Hipper Than Thou: Repackaging the Bible

Found this in my latest issue of Business 2.0: What Works ::  Hipper Than Thou :

Plenty of companies need to make old products seem new again, but few have pulled it off more divinely than Bible publisher Zondervan. The Good Book has been on the market for centuries. Yet Zondervan, the world’s biggest Bible seller, has experienced double-digit growth the last two years by repackaging the Bible, effectively turning it into a youth-oriented lifestyle accessory. Consistently the top performer in the HarperCollins publishing group, Zondervan owns 27 percent of the $1 billion Christian book market. “Young people today may not go to church,” says Brian Scharp, VP for Bible marketing, “but religion is important to them. We have to make it relevant.” Here’s how the company has proven that no product is too old or too familiar to be born again.

More proof that evangelicalism has become big business in North America.