There is a plus side to targeted marketing, where companies and conservative groups have created win/win situations-where nobody gets hurt and nothing is compromised.
Case in point: Vienna, Va.-based Cable & Wireless Inc., the U.S. arm of Britain’s Cable & Wireless plc, recently struck a deal with Christian Financial Concepts-“a nonprofit educational ministry”-to provide the group, which prints “Money Matters” newsletter and produces a daily Christian-oriented financial radio program, with long-distance telephone service.
C&W was chosen by CFC partly on the recommendation of the Georgia branch of the Christian Coalition, which chose the carrier because of its reported commitment to “traditional family values,” and partly because it provided the lowest bid and best call-accounting service.
According to the August 1996 issue of “Money Matters,” CFC President Larry Burkett touted the company for “taking a stand for the basic values that conservatives and Christian families support,” compared to other large companies that “are condoning, sponsoring and supporting anti-family programs and services.” This is the first time the ministry has chosen to recommend a product or service to its constituency. Burkett is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.
Pointing to a June 27 letter from C&W Chief Operating Officer Joseph A. Basile Jr. that said in part that his company “declines to support causes that demean or otherwise encourage the corruption of family values,” Burkett encouraged readers who own businesses to think about changing their long-distance service from their present carrier to C&W. Burkett also talked about the carrier’s merits on one of his radio programs in late August.
Part of CFC’s contract with C&W includes a 5 percent rebate of all C&W revenues gained from any CFC supporter who switches service, which goes directly into the ministry. In his monthly message, Burkett based his C&W testimonial on four premises: morality, quality, cost and revenue, which Burkett termed as “CFC’s last consideration.”
Indeed, Dan Becker, speaking for CFC, acknowledged that many carriers cater to “affinity groups” and offer special deals in hopes of gaining additional customers. “We could have gone with anyone,” he added.
AT&T Corp. and Sprint Corp. would not discuss any targeted marketing strategy or any special deals made with any particular demographic for competitive reasons; MCI Communications Inc. and GTE Corp. were unavailable for any comment. An AT&T spokesman did say, “You have to adjust your plans to take in all groups-consumer and business.” Speaking for Sprint, Sydney Shaw said her company had been doing “affinity group” deals for years, with special plans set up for ethnic groups, athletic interests and fund-raising events.
According to C&W’s Basile, his company’s commitment to family values is based on plain old good corporate citizenship, including the fact that the company put family-leave clauses in its employee handbook long before they were mandated by Congress.
