chabad house johannesburg - university of cape...

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Chabad House Johannesburg:

The Role of Integrated Marketing Communications in Outreach and Fundraising

A Case Study Research Report

Presented to

The Graduate School of Business

University of Cape Town

In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the

Masters of Business Administration Degree

By

Saul F Abrahams

29 November 2000

Supervisor: Dr Amy Seidel Marks

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Acknowledgments

This case study is not confidential. It may be used by the Graduate School of Business

for teaching purposes.

I wish to express my gratitude to Rabbi David Masinter of Chabad House

Johannesburg for making this research report possible and to Dr Amy Marks for her

support and guidance throughout the development of the report. I also wish to thank

my wife, Jenny, for her constant encouragement, support and love during the MBA

process.

I certify that except as noted above the report is my own work and all references used

are accurately reported.

Signed:

Saul Frank Abrahams

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Chabad House Johannesburg:

The Role of Integrated Marketing Communications in Outreach and Fundraising

ABSTRACT

Chabad House Johannesburg is a religious Jewish outreach organisation. Under the

directorship of Rabbi David Masinter the organisation has initiated an extensive

marketing campaign. The campaign aims to raise the awareness of the various

outreach programmes the organisation runs for members of the Jewish community. A

key component of the campaign has been the use of newspaper and billboard

advertising targeted at secular Jewish youth who are considered to be out of touch

with their Jewish faith. The advertisements have been described as both innovative

and risqué and are certainly a departure for an orthodox Jewish organisation.

This study takes an integrated marketing communications (IMC) perspective of a

social marketing situation. The case looks at the requirement for consistency in

delivery of the marketing message across the promotional mix.

KEYWORDS: Integrated marketing communications (IMC), promotional mix, social

marketing, behaviour change, segmentation, fund raising.

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Theoretical

overview

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Table of Contents

1 Introduction ...........................................................................................................1

2 Integrated Marketing Communications..............................................................1

3 Marketing Strategy and the IMC Strategic Plan ...............................................3

4 The Role of the Coordinator and Consistency of the IMC Message ................6

5 Customer Orientation and Segmentation ...........................................................8

6 Behaviour Change and Social Marketing .........................................................10

6.1 PRECONTEMPLATION STAGE............................................................................11

6.2 CONTEMPLATION STAGE .................................................................................11

6.3 ACTION STAGE ................................................................................................11

6.4 MAINTENANCE STAGE.....................................................................................12

7 Aligning Social Marketing and IMC .................................................................12

8 Conclusion............................................................................................................14

Appendix One.............................................................................................................16

Appendix Two ............................................................................................................19

References...................................................................................................................20

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Graduate School of Business UCT MBA 2000 Research Report

Theoretical Overview 1

1 Introduction

This overview provides theoretical insights into some of the key requirements for

constructing an effective integrated marketing communications (IMC) campaign in a

social marketing context. The overview uses examples from the marketing and fund

raising initiatives of Rabbi David Masinter, director of The Lubavitch Foundation’s

Chabad House1 Johannesburg, to illustrate the various elements of the integrated

marketing communications mix and their application.

The overview begins with a description of the various elements of the integrated

marketing communications mix. The role of marketing strategy, an IMC strategic

plan is discussed. The role of the coordinator, consistency in IMC and the use of

target audience segmentation is then explored. The overview concludes with insights

on behaviour change from social marketing theory and the alignment of IMC and a

behaviour change model.

2 Integrated Marketing Communications

Marketing theory groups the various tools of promotion as follows:

Advertising

Direct marketing

Sales promotion

Publicity / public relations

Personal selling

1 Chabad House, is the name used to describe the Lubavitch outreach centres located throughout the world. Chabad House

Johannesburg is one such centre.

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Table 1- Description and examples of the elements of the IMC / promotional mix

IMC Element Description Example from Chabad

House

Advertising

All forms of paid for non-personal

communication about an organisation,

product, service, or idea by an identified

sponsor.

The use of posters and newspaper

advertisements to promote Chabad

House’s education and outreach

programmes.

(See appendix 1 for examples)

Direct marketing

Direct communication by an

organisation with an existing customer

or prospect through a combination of

database management, direct selling,

telemarketing and direct-response

advertising through direct mail and

other forms of advertising media , with

the objective of Initiating a response or

transaction from the customer /

prospect.

The distribution of personalised

invitations by mail to members of the

Jewish community on the Chabad

House database to attend specific

education and outreach

programmes.

Sales promotion

Marketing activities that provide extra

value or incentives to the sales force or

the ultimate consumer to stimulate

sales.

Offering attendees to a lecture or

function the opportunity of entering a

draw for a prize, such as a trip to

London.

Publicity /

Public relations

Non-personal forms of communication

regarding an organisation, product,

service or idea that are not directly paid

for or run under identified sponsorship,

usually appearing in the form of a news

story or media feature. If such publicity

forms part of a systematic and planned

campaign to manage the image of the

organisation, it is considered public

relations.

Articles that have been published

about Chabad House’s activities in

the communal and national press.

Personal selling

Person-to-person communication that

attempts to assist or persuade

prospective customers to purchase a

product or service, or adopt a specific

form of behaviour.

Chabad House makes use of one-

on-one meetings to motivate Jewish

people to learn about and adopt

Jewish customs ,practises and

observance.

Source: Belch, George. E: Belch, Michael. A. 1999. Advertising and Promotion, An integrated Marketing Communications Perspective. Fourth Edition, Singapore: Irwin/ McGraw-Hill. Pages 14 to 21.

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Together the above make up the integrated marketing communications mix (IMC) or

what has also been termed, the promotional mix. It is, however, important to see IMC

not just as a set of tools but also as a process for “interactive dialogue” between the

company and the target audience (Kotler, 2000). In a social marketing context this

dialogue facilitates the stages of behaviour change in the consumer, from

precontemplation to contemplation, action and finally maintenance (Andreasen,

1995). The intelligent coordination of an integrated marketing communications

programme and the delivery of a consistent message can successfully position both

the organisation and the product in the eyes and mind of the consumer (Belch, Belch,

1999).

The competitive landscape of the commercial world has seen product differentiation

and price advantage dissipate as means of creating competitive advantage. (Schultz,

Tannenbaum, Lauterborn, 1993). Increasingly the success of an organisation will

depend on the position, often through brand awareness, that the organisation or its

product occupies in the mind of the consumer. This positioning will further be

augmented by the interactive relationship that today’s marketers pursue with their

customer.

The 1980’s saw companies realise that the various promotional tools in their

marketing toolkit could be better leveraged through a more integrated and co-

ordinated effort. (Belch, Belch, 1999). An early definition by the American

Association of Advertising Agencies (the 4As) describes IMC as follows:

“a concept of marketing communications planning that recognizes the added value of a comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of communication disciplines – for example, general advertising, direct response, sales promotion, and public relations – and combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency, and maximum communications impact” (Belch, Belch, 1999:9).

3 Marketing Strategy and the IMC Strategic Plan

The above definition of IMC emphasises the role of the plan. This so called plan is a

critical element of the overall marketing strategy, the game plan for achieving the

organisation’s marketing goals. Conventional marketing wisdom places the

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communications strategy as an element of the promotional component of the overall

strategic marketing planning process (SMPP) (Kotler, Andreasen, 1991). Depending

on the level of maturity and sophistication of the organisation, the communication

plan may be of itself, the marketing strategy. Regardless of the semantics of how we

define plans or strategy, the need for a plan or strategy in the marketing of a

commercial venture or a non-profit / social marketing initiative can not be

overemphasised. It is important to note that a marketing strategy should not only be

considered to be a technique for long term application, for example, for five or ten

years. Strategic planning in a highly simplified format may be as effectively applied

to determining what marketing activities to apply in the immediate short term, for

example, determining what to do tomorrow (Kotler, Andreasen, 1991:64).

Andreasen has developed a six stage framework as the basis for a strategic marketing

process, with planning forming a sub-process (1995:96).

1. Background analysis, this includes listening to the potential target audience by

means of both formal and informal research

2. Planning involves outlining the programme’s mission, objectives, and goals.

In addition to the core marketing strategy identifying the target market and the

specific strategy for influencing behaviour change.

3. Structuring involves the development of the organisation’s infrastructure,

staffing and systems. This stage may include the establishment of strategic

alliances with other organisations

4. Testing the target audience’s response to the social marketing campaign.

5. Implementation of the strategy

6. Monitoring of the programme’s efficacy and feeding back into the planning

stage

We see from the above that in the social marketing context, the lines between

organisational strategy, marketing strategy and planning, and operational strategy and

delivery, become blurred. It is perhaps this holistic approach that would be most

suitable for the development of marketing strategy at Chabad House. A social

marketing strategy could form the basis from which the organisation’s various

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operational entities take their lead, such as for the development and delivery of

educational course content.

The rapid development and growth in attendance at the outreach programmes of

Chabad House, has in the main been driven by the promotional campaign. This

campaign, and especially the medium of above and below the line advertising2 will

continue to be the cornerstones of bringing the target audience to future outreach

initiatives (Masinter, 2000). The importance of developing an integrated marketing

communications strategy for Chabad House that coordinates advertising with the

other elements of its marketing and promotional campaign is thus all the more

important. The growth in the organisation, its outreach offering and the number of

people Chabad House interacts with makes the organisation’s image and message

increasingly complex to manage in an ad hoc manner. Therefore a more a disciplined

communications strategy will contribute to the focused delivery of the organisation’s

message in a consistent manner at all defined points of contact with the target

audience. The resultant brand personality will position the organisation appropriately

within the mind of the target prospect (Schultz et al, 1993).

According to Schultz et al, such a communications strategy will encompass the

following deliverables (1993:69):

1 Pinpoint target audience segments, based on target audience behaviour and need

for the product

2 Offer a competitive benefit, based on target audience’s participation or behaviour

change incentive

3 Determine how the consumer currently positions the brand.

4 Establish a unique, unified brand personality that helps the customer define and

separate the brand from the competition

5 Set up real and perceived reasons, why the target audience should believe in the

promise of the brand

2 Above the line advertising refers to the application of advertising to the traditional media, for example television, newspapers and radio. Below the line advertising refers to non traditional applications of advertising, for example, Virgin Atlantic airways using men on stilts at airports to promote their extra-legroom offering in economy class.

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6 Uncover key “contact points” where the target audience can be reached effectively

7 Establish accountability criteria for success or failure of the communications

strategy

8 Determine the need for future research that would further refine the strategy

The above strategic communications framework is more detailed in its specific

deliverables or outcomes than the more generic strategic marketing framework as

presented by Andreasen. There is however overlap between the two frameworks. An

organisation, that by virtue of its resources, addresses marketing purely from an IMC

perspective, can use Andreasen’s plan as a basic strategic marketing tool. On the other

hand, a more mature organisation can use the IMC strategy as a detailed planning tool

that forms a component of the overall marketing strategy.

4 The Role of the Coordinator and Consistency of the IMC

Message

Mature commercial companies that engage in integrated marketing communications

ordinarily have either a marketing department or designated individuals to coordinate

their IMC effort. Alternatively, they might choose to outsource the function to an

expert organisation. The result of the increasing emphasis on an integrated and

coordinated marketing communications effort has also seen the role of the traditional

advertising agency move from mere creative resource to a one-stop shop for

managing their clients communications and promotional needs (Belch and Belch,

1999:13).

The above is not the case for Chabad House Johannesburg. The responsibility for

marketing outreach programmes and fund raising lies with Rabbi Masinter. There is

however no marketing department at Rabbi Masinter’s disposal, from where a

coordinated effort takes place. The Chabad House scenario is not unlike what one

might find in an entrepreneurial start up, where the CEO has a hands on role in

marketing, necessitated by budget limitations and the limited size of the organisation

(Sahlman, William A., Stevenson, Howard H., Roberts, Michael J., Bhidé, Amar.

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1999:77-78). Despite these same limitations, Rabbi Masinter has leveraged the

expertise of outside individuals and corporates in the marketing and advertising

industry to good effect. These individuals give of their professional time either as a

result of their own involvement in the Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish community or as a

result of their own organisation’s social responsibility programmes.

However the disparate nature of the assistance that Rabbi Masinter is receiving,

negatively impacts on the consistency of the organisation’s message, positioning and

brand. This is illustrated by assessing a sample of recent promotional posters and

advertisements. One will see a very different aesthetic look and feel in each poster or

advertisement. In addition, the prominence and clarity of the Chabad House logo

differs from one poster to the next. The above situation has resulted from the use of

different organisations for copy and artwork at different opportunities. (See Appendix

One, page 16 for examples)

Mike Schalit, Creative Director NET#WORK BBDO advertising agency, commented

that he felt he was doing Chabad House a disservice. As a result of the limitations of

their pro-bono creative contribution to the Chabad House marketing campaign they

could not play the role of brand custodian as they would do with a commercial client.

Schalit believes that in the long run this will undermine the efficacy of the campaign

(2000).

Robert Brozen, CEO of the fast food chicken company Nandos, has been a student of

Rabbi Masinter for a number of months. He recently volunteered to assist Chabad

House in his personal time with advice on their promotional campaign. Brozen

comments that Chabad House’s marketing communications are not consistent. As he

puts it, “If you look at a Nandos advertisement, you know it’s an advert for Nandos

even before you start to read the copy. This is what Chabad House needs to achieve”

(2000).

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5 Customer Orientation and Segmentation

All marketing or communications strategies begin with understanding the customer or

target audience. Some view the very concept of marketing as a process of satisfying

the needs of customers (Peter, Olson, 1996). The point of departure for social

marketing, though, is that the bottom line is measured in the action and maintenance

of the desired behaviour change in the target audience. For Chabad House the ultimate

behaviour change targeted is return of Jews to living their lives in accordance with the

laws of Judaism and in the Lubavitch tradition. Andreasen describes the process of

listening to the customer through the application of informal and formal market

research (1995). In the arena of commercial marketing Kotler directs the marketer to

the segmentation of the target audience as a starting point for the formulation of

marketing strategy (2000). We thus see that it is imperative for the marketer to

segment the market into coherent groups that will allow for an improved

understanding of the motivations and behaviours of the target audience.

Chabad House has segmented their target audience by age and has developed

associated products for each segment with related promotional material. Campaigns

are also directed at calls to action on specific Mitzvot (deeds) prescribed by Jewish

law and tradition, for example the lighting of candles on a Friday night to welcome in

the Sabbath. This campaign included the distribution of postcards targeted at young

women, aimed at raising their awareness of the practice of lighting candles on a

Friday night, explaining its significance and inviting them to enquire about candle

lighting times or other issues.

The postcard is directed at young women and the front of the postcard plays on the

notion that lighting up on Friday night is about candles and not cigarettes (Jews are

forbidden to smoke on the Sabbath). The copy, against the background of a young

women lighting a cigarette, reads “is this how you light up Friday night?”. (See Figure

1 page 9)

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Figure 1 - Postcard promoting the Jewish custom of lighting candles to welcome in the Sabbath . Source: Chabad House

While this campaign may have been successful, it is not clear that Chabad House’s

segmentation efforts are being applied appropriately as a basis for building a

marketing strategy. Segmenting simply by a demographic like age does not

necessarily provide insight into the behaviour, motivations and constructs that a

specific segment of Jews may or may not have about Judaism. Thus while Judaic

tradition may lend itself towards the creation of educational material by age, it is not

necessarily a solid foundation on which to build a marketing strategy. In order to

facilitate a more structured and effective approach to marketing and IMC strategy, the

organisation has to expand its segmentation bases beyond demographics to

psychographic considerations such as current behaviour, values and motivations.

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An example of where Chabad House has done this well, comes from within its own

established community. Here they have identified the teenage children of some of the

existing members of the Chabad community as being disillusioned with the existing

educational offering and running the risk of becoming alienated from the community

and Judaism. Informal meetings with some of these teenagers have highlighted their

specific values and motivations and allowed Chabad House to develop an outreach

programme directed at this specific segment. A suitable promotional campaign can

now also be developed.

In commercial marketing appropriate segmentation and customer orientation assist the

marketer in getting closer to the customer or target audience to create a product

customised to their needs. For Rabbi Masinter of Chabad House, this process is not

that clear cut. Judaism remains a normative offering in the orthodox sense and the

product, as such, can not be changed to suit the customer needs. However, this does

not preclude changes to packaging that make the religion more accessible to a Jewish

audience that has not previously engaged with Judaism or on previously trying, found

the religious message and teachings inaccessible. The customised product, thus

becomes the educational programmes and content, in addition to the manner of

outreach delivery. Customising these products to coincide and connect with the

audience’s existing values and motivations allows for the repositioning of Judaism

within the mind of the target audience.

6 Behaviour Change and Social Marketing

The previous section focused on behaviour from the perspective of the target

audience’s current behaviour, relative to the desired behaviour promoted by a

particular social marketing initiative. Behaviour or behaviour change as an end in

itself is the goal of social marketing. Social marketing is not just about disseminating

information or educating for education’s sake. The success or failure against which

any social marketing campaign is judged is whether the campaign was able to deliver

the required behaviour change in the target audience (Andreasen, 1995. Kotler,

Andreasen, 1991).

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There are a number of models for behaviour change in a social marketing context, one

such model being Andreasen’s Modified Stages of Behaviour Change Model (1995.

see also Prochaska and DiClemente, 1983). The model provides a generic outline of

the stages through which the target audience must be taken in order to facilitate the

ultimate goal of behaviour change. The stages of Andreasen’s model are,

precontemplation, contemplation, action and maintenance. An explanation of each

stage follows (Andreasen, 1995).

6.1 Precontemplation Stage

At this point the target audience has not considered the behaviour change propagated

by the social marketer, and may even not be aware that such a behaviour exists.

During this stage the marketer’s challenge is to make the target audience aware of the

new behavioural possibility, stressing that such behaviour is not necessarily in

complete contrast to their current value set.

6.2 Contemplation Stage

During contemplation the target audience may well have an awareness of the desired

behaviour and may begin to consider trial of this behaviour. At this point it is critical

for the social marketer to build on an awareness and understanding of the complex

internal negotiations, dialogue and trade-offs that a prospect may be confronting as

they contemplate action. The social marketer may use person-to-person

communication during the contemplation stage to encourage the prospect.

6.3 Action Stage

At the point of action on the desired behaviour, the target audience needs to be

assured of their own capability or self efficacy in following through with the

behaviour change. The social marketer must appropriately develop within the target

prospect’s mind the notion that he or she does indeed have the ability to adopt and

maintain the desired behaviour.

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6.4 Maintenance Stage

It is rare for a social marketer to be focused only on a single, once off action. Hence

the challenge does not end at the action stage, and the social marketer pursues

maintenance of the newly adopted behaviour change. Social marketers can achieve

maintenance in much the same way that their commercial colleagues do. Firstly, an

awareness of the effects of cognitive dissonance, an anxiety that develops following a

high involvement decision or choice, is needed. Here it is appropriate to re-assure the

target audience of the legitimacy of their chosen action. Secondly, buttressing the

newly adopted behaviour with a meaningful reward will ward off negative post-action

cognitions (Andreasen, 1995).

An awareness of the stages of change in the target audience will enable the social

marketer to focus the marketing effort appropriately at each stage. The appropriate

marketing tasks per stage are outlined by Andreasen as follows:

Table 2- Andreasen behaviour change model with appropriate marketing task

Marketing Task Andreasen Modified Stages

Create awareness and interest

Change values

Precontemplation

Persuade and motivate Contemplation

Create action Action

Maintain change Maintenance

Source: Andreasen, Alan. R.1995. Marketing Social Change, Changing Behaviour to Promote Health, Social Development, and the Environment, San Francisco. Jossey-Bass Publishers. Page 148.

7 Aligning Social Marketing and IMC

An integrated view of the behaviour change model, the marketing tasks, identified in

table 2, and the elements of integrated marketing communications, which is directed

at aligning social marketing and IMC, will deliver significant benefits for a social

marketing campaign and the organisation undertaking the initiative. These benefits

include financial and cost savings, product and organisational positioning, and the

motivation of behaviour change in the target audience.

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The integration of Andreasen’s behaviour change model, the appropriate marketing

tasks and elements of the IMC can be represented as follows:

Table 3 - Andreasen behaviour change model with appropriate marketing task and related IMC element

Marketing Task Andreasen Modified

Stages

Appropriate IMC

element


Change values

Precontemplation Advertising and publicity

Persuade and motivate Contemplation Personal selling and

promotion

Create action Action Personal selling

Maintain change Maintenance Advertising and publicity

Source: Andreasen, Alan. R.1995. Marketing Social Change, Changing Behaviour to Promote Health, Social Development, and the Environment, San Francisco. Jossey-Bass Publishers. Page 148. Belch, George. E: Belch, Michael. A. 1999. Advertising and Promotion, An integrated Marketing Communications Perspective. Fourth Edition, Singapore: Irwin/ McGraw-Hill. Pages 14 to 21.

Table 3 can be developed further to include examples from the previously mentioned

candle lighting campaign (see section 5) to illustrate the different elements of IMC

undertaken by Chabad House.

Table 4 - Examples from Chabad House of elements of IMC applied to the stages of behaviour change

Marketing Task Andreasen

Modified Stages

Appropriate IMC

element

IMC element

case example

Create awareness

and interest

Change values

Precontemplation Advertising and

publicity

Posters, newspaper

advertisements and post

cards promoting Jewish

traditions such as

lighting candles on a

Friday night to welcome

in the Sabbath.

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Table 4 continued


Modified Stages

Appropriate IMC

element

IMC element

case example

Persuade and

motivate

Contemplation Personal selling and

promotion

Supplying match boxes

with candle lighting

times3 to Jewish women

responding to the candle

lighting campaign.

Create action Action Personal selling Inviting women to come

and light candles at

Chabad House on a

Friday Night.

Maintain change Maintenance Advertising and

publicity

Reminder advertisements

in the smalls / classified

section of daily

newspapers, indicating

candle lighting times for

that specific week.

8 Conclusion

Rabbi Masinter has a growing awareness of the strengths and opportunities for

improvement of Chabad House Johannesburg’s marketing effort. As Rabbi Masinter

put it, “we are constantly pushing for ten out of ten”. The Chabad House marketing

campaign in many ways shares the traits of an entrepreneurial venture (Sahlman, et

al,. 1999), leveraging opportunities as they appear or are found. On the positive side

this has lead to a creative “out of the box approach” to marketing and fundraising that

is groundbreaking for an orthodox religious organisation in South Africa (Moerdijk,

2000). The promotional campaigns have delivered growing numbers to the doors of

Chabad House (Masinter, 2000. Katz, 2000). However, it is this very opportunistic

approach that may prove to undermine the effectiveness of the campaign goals as a

whole.

3 Candles are traditionally lit by Jewish women to welcome in the Sabbath and festivals. Candle

lighting times are dependant on the time that the sun sets on the eve of the Sabbath or a festival.

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If the road forward for marketing and delivery of outreach at Chabad House is to be

efficient, cost effective allowing for the maximisation of opportunities to bring about

behaviour change in the target audience, then it can only be built around a more

structured approach. The structured approach must provide for the strategic

integration of the principles of social marketing and integrated marketing

communications. The prescription of more structure may well provoke fears of

placing constraints on creative energy and flair that have been the mainstays of the

campaign thus far. On the contrary, strategic frameworks and a structured social

marketing approach serve to enable further creativity, but in a more focused and

result-oriented manner.

The combination of the above mentioned strategic approach, additional human

resources for Chabad House’s overtaxed ‘marketing department’ and the ever present

creativity, passion and ingenuity, will see Rabbi Masinter and his Chabad House team

scoring “ten out of ten” for years to come.

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Appendix One

Figure 2 - Promotional poster for senior citizens outreach and education

Source: Chabad House

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Figure 3- Newspaper advertisement promoting the Health and Tefillin club

Source: The Star Newspaper February 25th 2000

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Figure 4 - Poster promoting a series of lectures on spirituality


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Appendix Two

The optimisation for maximised cost effectiveness of the relationship between the

IMC elements, sales promotion, personal selling and advertising and publicity

relative to Andreasen’s behaviour change model can be represented as follows:

Figure 5 - IMC cost effectiveness relative to Andreasen's behaviour change model

Source: Kotler, Philip.2000. Marketing Management, The Millennium Edition. New Jersey: Prentice

Hall, Inc.

Sales promotion

Personal selling

Advertising and

publicity

PPrreeccoonntteemmppllaattiioonn CCoonntteemmppllaattiioonn AAccttiioonn MMaaiinntteennaanncceeC

ost

Effectiven

ess

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Report South Africa, August 17, 7.

21. Whitfield, Mike. Executive Vice President, Nissan South Africa Marketing

Division, personal Interview, 20 September 2000.

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The Case:

Chabad House Johannesburg

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Chabad House Johannesburg 1

Introduction

Researching possible topics for a social marketing course assignment, John Smith, a

student at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business, came across

an article in the Business Day newspaper which highlighted the marketing and

fundraising campaign of Chabad House, a Jewish outreach organisation. Intrigued by

the approach of the organisation’s director, Rabbi David Masinter, to marketing and

fundraising in a religious and social marketing context, Smith undertook a two day

visit to Chabad House in Johannesburg to gather information for his social marketing

assignment and to explore the organisation further.

The two days had gone by in a blur of activity, people and conversation and now as

the student gathered his bag and prepared to board his return flight to Cape Town he

pondered Rabbi Masinter’s parting request. “I know that you have come here to learn

from us and to report back to your marketing class, but we too can learn from you and

the theory you have studied. Please report back to us on what we can do at Chabad

House to make our marketing more effective.”

Chabad-Lubavitch - The Organisation

During the eighteenth century the Hassidic Jewish Movement developed in Eastern

Europe. A number of important groups formed around influential rabbis in the cities

and towns where Jews predominated. One of these towns was Lubavitch. It is from

this town that the Lubavitch (Chabad) tradition of today originates.

The word Chabad is a Hebrew acronym abbreviating the words which describe the

higher faculties of wisdom (chochma), understanding (binah), and knowledge (daath).

Chabad House, is the name used to describe the Lubavitch outreach centres located

throughout the world. Chabad House Johannesburg, established in 1976, is one such

centre.

Chabad House’s objective is not to proselytise. The organisation’s objective is to

provide outreach and Jewish education at all levels and to all age groups. The

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organisation is non judgmental, i.e. Chabad House’s members will interact with and

teach without prejudice Jews who do not currently live their lives according to the

guidelines prescribed by Jewish Rabbinic Law. Chabad House is a non-profit

organisation.

There are more than 1400 Chabad-

Lubavitch institutions in some 35

countries. The driving force behind the

establishment of these centres was the

inspirational leadership of Rabbi

Menachem Mendel Schneerson, referred

to as The Rebbe. The Rebbe had led the

organisation from 1951 until his death in

1994. He despatched Lubavitch

emissaries worldwide to establish

Chabad-Lubavitch centres that would

serve the spiritual and material needs of

the local communities.

Figure 1 - Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson

Chabad-Lubavitch in Johannesburg, South Africa

Historically there was always a certain arrogance amongst Jewish scholars of

traditional teachings toward the Hassidic Jewish movement and its more mystical

approach to Judaism, with the scholars viewing it as ignorant. In the latter 1990’s this

was changing, with other Jewish religious organisations and communities teaching

more mysticism in their communication of Judaism. Members of the Hassidic

movement do not compromise on any religious prescripts, following all Judaic

commandments to the letter of the law.

In 1971 the Lubavitch foundation of South Africa was established by Rabbi Lipska.

Rabbi Lipska brought Lubavitch Rabbis from Chabad in the United States to South

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Africa. The early 1970’s saw the hippie culture of the time dominating campus life.

The team of Rabbis began a highly successful campaign of reconnecting Jewish

students on South Africa’s university campuses with their Jewish roots and

established a growing Lubavitch Congregation.

In 1978, a school for the children of the Chabad community was established in

Johannesburg. Between 1974 and 1983 Chabad South Africa, especially in

Johannesburg, experienced unprecedented growth in membership. The organisation’s

ability to attract people back to their Jewish traditions and religion was the envy of

many of the other Orthodox Jewish congregations at the time.

The mid 1980’s saw the South African economy take a turn for the worse,

precipitating a funding crises within the outreach structures of Chabad House and the

school. Despite an ever increasing debt burden to fund the organisation’s activities

and low morale in the community, Rabbi Lipska continued the work of his

organisation resolute in the belief that the organisation would re-establish its

previously sound position.

In 1989 the Lubavitch foundation restructured its management, with Rabbi Lipska

focusing on the school and Rabbi Masinter and Rabbi Katz focusing on Chabad

House and outreach.

Rabbi Masinter

John Smith’s visit to Chabad House took place shortly before the start of the Jewish

New Year Festival. Smith found that Rabbi Masinter’s work day started early. Rabbi

Masinter’s personal morning prayers are followed by a short drive to Chabad House

where he readied himself for his first teaching session of the day. On that morning the

participants in his class were young upwardly mobile businessmen. They were not

dressed in the traditional black trousers, coat and hat of the Rabbi but in a mix of

business suits and casual denim. The men were cleanly shaven and not bearded like

the Rabbi. The men introduced themselves, a property agent, a supermarket manager,

a stockbroker. Despite some of the men not having met before and having different

levels of knowledge about Judaism and things Jewish, the Rabbi’s energy and

enthusiasm quickly placed the men at ease, focussing their discussion and banter on

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the topic at hand, the mystical aspects of repentance. The hour lesson was interactive

and discussion intense, soon it was time for the men to continue on to work. The

banter returned to the secular. The supermarket manager commented on the sudden

surge of activity that he was experiencing at work and the pressure he was under. In

fact, were it not for a Chabad Poster that he saw attached to a lamp post the previous

night he would have forgotten about his morning lesson. As they made their way out

of Rabbi Masinter’s office the classmates prodded the stockbroker for a market

prediction for the day.

The energy and enthusiasm the Rabbi exhibited

while teaching persisted during the course of the

day. His office was a hive of activity, colleagues,

students and members of the Jewish community

entered the office throughout the day, to greet,

ask advice, or update the Rabbi on the progress of

one or another project. Between visitors to his

office and the constant interruption of the

telephone or the mobile phone in his pocket,

which rang to the tune of a famous Hebrew folk

song, the Rabbi related his latest below-the-line

advertising coup with great zeal.

Figure 2- Rabbi David Masinter

“We received a significant sponsorship from Adcock Ingram (pharmaceutical

company). We’ve returned their kindness by distributing honey, in Adcock Ingram

bottles, as gifts for the Jewish New Year to Jewish doctors in Johannesburg.” The

labels on the bottles bearing the Adcock Ingram Healthcare logo, included

instructions on the traditional significance of eating apples and honey during the

Jewish New Year festival meal. The instructions were presented in the same format as

pharmaceutical instructions for taking medicine. Rabbi Masinter was able to provide

Jewish people an opportunity to perform this deed, while providing exposure for

Adcock Ingram.

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The interruptions persisted during John’s meeting with the Rabbi. Eventually though,

realising that John’s information gathering was not progressing, the Rabbi asked his

ever present assistant to hold his calls. Rabbi Masinter was now able to reflect

uninterrupted, with the exception of John’s enquiries, on his involvement with

Chabad.

The early years

David Masinter did not come from a very religious background. He was born in

Parys, a small town in South Africa. As a teenager he was introduced by a friend to

the Chabad Lubavitch community in Johannesburg, where he became increasingly

involved and a committed member of the congregation.

Modest family financial circumstances while he was growing up had always

motivated the young David Masinter to one day going into business for himself.

However, he eventually answered a stronger calling to become a religious minister

and was educated at the Rabbinical College of America in New Jersey and the United

Lubavitch Yeshiva1. Rabbi Masinter’s affinity for business and creativity led him to

become increasingly involved in fund raising for Chabad outreach programmes.

While working for the Lubavitch Youth Organisation in New York, he was able to

turn around the organisation’s flagging youth magazine, by getting the famous Mad

Magazine Artists Al Jaffe and Dave Berg to illustrate the magazine at no cost.

Rabbi Masinter returned to South Africa from the United States in 1984. He immersed

himself in the Chabad-Lubavitch Johannesburg communal and outreach activities

gaining the respect of both his colleagues and the community.

Miracle Drive

In 1989, at the age of 29, having taken on responsibility for Chabad House’s outreach

programmes, Rabbi Masinter set about the challenge of raising R400,000 to fund their

programmes for the year. The lateral thinking Masinter knew that such a challenge

needed an extraordinary and creative fundraising effort. A campaign around the

1 A Yeshiva is a Jewish seminary

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concept of Nissan was launched. Nissan, is the Hebrew word for miracle. Nissan is

also the name of one of the most important months of the Jewish calendar, during

which Jews commemorate their ancestors’ miraculous redemption from Egypt. Hence

Rabbi Masinter approached the then Managing Director of the Nissan Motor

company, Stephanus Loubser with a proposal. Rabbi Masinter explained to Mr

Loubser that he needed to perform a miracle. “I pointed out that because his car and

our month have the same name, we should launch a competition called Miracle

Drive.” Loubser agreed and Nissan South Africa donated a Nissan Sentra coupé worth

R40,000. Numerous other prizes were also sponsored by other corporate

organisations. A volunteer committee of Jewish businessmen was established to take

the project forward.

A friend of Rabbi Masinter who worked in advertising offered to design a

professional glossy promotional brochure for the competition. A bank offered to

sponsor the R12,000 required for printing and postage.

Rabbi Masinter’s plan was for all costs of the competition to be sponsored by

corporate organisations and individual donors, with the result that all funds raised

from selling the lucky draw tickets could go directly towards Chabad House’s

outreach programmes. The competition was a resounding success. In 2000, the

Miracle Drive continued to form the mainstay of Chabad House Johannesburg’s

fundraising efforts. Nissan South Africa continue to donate a top-of-the-line Nissan

motorcar to each year’s Miracle Drive.

Fundraising – quid pro quo

Rabbi Masinter’s early experiences with fundraising and the miracle drive showed

him that in order to differentiate his organisation from the others competing for

fundraising Rands, he had to provide something in return to the donor organisations.

An example of this is the relationship built up over a number of years with Nissan

South Africa. While it was not a precondition for sponsorship, Rabbi Masinter went

out of his way to introduce the marketing and sales team at Nissan to fleet owners and

businessmen that he had contact with. According to Mike Whitfield, Executive Vice

President at Nissan South Africa’s Marketing Division, “this type of reciprocity

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differentiates Chabad House and Rabbi Masinter from the many other worthy causes

seeking donations”. Rabbi Masinter is passionate about his sponsors, as he described

it, “If I could get all Chabad House staff who do not drive Nissan motor cars to park

their cars around the corner, I would…First National bank are also long time sponsors

of our programmes. When I was approached by another bank offering sponsorship, I

felt like I was committing adultery, I had to tell them we could not take their money.

If Toyota had come along and offered us R100, 000 I would have to turn them down.”

The School

Following a number of successful years with both fundraising and the outreach

programmes at Chabad House, Rabbi Masinter was asked to take over management

responsibility for the Chabad-Lubavitch day school in Johannesburg. Although Rabbi

Masinter’s first love remained outreach and he was at first reluctant to take on the

responsibility of the school, he eventually took on the role in 1995. The school was

experiencing significant financial difficulties and again Rabbi Masinter put his

business acumen and fundraising skills to work. The Rabbi brought fiscal discipline to

the community-based school that saw a renewed emphasis on the collection of

appropriate school fees from parents who could afford the fees. Sponsorship was

sought for a bursary fund for needy children whereby donor’s contributions were

directed at a specific needy child. Only when those needs were not met were donors

approached to assist with any shortfall in the schools budget. It was not long before

the school was once again self-sufficient.

Chabad House Relocates

In November of 1998 Rabbi Masinter relinquished his position at the school. The

three years spent balancing responsibilities for the school and Chabad House had been

trying and was encroaching on the Rabbi’s family life. However, the opportunity to

roll up his sleeves and focus solely on outreach enthused the Rabbi with renewed

vigour.

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It had been almost ten years since Rabbi Masinter had first taken over responsibility

for Chabad House in 1989. As Rabbi Masinter puts it “ I was like a bull in china shop

then”. Now a different approach was called for. Chabad House’s lay chairman, Larry

Lipshitz, suggested that Rabbi Masinter develop a mission statement and set of

objectives to guide the activities and resources of the organisation.

The preliminary draft mission statement and objectives appeared as follows:

Mission statement

“To reach every Jew in South Africa, even and especially those with no connection to

Judaisim and bring them closer to Judaism through the fulfilment of Mitzvot (positive

commandments and deeds prescribed by Jewish teaching). This is founded on the realisation

that even an intermarried Jew, who eats pork on Yom Kippur is as Jewish as the frummest

(most observant) Jew, and is uninvolved only due to lack of proper exposure to Judaism.

To spread the teachings of Chassidus (Hassidic teachings and traditions) and the Rebbe’s

message of imminent Geulah (redemption), through Moshiach (The Messiah).

Chabad House is to be the nerve-centre that ensures all the other Chabad institutions (in

greater Johannesburg) are run properly”

Objectives: One Year

Launch a campaign that will touch the entire spectrum of South African Jewry and teach them

that Chabad House is there to put them in touch with their Judaism, regardless of how far

they may be from it presently.

Fine-tune existing programmes so that they are run smoothly, professionally and effectively.

To create an audio-visual and book library aimed at the absolute beginner, with facility for

lending, mobile library etc.

Objective: Five Year

Open new centres and create new programmes.

Figure 3- Chabad House mission statement and strategic objectives. Source: Rabbi D Masinter

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Time and Relationship Management

Rabbi Masinter constantly evaluated the organisation’s and his own progress.

Reflecting on the mission statement he was not satisfied that he had achieved all his

goals and was frustrated at the length of time the process was taking. Rabbi Masinter

lamented the restriction of there only being 24 hours in a day.

“We’ve achieved much in the past few years but there is much still to do. We have not

scored ten out of ten yet. The risk for the organisation is that we don’t deliver on what

we promise. People are now knocking on our doors as what we have (more mystical

approach) to offer is more popular and in fashion. There is a return to an emphasis on

matters spiritual.”

In addition to his directorship role at Chabad House Rabbi Masinter is the spiritual

leader of a synagogue (based at Chabad House). He also takes responsibility for

driving and managing Chabad House’s promotional campaign in addition to meeting

regularly with donors and prospective donors from the Jewish community and Chabad

House’s corporate and potential corporate sponsors. The Rabbi also taught both

groups and individuals every day. One such student was Danny Peer.

Danny Peer, although Jewish, grew up in an agnostic home. He fondly recalled how

his brother fasted on Yom Kippur (the Jewish Day of Atonement) more for weight

loss reasons than for religious reasons. At age 36, and even though married to a

religious Jewess, Danny still had no interest in a Jewish way of life. This changed

however following discussions with his partner in his financial planning business,

when he began to question his own lack of knowledge about Judaism and his own

spirituality. Responding to a Chabad classified advertisement in the Johannesburg

daily newspaper, The Star, Danny made his first appointment for a lesson in Judaism

with Rabbi Masinter. Danny Peer had been learning with Rabbi Masinter on a once a

week basis for some months. The focus of their most recent classes was on instructing

Danny on the content of the approaching Jewish New Year services. Danny said that

he had developed a personal relationship with Rabbi Masinter, and would not feel

comfortable being taught by anyone else from Chabad House. This Sentiment was

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expressed to John Smith by many of the other students who had both private or small

group classes with Rabbi Masinter throughout the week. They all commented on how

much insight they gained from Rabbi Masinter and how highly they valued his

inspirational teaching.

The Advertising Campaign

John Smith enquired about the origins of the more radical marketing and advertising

campaign that he had read about in the Business Day newspaper. Rabbi Masinter

explained that while Chabad House’s approach to fundraising was inventive and

successful, the organisation’s external communication directed at publicising its

offering to the Jewish community was not meeting with the same success. The Rabbi

went on to explain that Chabad House was not well positioned within the minds of

members of the Jewish community and that a more creative approach to publicising

Chabad House and its outreach programmes was required if the organisation’s

mission statement was to be fulfilled.

“The organisation’s problem is that Jews do not know what the organisation is about. The advertising campaign had to assist in changing people’s perceptions and to educate. Tell the target audience that we talk their language and also help us internally, reminding us that we have to develop our skills at teaching an entry level or non-religious Jewish person well.”

Rabbi Michael Katz, the director of Projects at Chabad House explained Chabad

House’s challenge and the origin of the so called radical advertising campaign as

follows:

“Judaism has a lot of stuff on its shelves and a lot to offer. Jewish people that are disconnected from this for what ever reason need to know that it is all accessible to them. We need to let these people know that Judaism is not just about ritual, it is also very much about relationships with other people and a way of life. There are thousands of Jews in South Africa who are not in contact with formal Jewish Community or synagogue structures. These people may be frightened and intimidated by shul (synagogue), they have a stereotyped view of orthodox Judaism, they may be intermarried. In the 1970’s it was sufficient for us to target such individuals on University Campuses, but today’s youth is different. Our challenge is, how do we convey our message on Judaism to our people in a modern and changing world? Our solution was to go to an advertising agency and ask their creative people how they would target themselves?”

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Leveraging off popular brands

Chabad House’s appeal was made to the award winning advertising agency

NET#WORK BBDO. The Agency was awarded the Financial Mail South African

Advertising Agency of the Year award in 1999. Many successful Chabad House

campaigns have played off popular brands in order to increase their impact and effect.

A significant symbol of the Jewish New Year is the Shofar (ram’s horn) which is

blown during New Year prayer services. A newspaper advertisement showed the

Shofar in a way not unlike the Nike Swoosh in appearance. Below the Shofar were the

words “just hear it!”, a play on the Nike slogan “Just do it!”. While the advertisement,

placed in a Johannesburg daily newspaper, did not find favour with Nike South

Africa’s legal team, (upon seeing it in the press they demanded its withdrawal) it did

set the tone for Chabad House advertisements to follow. As Rabbi Masinter describes

it, “we had to let the Jewish youth know that we speak their language.”

Figure 4 - Jewish New Year poster and newspaper advertisement. Source: Chabad House

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Recent campaigns had played cheekily on the Health and Racquet Club (a national

chain of health clubs) brand and the American music group Boyz II Men. All these

campaigns have contributed to bringing Jewish people in growing numbers to Chabad

House to partake of its outreach programmes.

The Advertising Agency Perspective

In 1998 Mike Schalit, Creative Director NET#WORK BBDO advertising agency, was

approached by Rabbi Masinter to provide above the line advertising services on a pro-

bono basis. At first Schalit felt that as a non-practising Jew he was not the right man

for the job. Rabbi Masinter however reassured him that he and the Net#Work team

would have a better understanding of the target audience. The pro-bono nature of the

work meant that the account was not handled in the conventional manner.

Intermittently Rabbi Masinter would approach the agency with ad-hoc requests for

design work, generally centred around a call to action for Jewish festivals and holy

days. This differed from how the agency related to its other clients, where it would

ordinarily take on the role of brand custodian, thereby managing the integrated

marketing communications of the client’s brand, and outsourcing elements of the

promotional mix which could not be satisfied in-house.

The relationship with Chabad House had developed well

over the previous two years. Rabbi Masinter, who was

considered by Schalit as a natural ad-man, engendered an

enthusiasm amongst the NET#WORK creative team for

the outreach work of Chabad House to the extent that the

team began to approach the Rabbi with unsolicited

creative concepts. For example, during the visit to South

Africa of American Pop group Boyz II Men, NET#WORK

suggested and designed a campaign to promote the Jewish

rites of passage for males, the Barmitzvah.

Figure 5 - Barmitzvah lesson promotional poster and newspaper

advertisement. Source: Chabad House

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Figure 6 - Advertisement considered too provocative

for the Chabad House marketing campaign. Source: Chabad House

The advertising agency’s campaign

came to focus on capturing and

playing on the sense of humour

existing within the Jewish

community. However Schalit and his

team were mindful that they were

still dealing with an Orthodox Jewish

organisation and that there would be

boundaries that could not be

overstepped. An advertisement

showing the naked torso of a man

who was peering into the towel

wrapped around his waist, had the

following copy as the tag line: “Is

your only link to Judaism the part

that’s missing?”. The advertisement was aimed at promoting Chabad House as a

source for information on Judaism and played on the concept of Jewish male

circumcision. The advertisement was not used because Rabbi Masinter and his

colleagues felt that it was too provocative.

The members of the creative team dedicated to Chabad’s campaigns at NET#WORK

were not Jewish. Schalit believed that in order to create a successful advertising

campaign, one did not need to be the target market, rather one needed to understand

the target market. An illustration of this point was NET#WORK’s award winning

campaign for Metro-FM, a radio station targeted at black listeners. The campaign’s

creative leader was white.

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The Outreach Programmes and their promotion

Rabbi Masinter elaborated further on the various outreach programmes and their

promotion.

Senior Citizens

Figure 7- Front cover of pamphlet promoting Chabad House senior citizen outreach. Source: Chabad

House

A programme for senior citizens was targeted at the Jewish aged who had not been in

a position to secure residence for one or another reason in the Jewish aged homes run

by the community. Promotional posters were pasted in the lobbies of the residential

hotels and apartment buildings of the target audience. Jewish families were targeted

with direct mailing of promotional pamphlets. Advertisements are also placed in the

classified section of the Johannesburg daily newspapers (see figure 12 page 21). The

posters and promotional material play on the youthfulness of the aged. The

programme arranged for the collection by bus of the participants at their homes, they

were brought to Chabad House for classes in aspects of Judaism. Meals were provided

and some participants assisted with administrative tasks for which they were

compensated.

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Adults

Two separate learning programmes existed for adult men and adult women. The

Health and Tefillin 2 Club for men and the Health and Tehillim3 Club for women both

played on the corporate identity and logo of the Health and Racquet chain of fitness

clubs. In this case though it was spiritual fitness and well being that was targeted.

Again both a direct mail, newspaper and poster advertisements had been used. The

posters and newspaper advertisements directed at the men’s programme had similar

aesthetics and slogans to those used by the Health and Racquet Club. One such advert

showed a locker room image with a Jewish prayer shawl and skull cap hanging on the

clothing hook (see figure 13 page 21). The copy reads:

THERE IS NO FINISH LINE. Give your soul a full workout, one on one, with the best teacher around. Join the health and tefillin club for improved spiritual fitness levels. Call Chabad House on (011 ) 440 6600. TAKE YOUR SOUL WHERE IT WANTS TO GO.

The Health and Tehillim club was also promoted through direct mailing of the

programme details in an envelope similar to the membership pack received by Health

and Racquet Club members. The programme details were distributed to women on the

Chabad House database.

Figure 8- Front cover of a Rosh Chodesh Club invitation. Source: Chabad House

Another programme for Jewish adults, the Rosh Chodesh4 Club, was directed at those

who were not regular participants in religious services or did not attend any other

2 Tefillin or Phylacteries are small leather boxes containing Hebrew texts on parchment which are worn

by Jewish men on their forearm and forehead while reciting morning prayers. 3 Tehillim is the Hebrew word for psalms. 4 Rosh Chodesh is the beginning of the new Hebrew calendar month

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form of religious instruction. In this case the participants met on the morning of the

new Hebrew month to have a light breakfast and listen to a lecture. The preceding

prayer service was optional, and often the event was linked to a sponsor and the

opportunity to win a prize, such as a flight ticket to London. Rosh Chodesh breakfast

meetings were promoted through the Chabad House database and mailing list,

classified advertisements and the encouragement of referrals.

Youth

Rabbi Masinter considered the youth or 18 to 25 year olds his greatest challenge. As

he saw it, “these kids are crying out for help and knowledge”. The competition in this

arena is the toughest. Here Chabad House had to compete with the full media

resources of popular culture. Of all the advertising and communication campaigns at

Rabbi Masinter’s disposal, this was where he felt he needed to be his most creative.

The focus of the programmes were on

creating accessibility to a Jewish way

of life and Jewish education without

being prescriptive. In addition to the

posters and newspaper advertisements

Chabad House had used post cards

distributed at coffee bars, pubs and on

campuses. The postcards posed a

question to the target audience. To the

young teenage boy with numerous

facial piercings, it asked, “and you

can’t find space on your head for

Tefillin?”.

Figure 9- Post card promoting the custom of tefillin. Source: Chabad House

The reverse side of the postcard stated:

“You probably need a lecture like a hole in your head. However, the weekday mitzvah of Tefillin is a Divine instruction that can be fulfilled in only a few moments. When your mind, body and soul are rushing in different directions, Tefillin will bind them in

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harmony. So find meaningful place on your arm, your head, and in your life. J_daism. It’s not quite the same without U.”

The tefillin campaign was also followed up with postcards mailed to individuals on

the Chabad House database inviting them to a guest lecture and the opportunity to

learn to put on Tefillin. As far as possible the Rabbi used community role models to

which the youth might relate, such as Mandy Yachad, a former South African national

cricket and field hockey player and active member of the Chabad-Lubavitch

community.

Figure 10 - Post card promoting the custom of candle lighting. Source: Chabad House

A campaign promoting the

custom of lighting candles to

welcome in the Jewish Sabbath

was directed at young women.

The question asked of them on

the front of the postcard, against

the backdrop of a young women

lighting a cigarette, “is this how

you light up Friday night?”.

The reverse side of the post

card, in addition to providing

contact details for Chabad

House, read:

“It takes two small candles to bring a little light into the world. As you kindle your Shabbat candles on a Friday night you ignite the flame that’s kept us aglow for thousands of years. A flame that dispels so much gloom and brings comfort, harmony and trust to your home as well as the outside world. And you thought it was a drag? J_daism. It’s not quite the same without U.”

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The candle lighting campaign was supplemented with the distribution of boxes of

matches. The well known Lion Match

brand was morphed to state “Shabbat5”

and “candle lighting times” in place of

the customary “Lion” and “safety

matches”.

Figure 11- Box of matches with modified label.


The customised match box label also contained the appropriate candle lighting times6

for the major South African cities. Women who responded to the campaign by

contacting Chabad House were invited to Chabad House on a Friday night, the eve of

the Sabbath, to join other women in candle lighting. Such candle lighting get-

togethers offered a non-threatening environment for women taking their first steps

towards rekindling their connection to Jewish traditions to meet with existing female

members of the Chabad-Lubavitch community. Reminder advertisements in the

smalls / classified section of daily newspapers, indicating candle lighting times were

placed every week.

Although the above campaigns were primarily directed at Jewish youth with little or

no formal affiliation to the communal and religious structures of the Jewish

community, the campaign was also generically targeted at the teenage children of the

Chabad-Lubavitch community. Chabad House identified the teenage children of some

of the existing members of the Chabad community as being disillusioned with the

existing educational offering and running the risk of becoming alienated from the

community and Judaism. Informal meetings with some of these teenagers highlighted

their specific needs and allowed Chabad House to develop an outreach programme

directed at this specific segment.

5 Shabbat is the Hebrew word for Sabbath 6 Candle lighting times are dependant on the time that the sun sets on the eve of the Sabbath or a

festival.

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Guerrilla or Entrepreneurial Marketing

Rabbi Masinter talked with much pride of his ability to stretch his advertising Rand.

“I try to get everything donated or at much discounted prices”. Everything includes

advertising, graphic design, photographic and printing services in addition to media

features. Chabad has also been able to negotiate substantial discounts on unsold

advertising space in popular magazines and newspapers. The result is a network of

volunteers that provide for the requirements of Rabbi Masinter’s one man marketing

department on an ad hoc, and more often than not, pro-bono basis. One such volunteer

is Jurie Van Leewuen, who provides Chabad House with filming and editing facilities.

Jurie is not Jewish, and described himself as the only Afrikaans Christian with his

own personal Rabbi. Jurie described Rabbi Masinter as “one of the most amazing

people” he had met. He went on to laud the Rabbi’s “enthusiasm, energy and

honesty”. Jurie described his four year association with Rabbi Masinter as

“incredible” and regards Rabbi Masinter as a personal mentor.

Rabbi Masinter stressed the need to be creative in order to have an impact. “Every

year I try to come up with different gimmicks. It helps raise awareness of Chabad and

our sponsors love it.” Previous years’ ideas had included printing the Jewish travellers

prayer on the back of gold cards supplied by American Express. In the far corner of

Rabbi Masinter’s office a table covered with promotional pamphlets, posters,

newspaper cuttings and Chabad House publications bore testimony to his creative

marketing flair. Many of these items were invitations to Chabad functions, each being

unique, with a different theme, such as the golf ball shaped invitation to a Chabad

luncheon held at a local golf club. Other invitations were contained inside kosher

fortune cookies or printed on rubber stress balls. “People know our functions are

different, and that is one of the reasons they attend.”

Current Challenges

With ten days to the beginning of the Jewish New Year, Rabbi Masinter was

considering the final draft of Chabad House’s latest newspaper advertisement. The

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aim of the advertisement was to promote Chabad House’s New Year prayer services

and the observance of the custom of listening to the sound of the Shofar7. Rabbi

Masinter was not comfortable with the final draft and was thus reluctant to approve it.

He was a aware that the NET#WORK advertising agency had already gone to

considerable effort and expense in its preparation. There was also an opportunity to

place the advertisement in a widely read daily newspaper in the coming days. Rabbi

Masinter engaged his colleagues in discussion around the advertisement, illustrating

with examples of other posters and advertisements, what he considered to have been

effective (see figure 14 page 23 and figure 15 page 24) and ineffective (see figure 16

page 25) in the past. The Rabbi also contacted Robert Brozen, CEO of the successful

international fast food company Nandos, for his opinion.

Brozen had been a student of Rabbi Masinter for a number of months. He had recently

volunteered to assist Chabad House in his personal time with advice on their

promotional campaign. Brozen, like South African advertising expert and journalist

Chris Moerdijk8, agreed that Rabbi Masinter’s work had been “ground breaking” and

was paving the way for a “new advertising phenomenon of actively promoting

religious institutions in the mass media”. Brozen however commented that Chabad

House’s marketing communications were not consistent. As he put it, “If you look at a

Nandos advertisement, you know it’s an ad for Nandos even before you start to read

the copy. This is what Chabad House needs to achieve”.

7 The Shofar is ram’s horn which is blown during New Year prayer services 8 Moerdijk, Chris. 2000. “Teaching the Torah” Business Report, Independent Newspapers South

Africa, August 8, 13.

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Figure 12 - Promotional poster for senior citizens outreach and education

Source – Chabad House

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Figure 13- Newspaper advertisement promoting the Health and Tefillin club

Source – The Star Newspaper February 25th 2000

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Figure 14 - Promotional poster and newspaper advertisement publicising Chabad

House's Hebrew lessons9


9 The advertisement plays on the notion that Hebrew is read from right to left. The advertisement reads

“Come to Chabad House &learn how to read Hebrew”

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Figure 15 - Newspaper advertisement promoting the observance of Jewish dietary

laws10


10 The advertisement depicts rashers of bacon, forbidden to Jews according to Jewish dietary law, in

between two pieces of Matzos, the unleavened bread eaten by Jews during the festival of Passover.

The copy reads, “Maybe we should talk.”

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Figure 16 - Poster promoting a series of lectures on spirituality11


11 This poster was considered by Rabbi Masinter to be less effective than figure 14 and 15 above.

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Instructor’s

guide

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Instructor’s Guide 1

1 Introduction and Context

The concept of marketing religion is probably as old as organised religion itself. With

the onset of published media, radio, television and now the internet, the reach of the

preacher has been extended well beyond the confines of the place of worship.

The market for religion is heavily traded and highly competitive. Leaders of the

world’s different religions do not only compete with each other but also compete with

the onslaught of popular culture and the mass media.

Adding to the complexity confronting the religion marketer, is the pursuit of financial

resources and sponsorship required to enable and sustain outreach programmes. In

this market leaders compete not only for a share of their devotee’s wallet, but also

with numerous other social causes who all target the same corporate businesses for

sponsorship funds.

It is within this context that Rabbi David Masinter and Chabad House1 carry out their

work. Their marketing campaign aims to raise the awareness of the various outreach

programmes the organisation runs for members of the Jewish community. A key

component of the campaign has been the use of newspaper and billboard advertising

targeted at secular Jewish youth who are considered to be out of touch with their

Jewish roots and faith. The advertisements have been described as both innovative

and risqué and are certainly a departure for an orthodox Jewish organisation.2

The case provides the student with an insight into the marketing campaign and

fundraising activities of Chabad House Johannesburg. The student is challenged to

1 Chabad House, is the name used to describe the Lubavitch outreach centres located throughout the

world. Chabad House Johannesburg is one such centre. 2 Images of advertisements, posters and promotional materials are included in the attached compact

disc. The images are in JPEG format and may be included in electronic presentations or printed

individually.

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assess the marketing activities from a social marketing perspective and to deliver

proposals on areas for improvement.

The theoretical overview highlights the areas considered as key learning points and

opportunities for improvement to be identified by the student in his or her analysis of

the case.

The case may be used in the teaching of social marketing, commercial marketing and

integrated marketing communications.

2 Key Learning Points

2.1 Marketing strategy and the IMC strategic plan

The need for a strategic approach to integrated marketing communications in order to

maximise the efficacy, consistency and cost effectiveness of Chabad House’s

marketing message.

2.2 Segmentation of the target audience

The need for a fresh approach to segmentation of the target audience in order to move

beyond demographic segmentation by age to psychographic segmentation that

considers issues such as current behaviour, values and motivations of the target

audience.

The need for segmentation that differentiates between the marketing campaigns

directed at the Jewish target audience and that directed at the corporate sponsors so

that their unique dynamics can be addressed effectively.

2.3 Segmentation of the promotional campaign to facilitate behaviour change

The need to consider the appropriate and targeted application of the various elements

of the IMC / promotional mix to specific stages of behaviour change in the target

audience.

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3 Discussion of the Learning Points

3.1 Marketing strategy and the IMC strategic plan

Section 3 of the theoretical overview provides the theoretical input for the discussion

around the need for a strategic approach to integrated marketing communications in

order to maximise the efficacy, consistency and cost effectiveness of Chabad House’s

marketing message.

From the case the student should glean the following:

Although a mission statement and a list of strategic objectives is presented in the case,

there is no indication of an all encompassing marketing strategy or IMC strategic

plan.

Despite being driven by the organisation’s mission statement and strategic objectives,

the Chabad House marketing campaign is opportunistic in nature and not unlike that

of an entrepreneurial start-up. Opportunities garnered for pro bono assistance can lead

to inconsistency in the aesthetics of advertisements and promotional material as they

are put together by differing design teams with differing time, technology and creative

resources.

Rabbi Masinter is clearly under resourced. His varying roles, tasks and responsibilities

result in a dilution of his focus at a strategic level.

The issues highlighted above are often encountered in not for profit organisations or

entrepreneurial environments where the entrepreneur directs the marketing effort in

addition to the other functions of the business. Rabbi Masinter’s role in introducing

and driving the strategic direction of the organisation and its marketing campaign are

of paramount importance. The social marketing strategic framework presented by

Andreasen provides a useful framework that may be applied to directing marketing

and the related outreach operations of Chabad House. The framework is presented in

the theoretical overview as follows:

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1. Background analysis, this includes listening to the potential target audience by

means of both formal and informal research

2. Planning involves outlining the programme’s mission, objectives, and goals.

In addition to the core marketing strategy identifying the target market and the

specific strategy for influencing behaviour change.

3. Structuring involves the development of the organisation’s infrastructure,

staffing and systems. This stage may include the establishment of strategic

alliances with other organisations

4. Testing the target audience’s response to the social marketing campaign.

5. Implementation of the strategy

6. Monitoring of the programme’s efficacy and feeding back into the planning

stage

Mike Schalit’s identification of the importance of the role of the brand custodian

underpins the call for a strategically directed IMC strategy. This will deliver the

consistency illustrated by Robert Brozen’s comments on Chabad House and Nandos.

“If you look at a Nandos advertisement, you know it’s an Advert for Nandos even

before you start to read the copy. This is what Chabad House needs to achieve”. It

must be stressed though that such consistency is not only related to advertising, but

indeed to any interaction the target audience might have with the organisation. This

level of IMC sophistication can be reached by applying the Shultz et al IMC strategic

framework presented in the theoretical overview:

1 Pinpoint target audience segments, based on target audience behaviour and need

for the product

2 Offer a competitive benefit, based on target audience’s participation or behaviour

change incentive

3 Determine how the consumer currently positions the brand.

4 Establish a unique, unified brand personality that helps the customer define and

separate the brand from the competition

5 Set up real and perceived reasons, why the target audience should believe in the

promise of the brand

6 Uncover key “contact points” where the target audience can be reached effectively

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7 Establish accountability criteria for success or failure of the communications

strategy

8 Determine the need for future research that would further refine the strategy

In order to free up time for Rabbi Masinter to focus on and drive the recommended

integrated strategic approach, he would have to make at least one professional

marketing staff appointment. This person would ideally take on a role coordinating

the day to day marketing and promotional activities in addition to a liaison role with

outside service providers. In addition there needs to be a concerted effort towards

building a team around Rabbi Masinter that can establish relationships with students

in the same manner as Rabbi Masinter. One would want to avoid a situation where

students refuse to be taught by other members of the Chabad Team (as was illustrated

by Danny Peer in the case). Relationship building with corporate sponsors should

remain with Rabbi Masinter, however an additional individual needs to be developed

to augment the contact role Rabbi Masinter currently plays with community based

donors.

3.2 Segmentation of the target audience

The need to segment the target audience psychographically is discussed in section 5 of

the theoretical overview. The student should recognise from marketing theory that an

opportunity exists for further segmentation of Chabad House’s target audience.

For example the definition of the youth segment as 18 to 25 year olds does not

provide scope for the identification of differing values and the belief systems that

motivate the attitudes and behaviour of the targeted youth audience. Having identified

such values and their resultant behaviours and attitudes, Chabad House would be

better positioned to target a customised outreach and educational offering to

psychographically determined subsets. For example a programme directed at Jewish

teenagers who consider Jewish traditions out dated and old fashioned, may be targeted

with a campaign depicting the relevance of Judaic teachings to the issues confronting

them on campus and in their personal lives. It is however important for the marketing

student to note that Judaism, like many other religions, remains a normative offering

in the orthodox sense and the product, as such, can not be changed to suit the target

audience needs. The customised product, thus becomes the educational programmes

and content, in addition to the manner of outreach delivery.

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The student should also identify the complexity of creating an effective integrated

promotional platform that addresses the needs of two very distinctive target

audiences. That is, Jews considered to be out of touch with their Jewish roots or faith

and corporations providing sponsorship for the outreach programmes. Chabad House

needs to differentiate explicitly between corporate sponsors and their Jewish target

audience. Both categories demand a very different kind of sales approach and

relationship management. However opportunities do exist for leveraging from the one

segment to the benefit of the other, such as in situations where promotional items are

co-branded with the sponsor receiving exposure. This technique was illustrated by the

distribution of honey (a customary element of the Jewish New Year festive meal) to

Jewish doctors in medicine like containers with Chabad House and sponsor Adcock

Ingram Pharmaceuticals’ logo depicted on the packaging.

3.3 Segmentation of the promotional campaign to facilitate behaviour change

The application of the elements of the integrated marketing communications or the

promotional mix to the various stages of the Andreasen behaviour change model is

discussed in section 6 of the theoretical overview. In this area the student, conversant

in behaviour change models in a social marketing context, should recommend the

segmentation of the promotional campaign to better affect behaviour change in the

target audience. The following table illustrates the aforementioned segmentation.

Table 1 - Andreasen behaviour change model with appropriate marketing task and related IMC element

Marketing Task Andreasen Modified

Stages

Appropriate IMC

element


Change values

Precontemplation Advertising and publicity

Persuade and motivate Contemplation Personal selling and

promotion

Create action Action Personal selling

Maintain change Maintenance Advertising and publicity

Source: Andreasen, Alan. R.1995. Marketing Social Change, Changing Behaviour to Promote Health, Social Development, and the Environment, San Francisco. Jossey-Bass Publishers. Page 148. Belch, George. E: Belch, Michael. A. 1999. Advertising and Promotion, An integrated Marketing Communications Perspective. Fourth Edition, Singapore: Irwin/ McGraw-Hill. Pages 14 to 21.

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Such segmentation, although implicit in many aspects of the operational delivery of

the Chabad House initiatives promoted by the marketing campaign, should be

addressed as an explicit component of the marketing strategy and individual

campaigns. Such an understanding will enable a more targeted use of specific

elements of the IMC at specific stages of the behaviour change model. We see the

application of such segmentation to the promotion of the custom of candle lighting

before the start of the Sabbath. (see Table 2 page 8)

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Table 2 - Examples from Chabad House of elements of IMC applied to the stages of behaviour change


Modified Stages

Appropriate IMC

element

IMC element

case example

Create awareness

and interest

Change values

Precontemplation Advertising and

publicity

Posters, newspaper

advertisements and post

cards promoting Jewish

traditions such as

lighting candles on a

Friday night to welcome

in the Sabbath.

Persuade and

motivate

Contemplation Personal selling and

promotion

Supplying match boxes

with candle lighting

times3 to Jewish women

responding to the candle

lighting campaign.

Create action Action Personal selling Inviting women to come

and light candles at

Chabad House on a

Friday Night.

Maintain change Maintenance Advertising and

publicity

Reminder advertisements

in the smalls / classified

section of daily

newspapers, indicating

candle lighting times for

that specific week.

4 What actually happened?

Driven by an enthused Rabbi Masinter the pace of development and change at Chabad

House was rapid. He had a clear understanding of the challenges facing his

organisation and specifically the issues around the marketing campaign.

Rabbi Masinter realised the need to focus more at a strategic level and introduce a

more structured approach to IMC and marketing strategy. In addition to engaging the

3 Candles are traditionally lit by Jewish women to welcome in the Sabbath and festivals. Candle

lighting times are dependant on the time that the sun sets on the eve of the Sabbath or a festival.

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assistance of Robert Brozen, he has also turned to the Marketing Director of Virgin

Atlantic Airlines South Africa, a Chabad House sponsor, for assistance in this regard.

Rabbi Masinter has also undertaken to appoint a marketing student intern to co-

ordinate the day to day marketing activities at Chabad House and to act as a marketing

assistant to him. Rabbi Masinter has also met with the director of a Johannesburg

business school to discuss the possibility of final year MBA students carrying out a

capstone consulting project at Chabad House to assist with strategy formulation.

Students analysing the case may have questioned the database or mailing list

mentioned in the case, and suggested the need for a more comprehensive database to

facilitate customer relationship management (CRM). A project of this nature was

initiated by Chabad House in the fourth quarter of 2000.

The CRM project is titled the SOUL – Frequent fulfilment programme. The following

are extracts from the project proposal document:

What does the programme hope to achieve:

1. To make contact with all Jews, at all levels (of connection to Judaism) 2. To build a loyal base of members from the Jewish community 3. To encourage all members to consistently connect to their Jewish heritage 4. To develop programmes based on specific needs and interests of

members

Steps in creating the programme:

developing a ‘people base’ of members - demographic profile - psychographic profile - geographic profile To develop software to maintain up-to-date and accurate information on members.To train a member of staff to use the software quickly and efficiently. To educate the rest of the staff of the importance of member loyalty. To segment the base into various groups of people at different stages of ‘jewishness’. For example, not just ‘male members that never attend synagogue’ and ‘male members that occasionally attend synagogue’, but rather the macro and micro influences on individuals that ‘restrict’ them in ‘nourishing their SOULS’.

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5 Conclusion

The learning points of the case analysis, the theoretical overview and this instructors

guide have focussed in the main on opportunities for improvement in marketing and

IMC strategy, segmentation and the application of aspects of social marketing theory

at Chabad House Johannesburg. Despite these opportunities for improvement, and the

limitations of budget, the marketing and fund raising ingenuity of Rabbi Masinter and

Chabad House Johannesburg remain an example of what can be achieved by religious

organisations, NGOs, not for profit organisations and indeed commercial

organisations, when a combination of passion, enthusiasm and creativity are

combined with an unrelenting focus on the customer.

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