Branding

The world of branding really intrigues me, so I started jotting down tidbits here and there about the Christian brand...

"You don't build it for yourself. You know what people want and you build it for them." —Walt Disney

What is our elevator pitch? We need a brand essence statement, a tagline that will be used to describe us. Create brand ambassadors. Who are our core paddlers?

How do we make a personal contact between our brand and target person? The personal link between the brand and the people. People need a human agent to grasp truths in today’s culture, especially when it pertains to spirituality. Before we’re tempted to think perfect or sleek, we must think about the person we are trying to help. People want to feel a personal spirit in weblogs, books, articles and emails. The goal is to facilitate interaction. Our sites must be saturated with tools that are forced to think like a Human. We want to give people the opportunity to talk freely about the issues their heart is craving, perplexing and find intriguing.

We believe the gospel has to be revived and rebranded for every generation. We are never content with success. We are under the conviction to serve people. We believe the gospel is lively and don’t dare want to be in the way. We are only doing what God has called us to do. We walk with Him and that’s that. We believe the church is craving a newness in the cause of evangelism. We live in a culture that has been seeded for over hundred years and now we take seriously the reality we are facing the mandate we are called to do. Our role is simple: facilitate interaction. No matter what a culture faces, relationships break through. Love continues to stand strong.

We want to create communities and springboard them the best we can, especially in places where communities never existed before. To do that we have to find a champion who vibrantly ventures the team forth. He’s the leader. Everything is about leadership. These types of communities don’t happen overnight, some need days while some need years.

We have learned that it’s not about control. Truth is something that has to flow freely. When you control it you endanger it. Like a movie that depend so much on the media because their reviews could have tremendous affect on who goes to see it.

Truth has become a lucrative business. There may be ways this is useful but the danger is even greater. Never allow Truth to be squeezed into a box. It’s the number one danger. The question is: are we ready for this kind of dialogue? Some are while some aren’t. Every movement faces weaknesses. Unfortunately, many times as it matures it becomes outdated.

In the business world jargon is seen as a grave danger. The focus has to be on the customer or they’ll lose. We must remove our jargon so we don’t become irrelevant. If we do, we’ll lose our audience to a captivating world. It’s sad that the world beats us when we have the easiest product to sell there is.

You know, I find it interesting that we attend seminary to learn all the in’s and out’s of our message, but we never learn the in’s and out’s of who we’re delivering that message to. Sure, the message may be more important than the receiver in a general sense but the message loses its purpose without a personal delivery taking place. The message was given to change people.

We are all about: Turning boring to breathtaking. Turning wearisome to winsome.

Do the details matter? Think about it – when you call your cell phone carrier and they put you on hold for a l-o-n-g time. Ever wandered if they really knew what they were doing. When this happens to me I always think they must not want my business because they can’t even have decent customer service. Let me say that again. CUSTOMER service. Two words to think about: there’s customer. The audience we are trying to reach. Then the other one: service. Are we serving them? Want to build God’s image, then pay attention to the details.

Be honest. People just want you to be direct with them. All we have to do is tell them the Truth.

Leveraging the Internet. There’s a lot of help from the Internet. Email helps us connect with more people. Go to a party and meet someone and all you have to do is get their email to make that personal connection. Building websites so people can get to know you is a powerful tool and cheap.

What is our DNA? Our name (brand) should reflect that. Your brand is what you want people to think about you. So the question is: do you clearly know who you are? You may not be certain what you are going to do, but you better know yourself.

Plan, Establish, Implement, Maintain

Never forget that your brand is all about two things at first: sight and sound. That’s a shocker to many ministry leaders, but it’s true. Environment matters. You are creating awareness. Brand Expert Martin Lindstom says you have to create for all the five senses.

How do you leverage what you have accomplished? What are some practical ways to implement the gospel?

Just remember: “You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do,” once said by Henry Ford. So you got to take in all you can and dive in with all you have!