each one has had their well known proponents, each one has been effective in their time. Each one has reached people for Jesus.
If Shreddies teaches us anything it is that if the church is to be effective we must be able to recognize what is core to our message and what is tradition and style that doesn’t relate well to our modern culture. Looking at the changes that are taking place rapidly in the presentation of the gospel and the way we operate as churches we are bound to be stretched from our comfortable poses, our thinking is sure to be challenged and if we are not careful we will set our default mode to "safe?.
Jesus came and brought change to His world, upsetting the traditions invented by men as they sought to improve on the gospel and it was unsettling to them. Now that I am in my late forties I’m discovering that too often my reflex is "no" because my assumptions and paradigms are being challenged. I’ll probably never drink coffee while preaching, I’ll always wear socks and my wife won’t let me stop shaving to get that Miami Vice cool look but, if it works for someone else and the gospel remains unchanged and Jesus is exalted I’ll try to remember the lesson from Shreddies and applaud along with them.
If you would like to read the article that provoked this post the links are below.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/Entertainment/Shredding+Cassies+pays/1233300/story.html
http://www.montrealgazette.com/Entertainment/Marketing+Report/1035516/story.html
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