Trends of religious marketing and the transformation of religious practices among prophetic ministries in Botswana

Abstract

In the past three decades, there has been a trend of adopting an economic approach to understanding religious practices in Africa. While studies have generally focused on the growth of Charismatic–Pentecostal churches, little attention has been paid to the trends in the use of secular advertising strategies in the marketing of religion. The aim of this paper is twofold: firstly, it explores the characteristics of religious flyers and stickers as a marketing tool; secondly, it examines the extent to which religious meaning is attached to the aesthetic design of religious flyers and stickers. Drawing on data from religious flyers and stickers supplemented with data from interviews, observations and documentary analysis, this paper underlines the following key layers communicated through religious flyers and stickers: the prophet as the human brand of a prophetic ministry, the perception of a religious flyer or sticker as a devotional object and the circulation of flyers and use of stickers in urban and digital spaces as a prophetic positioning strategy. We suggest that religious flyers and stickers are used as communicative strategies as well as devotional objects, which offer a reference point to further explore the transformation of religious practices, particularly among Charismatic–Pentecostal churches.