If you spend any time on our website, reading our blogs or listening to our podcasts, you’ll probably hear us use the phrase “leverage the marketplace.” We say things like “leveraging the marketplace for the interests of Faith Driven Consumers” or “we want to help you leverage the marketplace to make an impact on culture and create a more welcoming environment for Christians.” So, what exactly do we mean when we use this term?
It means that you as a consumer, hopefully a Faith Driven one, have something that thousands of businesses and brands are working 24/7 to get from you. Commercial industries spend millions of dollars hiring marketing teams, assembling focus groups and acquiring your data to get a few things they need desperately from you: your money, your time and your approval (and ultimately your time and approval are just means to the end of getting your money). And don’t get us wrong, there is not anything inherently unethical about this pursuit. In fact, we think it provides great opportunities both for businesses and consumers alike. Even here at Faith Driven Consumer™ (FDC) we need to consider and take advantage of many of these opportunities to succeed as a business and make a positive impact for the Lord and for Faith Driven Consumers.
All of these mega corporations and the millions of dollars plus countless hours they spend to get you to make a certain decision is really just a testament to one really important fact: they need you. You, the consumer, are invaluable to them. The mom buying groceries for her family… The dad booking a beach vacation for the family… The grandparents purchasing life insurance… The college student buying books for the coming semester… Every one of these individuals and contexts have something in common. They all have leverage. We are fortunate enough to live in a society where we get to choose from a variety of products and services. And, what everyone above has in common is their freedom to choose which products they will buy and ultimately who they will support with their money.
When we talk about leveraging the marketplace we mean exactly this: making choices about what you buy and where you spend your money that have real and significant implications for the marketplace. Making these decisions affords you freedom as a consumer as well as an opportunity to shape the marketplace. The marketplace, in turn, greatly influences the culture we live in and have a stake in as Christians. Faith Driven Consumers have the privilege of making a difference by simply living our lives and buying the kinds of items and services we already use. But every privilege has a corresponding responsibility, and that is to steward this opportunity in a way that is compatible with our values, ethics and beliefs as Faith Driven Consumers.
While this is a weighty responsibility, the good news is that you don’t have to navigate the vast world of commerce and make these decisions alone. This opportunity to leverage the marketplace stands at the center of FDC’s vision and mission. We want to assist you in your best efforts to steward your finances and use your wallet in ways that are compatible with your faith and make a difference in your community. We’re here to provide you with an opportunity to become informed in accessible and convenient ways and enable you to Purchase with Purpose™. You’ve been leveraging the marketplace for as long as you’ve been buying things, and you might not have even known it. We’re here to inform and remind you of the significance of this opportunity. But mostly, we at FDC are here to help you leverage the marketplace and maximize the effects of those efforts. And if you’ll allow us to help you with this responsibility, we’ll promise to help you save money in the process. Together, we can leverage the marketplace and shape it into a place that welcomes and celebrates Faith Driven Consumers as a vital and cherished community.
