Introduction
Auntie Anne’s Pretzel company was founded by Anne Bieler in Pennsylvania. She did
not have professional schooling to guide her as she developed her business plan. She relied on
the scripture as her basis for how to run the business. This permeated throughout the entire
organization including their marketing campaigns. In the following paragraphs we will review
how they took Joshua 1:9 to heart in the courageous marketing driven by the faith-based mindset.
“Marketing management is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating,
communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients,
partners, and society at large” (Marshall & Johnston, 2023). When coupled with strength and
courage grounded in faith, the marketing is bound to be impactful.
Joshua 1:9 and Marketing Management
When I think of what it means to be “Strong and Courageous” in the marketing sense, I
think of taking risks and using humor or digital campaigns to drive the business. Many firms will
leverage humor and try to take an edgy approach to their marketing campaigns. These may or
may not land with customers and may or may not positively impact the brand. I also believe that
in this assignment we are reviewing what strength and courage look like when a company brings
faith into their marketing. In a recent ad campaign by Jaguar, they took a very risky and some
may say courageous leap as they tried to rebrand Jaguar and used a very LGBT focused
campaign. Many experts thought that the campaign lacked originality and left much to be desired
for the brand as they did not even display their product in the ad. A Jaguar managing partner
defended the ad expressing that any push back was rooted in hate and intolerance (Parks, 2024).
He also claimed that this was a bold and courageous move by the brand moving away from
normal auto stereotypes (Parks, 2024).
Auntie Anne’s Pretzel company has taken a much different approach as it has leveraged
humor and social media as their marketing mediums. They have embraced mobile marketing
using mobile applications such as Instagram and Snapchat (Noellino, 2016). They have shared
the founder’s story of abuse and her repentance and redemption story and part of the brand
(Dallas, 2024). This is a real example of Joshua 1:9 courage and fearlessness. Auntie Anne’s has
also used faith-based symbols such as a halo in their branding. This is a nod to the founder’s
belief in Jesus Christ and His redemption of her life.
Auntie Anne’s was sold to Focus Brands in 2005 and the company continued to base its
marketing practices in faith. They have used charitable giving and missions as a brand asset to
appeal to prospective customers and to retain current customers (Dallas, 2024). In an article by
Rance Crain, Sir John Hegarty said, “Selling is an emotional occupation. It's an art. And
therefore, you have to have your sales messages constructed in such a way that appeals to people.
And information goes in through the heart. We are emotional creatures" (Crain, 2014). Auntie
Anne’s has truly captured the emotional appeal of their brand by making the pretzel the center of
their ad campaigns and leveraging the social impact of their organization. They have used
TikTok to show their products in weddings, to drive the if you know you know campaign, and
the dip and sip campaign. These are all appealing to the emotional side of selling and mastering
the art of marketing in the spirit of courage.
References:
Crain, R. (2014, September 15). Sir John Hegarty on how the ad industry
has lost its courage. Advertising Age, 85(19), 0070.
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A382797357/GBIB?
u=vic_liberty&sid=summon&xid=a0843ede
Dallas, K. (2024, January 29). The religious roots of Auntie Anne’s pretzels.
Yahoo! News. https://www.yahoo.com/news/religious-roots-auntie-
anne-pretzels-221500356.html
Marshall, G., & Johnston, M. (2023). Marketing Communications. In
Marketing Management (4th ed., pp. 42–42). essay, McGraw Hill
Education LLC.
Noellino, T. (2016, July 12). NEW YORK: 5 things you didn’t know about
Auntie Anne’s. Bizjournals.com.
https://www.bizjournals.com/bizwomen/news/profiles-strategies/2016/
07/new-york5-things-you-didn-t-know-about-auntie-anne.html
Parks, K. (2024, November 25). Jaguar managing director defends rebrand,
accuses critics of “hatred and intolerance.” Fox Business.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/jaguar-managing-director-
defends-rebrand-accuses-critics-hatred-intolerance
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