Patti LaBelle, Chrysler team on church tour
Chrysler is the title sponsor for "The Gospel According to Patti" tour, which began on Saturday with a concert at the Potter's House church in Dallas and runs through March 31. The tour will be at Detroit's Greater Grace Temple Dec. 1.
Chrysler's upscale brand is sponsoring the tour because affluent, urban African-American customers are one of the target markets for the new SUV.
"This looked like an excellent way to reach that audience," said James Kenyon, a Chrysler Group spokesman. "The Aspen is the SUV big brother of the 300 series.
The 300 has been very well received in the African-American community."
The Chrysler 300 was one of the five most-popular vehicles among African-American car and truck buyers, according to two recent surveys by
Urban mega-churches are a great way to reach a large number of people in that target audience, said Judy Smith, a partner at
The mega-churches on the LaBelle tour seat from 4,000 to 18,000 people, have as many as 30,000 members each and boast sophisticated methods for getting messages out.
As consumers increasingly are able to control which ad messages reach them, Chrysler Group, like many corporations, is focusing on trying to reach consumers where they spend their time, such as church, on the Internet and in restaurants.
As part of the LaBelle tour, Chrysler will take the Aspen to churches in seven cities a week before the concert to let parishioners ride and drive the SUVs. The new luxury vehicle will also be outside the churches in advance of all the concerts. And Chrysler will get some mileage from advertisements during a LaBelle holiday concert special expected to air on cable networks
"These mega-churches are media savvy," Kenyon said.
"They're doing a media blast to their members to make them aware of the concerts and ride-and-drives. Many of them have Web pages where there will be announcements as well."
Chrysler and the concert promoters will also do radio spots, Kenyon said.
Greater Grace Bishop Charles Ellis expects the Patti LaBelle concert to be a sellout.
Ellis said the 4,000-seat, 6,000-member church often partners with corporations to sponsor large events.
The 170,000-square-foot church complex has its own TV studio and hosted the funerals of civil-rights leader Rosa Parks and former Detroit Mayor Coleman Young.
This summer, author-activist-talk show host Tavis Smiley chose Greater Grace as the last stop on his 20-city book tour.
"It's always been a blessing to us and our congregation," Ellis said of special events. "I think when you have the crowds we have, the corporations have a responsibility and an obligation to sow back into those ministries.
These are the people who support their businesses and buy their products."
Hugh Cannon, a marketing professor at Wayne State University, said churches and corporations can have mutually beneficial partnerships, but churches have to be careful not to become too closely aligned with one company or product, and vice versa.
"As long as that doesn't happen, it's really great for Chrysler and the church," he said.
Chrysler's Kenyon said it's not about religion for Chrysler; it's about getting the Chrysler Aspen in front of a target audience.
"It's a fabulous program," said Alan Helfman, vice president of Helfman River Oaks Chrysler Jeep in Houston, where LaBelle and the Aspen are scheduled to play on Friday. "I'm planning all kinds of promotions around it.
...
Chrysler Credit did a tour with Vickie Winans last year. It was successful for me. I sold a lot of cars through that event.
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The schedule for "The Gospel According to Patti" tour follows. It includes the dates and locations of the ride and drive component.
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