Zondervan Responds to TNIV Open Letter
03/16/2007 17:31 Filed in: Faith & Reason
In an off the record capacity, I have been in email dialogue with individuals from Zondervan since last Sunday after posting my "Open Letter to Zondervan and the International Bible Society Regarding the Promotion of the TNIV." Response has been very positive and there is promise of ongoing dialogue.
This afternoon, Tom Dean, (Senior Director of Marketing, BIbles) contacted me asking me to post some very specific and "official" responses to some of the issues I raised in the Open Letter last week.
Positioning
Zondervan is absolutely committed to the long-term growth of the TNIV translation. As an integral part of accomplishing our mission of getting more people to engage the Bible more, we are working to continue to present it to the market thoughtfully and strategically.
However, the NIV is still the most read and most trusted English language Bible translation in the world. We have a detailed strategy for serving the enormous portion of the market that still prefers the NIV over all other translations with new and updated Bibles. In fact, the revenues that come from our NIV titles are what fund our efforts for the TNIV.
Product Mix
In response to the concerns of our retailers, Zondervan is addressing the issue of too many Bible on the bookstore shelves already. Therefore we are very careful in how many new Bibles we launch per year.
We recently launched the TNIV Study Bible as the most comprehensive Study Bible available to address our commitment behind the TNIV. And we launched the biggest new Bible of the year for Zondervan in the TNIV, The Bible Experience Audio New Testament. (www.zondervan.com/thebibleexperience) Soon, we will also be releasing the TNIV Reference Bible specifically for pastors and church leaders.
Many upcoming spring 2007 software releases will also include the TNIV. These include:
• Understanding the Bible Library
• The Teacher’s and Pastor’s Library 6.0
• The Greek and Hebrew Library 6.0
• The Basic Bible Library 6.0
Marketing
When we launched the TNIV translation we spent an enormous amount of resources growing the list of endorsers and media impressions. As we look to future and sustaining the market share and growth of the TNIV, we have transitioned to a more product focused effort in our marketing strategies and tactics.
The result is one of the fastest growing translations in history, already landing at #6 on the best-selling translation list ahead of many translations that have been around for far longer. To date, we have now either sold or distributed more than 1.5 million TNIV Bibles worldwide.
TNIV Website
A significant revision to our TNIV website is currently underway. We are working with a top media company, RELEVANT media group (relevantmagazine.com) to totally revamp our site and make it the most relevant possible for today's generation. Our goal is to go live with the new site by mid-April.
My thanks go out to Tom Dean, Stan Gundry and others for their generous response to my concerns last week. On behalf of myself and This Lamp readers, we look forward to the ongoing conversation and the continued use and acceptance of the TNIV, "the most readable and scholarly accurate translation available today."
This afternoon, Tom Dean, (Senior Director of Marketing, BIbles) contacted me asking me to post some very specific and "official" responses to some of the issues I raised in the Open Letter last week.
Positioning
Zondervan is absolutely committed to the long-term growth of the TNIV translation. As an integral part of accomplishing our mission of getting more people to engage the Bible more, we are working to continue to present it to the market thoughtfully and strategically.
However, the NIV is still the most read and most trusted English language Bible translation in the world. We have a detailed strategy for serving the enormous portion of the market that still prefers the NIV over all other translations with new and updated Bibles. In fact, the revenues that come from our NIV titles are what fund our efforts for the TNIV.
Product Mix
In response to the concerns of our retailers, Zondervan is addressing the issue of too many Bible on the bookstore shelves already. Therefore we are very careful in how many new Bibles we launch per year.
We recently launched the TNIV Study Bible as the most comprehensive Study Bible available to address our commitment behind the TNIV. And we launched the biggest new Bible of the year for Zondervan in the TNIV, The Bible Experience Audio New Testament. (www.zondervan.com/thebibleexperience) Soon, we will also be releasing the TNIV Reference Bible specifically for pastors and church leaders.
Many upcoming spring 2007 software releases will also include the TNIV. These include:
• Understanding the Bible Library
• The Teacher’s and Pastor’s Library 6.0
• The Greek and Hebrew Library 6.0
• The Basic Bible Library 6.0
Marketing
When we launched the TNIV translation we spent an enormous amount of resources growing the list of endorsers and media impressions. As we look to future and sustaining the market share and growth of the TNIV, we have transitioned to a more product focused effort in our marketing strategies and tactics.
The result is one of the fastest growing translations in history, already landing at #6 on the best-selling translation list ahead of many translations that have been around for far longer. To date, we have now either sold or distributed more than 1.5 million TNIV Bibles worldwide.
TNIV Website
A significant revision to our TNIV website is currently underway. We are working with a top media company, RELEVANT media group (relevantmagazine.com) to totally revamp our site and make it the most relevant possible for today's generation. Our goal is to go live with the new site by mid-April.
My thanks go out to Tom Dean, Stan Gundry and others for their generous response to my concerns last week. On behalf of myself and This Lamp readers, we look forward to the ongoing conversation and the continued use and acceptance of the TNIV, "the most readable and scholarly accurate translation available today."