Contact: Sally Ross
Tel. (805) 543-2644 x590 Email: sally.ross@parable.com

(August 13, 2014) – Covenant Group, Mardel, and The Parable Group, announced today a long- term joint initiative with Initiate Media to provide their partner stores with free bi-monthly print copies ofChristian Woman magazine, creating a catalyst for repeat in-store customer traffic.

Christian Woman has been inspiring, challenging and uplifting Christian women of all ages for over 60 years, with a history as a magazine published for the Australian and New Zealand markets. Each issue delivers relevant articles, faith-filled stories of hope, and content that encourages women in their walk with God. The new magazine being rolled out in the US market will be a completely separate title, and printed in the US.

Christian Woman and Initiate Media’s magazines offer glossy pages, contemporary graphic design and outstanding imagery. Christian Woman will not be available through subscription; the free magazines are only available through Christian bookstores affiliated with The Parable Group, Covenant Group, and Mardel. Customers can sign up to receive notifications from Initiate Media when the newest edition is on the shelves of their local store.

“We are delighted to announce this innovative publishing initiative with Parable, Mardel and Covenant,” said Matt Danswan, CEO of Initiate Media. “Over the last few years we’ve partnered with retailers in the southern hemisphere to distribute our magazines for free with tremendous success. We know this model works and we are eager to roll it out with our Christian retail partners in the US. Retailers receive high quality magazines to offer their customers for free, creating additional store traffic, and the customer gets to enjoy rich Christian content while building loyalty with the store—everyone wins.”

Steve Potratz, President of The Parable Group added, “We’re always looking for new and creative ways to drive traffic into the stores we serve. We commend Initiate Media for their support of the independent Christian retail community and for recognizing the value in providing rich content for free. We are excited to see how this partnership will drive repeat customer visits and provide success to individual stores.”

The Parable Group, Covenant Group and Mardel have committed to promote the free magazines through email, print and various other means.

Chuck Wallington, President of Covenant Group said, “We are excited to introduce the customers of Covenant Group retailers to Christian Woman magazine beginning this fall. Its pages are filled with inspiring and informative articles, and it is such a quality piece, we feel our customers will have a high perceived value of it when it is placed in their hands. It seems to be a natural for not only introducing customers to the personalities whose products we sell; but also giving them a reason to return to our store to pick up future issues as well.”

John Nardini, President of Mardel added, “This program gives Christian retail stores something critical in today’s supercharged competitive landscape: a great way to drive traffic. The fact that the magazines are high quality and are free to consumers gives our stores the opportunity to increase visits while strengthening customer relations.”

Christian Woman can be found at The Parable Group, Covenant Group, and Mardel partner stores starting in October. Initiate Media is expecting to roll out additional magazines through these three Christian retail groups in future months.

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For nearly 30 years The Parable Group has helped independent stores buy, promote and sell products using data, technology and marketing expertise in the Christian market. The Parable Group is a leading retail services provider specializing in print and digital marketing for independent Christian stores, and delivering innovative, industry-leading marketing solutions connecting products and services to Christian consumers. For more information, contact Sally Ross (sally.ross@parable.com) or visit www.parablegroup.com. The Parable Group is based in San Luis Obispo, CA.

Initiate Media is a leading independent Christian media company, operating in the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand. They are a non-denominational organization that seeks to make God famous – and relevant – throughout the world. Initiate Media produces a range of media products and services, including Christian Woman, Ark House books, and myChristiandaily.com, and has staff based globally. Initiate Media is focused on producing the ‘world’s-best’ media, with the aim of spreading the word of God globally. For more information, contact Matt Danswan (matt.danswan@initiatemedia.net) or visit www.initiatemedia.net.