Augustine Institute
The Little J Marketing Co.
RFI Response · 2026
Prepared for Augustine Institute

Witness
Confirmation Preparation Program

Marketing campaign for launch — January 2027.

Presented to
Augustine Institute Team
From
The Little J Marketing Co.
Date
May 26, 2026
SECTION 01 · EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

A letter to begin.

Dear Bob, Alexandra, and Seth,

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to this RFI and for the productive discovery conversation on May 21. We're grateful for the trust you've extended to our team.

We understand this is a Request for Information — not a proposal. What follows is designed to demonstrate our fit, our approach, and our relevant experience so you can evaluate whether Little J is the right partner for the Witness launch.

Witness enters a market at an inflection point. The established leader is showing its age, the low-cost option lacks theological depth, and a well-funded new entrant is arriving in the same launch window. The opportunity for a Christocentric, parent-focused, living curriculum to claim meaningful market share is real — but the window is narrow. That kind of strategic positioning work, paired with compelling creative execution, is exactly what we do.

Over the past 14 years, we've had the privilege of serving many of the most dynamic Catholic apostolates in the country — including a deep history with the Augustine Institute across multiple products and campaigns. We know your brand, your audience, and the Catholic market you operate in.

This response is organized around the five requirements outlined in your RFI. We look forward to the conversation ahead.

Sincerely in the Heart of Christ,

Jeremy Rivera signature
Jeremy Rivera
Jeremy Rivera
Principal & Creative Director · The Little J Marketing Co.
(303) 910-4518  ·  jeremy@thelittlej.com  ·  thelittlej.com
SECTION 02 · AGENCY BACKGROUND AND RELEVANT EXPERIENCE

Fourteen years inside the Catholic market.

In faith-based and instructional categories — with deep history across services and functions.

Catholic market experience

  • Augustine Institute (ESVCE, FORMED, Amen, Word of Life, Bible conferences, short courses, Mission Circle)
  • Franciscan University of Steubenville
  • FOCUS
  • EWTN
  • Catholic Leadership Institute
  • Capuchin Franciscans
  • Aspen Catholic
  • Real Life Catholic / Chris Stefanick

Faith-based & instructional

  • Children's curriculum launches (Simply Love)
  • VBS campaigns
  • Catholic education digital campaigns with 10–30× ROAS
  • Experience navigating Google's religious-content advertising restrictions

Services & functions

  • Brand strategy and positioning
  • Campaign development and creative execution
  • Digital advertising and performance marketing
  • Trade show design and materials
  • Email campaigns and marketing automation
  • Analytics, conversion tracking, and reporting
A few of the clients we serve
Augustine Institute
Franciscan University of Steubenville
FOCUS
EWTN
The Messy Family Project
Vagabond Missions
Catholic Leadership Institute
Real Life Catholic
SECTION 03 · EXAMPLES OF RELEVANT WORK

Product brand launches and refresh campaigns.

Six representative projects across the Catholic and faith-based markets.

01 · Curriculum launch
Word of Life
Launched a new K-8 curriculum product for Augustine Institute. Vision book, designed and produced the 20×40 trade show booth ($50K build). A direct parallel to Witness.
02 · Product go-to-market
ESVCE Bible
Took a new Catholic product to market across website, email campaigns, and Amazon advertising. Multi-channel launch execution.
03 · Conference campaign
SEEK
Project description, scope, and results to be supplied by Jeremy.
04 · Brand identity
Franciscan · Center for Evangelization & Renewal
Rebranded the Office of Outreach & Evangelization. Two-phase engagement — strategy then creative. New name, visual identity, brand standards.
05 · Apostolate marketing
Messy Family Project
Project description, scope, and results to be supplied by Jeremy.
06 · Competitive familiarity
Fearless · Real Life Catholic
Direct familiarity with Chris Stefanick / Real Life Catholic — the team behind CORE, the Confirmation program launching January 2027.
SECTION 04 · AGENCY APPROACH

A ten-month engagement, in three phases.

Developing and executing a promotional marketing strategy for the launch of Witness — working in close collaboration with Augustine Institute's product, marketing, and sales teams.

PHASE 01
Strategy & Planning
July – September 2026
PHASE 02
Campaign Development & Launch
October 2026 – January 2027
PHASE 03
Optimize & Grow
February – April 2027
1
Market intelligence & positioning
  • Absorb and interpret existing research — competitor analysis, the 250-parish survey, market sizing — rather than duplicate it.
  • Layer on promotional competitive analysis: how Chosen, Purpose, Decision Point, and CORE actually show up in-market across channels, messaging, and creative.
  • Identify gaps, recommend additional research, and track the CORE / Hallow launch as a competitive factor.
  • Develop the positioning framework that articulates where Witness sits vs. competitors.
2
Audience & messaging strategy
  • Dynamic messaging across the spectrum of decision-makers — pastors who mandate programs, DREs who select and run them, volunteers who need ease of implementation.
  • Organized around the four Witness pillars — Flexible, Responsive, Parent-Focused, Relevant — tailored by audience context.
  • Believability baked in from day one: early-adopter testimonials, market validation, proof points.
  • Work with AI's Salesforce data and customer insights to sharpen audience understanding.
3
Budgeting & benchmarking
  • Spend recommendations tied to the 1,000-customer year-one target.
  • Channel allocation across trade shows, existing customer outreach, digital, and email via HubSpot.
  • Three-year lifecycle budget trajectory — heavier launch spend in year one, shifting to acquisition and retention in years two and three.
  • Account for Google's religious-content advertising restrictions in digital planning.
4
Campaign development & execution
  • Phased creative aligned to their timeline: early adopters (September), pre-sales with sales training (October–November), full launch (January 2027).
  • Creative developed in collaboration with Ben's team — same model as Amen app and ESVCE.
  • Trade show materials for Witness — not yet created — sit squarely in Little J's wheelhouse.
  • Coordination with the existing digital agency, with openness to run A/B tests directly.
5
Performance tracking
  • KPIs defined collaboratively: awareness, pipeline, conversion (parish adoption), retention.
  • Integration with the existing tech stack: HubSpot, GA4, Google Tag Manager, Domo.
  • Reporting cadence aligned to campaign phases.
  • First-party data strategy for year-two audience building and lookalike targeting.
North star metrics
So that success looks like this.
1,000+
customers in year one
90%
retention from year one to year two
Sustained growth
fueled by early-adopter success stories and testimonials
SECTION 05 · TEAM

The team that does the work.

No junior handoffs. All team members are internal staff; any external production partners will be identified and disclosed as the scope develops.

Jeremy Rivera
Jeremy Rivera
Principal / Creative Director
PHOTO
Will Oechsler
Advisor / Strategy
Josh Frenette
Josh Frenette
CMO
Justin Ewing
Justin Ewing
Creative Director
Becky Pacini
Becky Pacini
COO / Senior Project Manager
PHOTO
Rebecca Tschetter
Director of Digital Services
PHOTO
Dustin Rustick
Director of Web Development
PHOTO
Jeff Schaefer
Marketing Technology
PHOTO
Mike Gray
Director of Video
Effie Li
Effie Li
Marketing Specialist
SECTION 06 · PROPOSED TIMING & INVESTMENT

Ten months, in three phases.

Timeline
PhaseTimingScope alignment
Strategy & planning July – September 2026 Market intelligence, positioning, audience & messaging, budgeting.
Campaign development & launch October 2026 – January 2027 Creative concepts, campaign plan, asset production, trafficking.
Optimize & growth February – April 2027 Performance tracking, optimization, year-two planning.
Budget
Hourly rate
$175
per hour, blended for the whole team
Monthly retainer
$12K – $15K
sized to phase; heavier at launch, tapers in optimization
Total engagement
$120K – $150K
ten months · July 2026 — April 2027

Excludes media spend, paid placements, third-party production costs, and trade show booth fabrication. All such costs will be itemized and quoted separately as the scope develops.

Jeremy's creativity is matched with his professionalism and hard work. He is committed to his client's success and will do what it takes to deliver excellence in all that he and his firm delivers.
Craig Miller  ·  President of FOCUS
Close

Thank you.

We appreciate the opportunity to present this response and we look forward to hearing from you. Be assured that you and the Witness launch will be in our prayers.