CHAPTER TWENTY
Marketing – convincing of a need.
Marketing is the art of convincing people that they have a need and that you have exactly what they want, impressing upon them that, that which you have is better than anything else around. They need to know that it will improve their lifestyle, their health, their wealth and their security. But people tend not to easily give up what they have earned in exchange for something else and they need to be convinced that they cannot do without your product, whether it is a service or goods.
There came a time when the children of Israel needed something. It was a time when they found themselves enslaved by the Egyptians and they cried out for freedom. God heard their call:
And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.
And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them. (Exod.2:23)
This was a time when their relationship with God was not what it should be, in fact, from subsequent events we know the Israelites worshipped the idols of the Egyptians and God was unknown to them. Therefore God needed a representative, someone who would present Him to the people. That someone was Moses, but Moses had a few problems of his own. He was eighty years old, had a speech impediment and a bad self-image, apart from that he had been living in the wilderness of Midian for forty years and we know what desert life can do to your appearance. But what followed was a marketing exercise ‘par excellance’. I do not mean to belittle or demean the work of God in any way, but we are discussing marketing and what better example can we have but from God Himself.
God needed a ‘salesman’, someone who could ‘sell’ Himself to the Israelites, and He chose Moses with all his faults. By today’s standards Moses would not even get through the front door of the recruitment agency never mind an interview with the ‘Boss’. But God needed the weak and inadequate to demonstrate His ‘Product’ – Himself. He had to demonstrate that He was more powerful than Pharaoh and all the gods of Egypt.
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; (1Cor.1:27)
As a ‘salesman’, the first thing Moses needed to know was what he was ‘selling’:
And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?
And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
(Exod.3:13-15)
A Name that would be forever, a Name that would attract the attention of the Israelites, a Name that would create enough curiosity so that Moses would have the opportunity to present his ‘Product’. But before Moses could present his ‘Product’ he needed to believe in it. He needed to know who God was and what God could do. He needed to be convinced.
And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee.
And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.
And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.
And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:
That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee.
And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.
And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.
And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. (Exod.4:1-8)
Now that the ‘salesman’ knew and believed in his ‘Product’ he could depart on his sales trip satisfied that there would be a demand for his ‘Product’. The first person he met on the road was his brother Aaron and together they proceeded to ‘market’ God.
And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel:
And Aaron spake all the words which the LORD had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.
And the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.
(Exod.4:29-31)
What a sales pitch - the Israelites had asked for freedom, but were offered much more. They saw the power of God and knew this was an offer they could not refuse. When marketing your product offer more than the customer wants. Show them what your product can do that others can’t. Show them why your product is better than similar products on the market, not only for the once off sale, but the far more lucrative repeat business.
Unfortunately, when the Israelites came to the border of Canaan and sent in the twelve spies, only two of them came back convinced that the risks were worth it. The other ten came back with negative images of what they had seen. They could not see any advantage for themselves, only hardship and death. They had forgotten the power demonstrated to them just a short time before. Marketing is an ongoing exercise, people must not be allowed to forget your product.
Caleb and Joshua were unable to convince the multitude of the benefits of conquering the land. Even the presentation of luscious fruit, grapes and figs and pomegranates, milk and honey could not persuade them, life, it would seem, was more precious than all the good things the world has to offer. As hard as they tried, Joshua and Caleb could not market Canaan to the Israelites. Marketing is more than the package, more than a list of benefits, the price has to be right. For the Israelites, on this occasion, the price demanded was too high.
Looking at the book of Judges, we see the roles reversed. The Israelites occupy the land of milk and honey, but forget the importance of eternal life. Their bodies satisfied, they are happy to turn their backs on God, and every so often, it becomes necessary for God to send an enemy against them to remind them of their most important need, Him.
The same thing happened years later, and God sent the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar to conquer Judah, and carry the Israelites away into exile. It was while in exile in Babylon that the Israelites finally came to see the light and destroyed their idols forever.
In the New Testament the Apostle Paul had the same problem. Convinced by Jesus on the road to Damascus of man’s need for salvation, he set out to ‘sell’ his beliefs to the world. As a salesman he was not very convincing:
For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible. (2Cor.10:10)
And Paul suffered a lot as a result. But what he lacked in presence and eloquence he made up for in knowledge and persistence, thus we today have his letters as part of our Bibles. These are letters that were sent to remind congregations of their constant need for Jesus.
People need to be continually reminded of how much they need you and your products, more even, than their money.
To market yourself and your product, you need to know yourself and your product both the good and the bad. You need to be convinced before you will be able to convince any potential client or customer.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. (Prov.18:21)
Success is in your mouth, all the packaging, the special offers, will mean nothing if you do not convey a sense of confidence in your product. This is evident in Paul’s life as well. He never allowed the beatings and stoning, the hardships and depravation to influence his presentation or his ‘customers’. No negative image of the business or product must be conveyed. A negative image cost the Israelites another forty years in the wilderness. Companies today pay out fortunes to keep bad publicity and a negative report out of the public eye.
It is however, important that you believe in what you are marketing. Once you are convinced, once you can sell the product to yourself, you can develop a marketing strategy to convince others. Moses used personal knowledge of the great ‘I Am” to convince the Israelites to leave Egypt. Paul used his knowledge of the Scriptures and his own personal testimony of his encounter with Jesus to convince the various nations. God used signs and wonders to demonstrate to Pharaoh that He was the one true God. Joshua’s strategy was obedience, Samson’s strength, Nehemiah used tears to convince the king and Solomon used wisdom.
The purpose of marketing is to sell, but to do that you as salesperson need to be convinced of the products viability. Get to know your product down to the finest detail and the detail will sell itself.