As you consider your ministry and efforts, think about what demand you are addressing. What is the real need you are seeking to fill? How are you answering this need? Once you understand this, you can spend your energy, time, and money showing people how what you have to offer fills that need. The demand is there, and you are called to answer it.
For Reflection
As you look around you, what needs do you personally feel called to meet?
In today’s materialistic society, what are some ways you can help people realize their true need for God?
Truth 2
Brand and Marketing are Not Bad Words
“Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for edifying, as fits the occasion, that it may impart grace to those who hear.”
— EPHESIANS 4:29
Often, those who work in religious organizations and functions feel the need to avoid words like brand or marketing in anything they say or do. The word communication is always fine, but brand and marketing are considered bad and are to be avoided at all costs.
Unfortunately, the secular world has pounced on those words, suggesting that everything is a brand, and everything is marketed. Of course, in the secular world, the result of effective branding and marketing is money, money, and more money. In other words, brand and marketing are equated with greed and commerce. No wonder faith-based institutions shy away from using those words.
Yet, when we lose the words, we also lose the robust understanding that accompanies them. When the veneer of commercialization is removed, brand and marketing have deep meanings that can make a great difference for those who work in faith-based institutions, if they understand them appropriately.
A brand actually packs a very valuable punch. It is a way of encompassing everything the world sees and hears about a particular product, service, or organization. At its simplest level, a brand is a promise being made to a customer. That promise is conveyed in a variety of ways, and each item is part of the brand. A brand often includes a logo, a trademark, a tagline, colors and fonts, experiences, the products or services provided, key messages, etc. Every last piece that connects with a customer is housed under the title of brand. Objectively, that concept of a brand is not a bad thing.
Where the word brand runs into trouble is when the secular world equates brands with big business. Yet this equation misses a critical piece: a strong brand leads to loyalty, commitment, and trust. In the business world, loyalty and trust lead to sales, which contribute to the growth of businesses. For faith-based entities, however, loyalty, trust, and commitment lead to something far more important than money: they lead to deepening of faith, relationship with God, and service to others. The brand — the promise — of faith-based organizations is profound, and it is not commercial.
Think about EWTN as a brand. Many Catholics the world over know it; they recognize the logo, the letters, the name. Most importantly, they understand that it is a source for outstanding Catholic content. People are exceptionally loyal to EWTN, and for many it is the only source of the day’s news. EWTN understood very well that the creation of a brand was about developing loyalty with a committed viewing audience. The result has been an ability to provide outstanding faith-based insights worldwide.
If brand equates to the promise or the what that you do, marketing describes how you get the word, the promise out there. Again, the secular world clouds the word marketing with the idea of really big budgets, aggressive media, and inappropriate creativity. At its core, however, marketing is communicating your brand or your message to appropriate audiences. Secular companies ratchet up their approaches, and their brash voices cause faith-based entities to draw away, fearful of the assertive attitude marketing seems to demand.
This is not what marketing has to be. Marketing can and should be a tool for ministries, parishes, and organizations that allows them to share their faith-based work with others.
Reflecting on the example of EWTN, they do have an enormous marketing advantage in that they are a media company; therefore, they are able to use their outlets to market themselves. You find them in social media, in print, radio, and, of course, TV. They have the message, a brand that matters to people, and they have the vehicles, the marketing ability to effectively reach their audience.
I am not suggesting that you should adopt these secular words in your everyday language for your ministry. However, I do hope that by understanding them, you will not be afraid of them. In this book, these words are used consistently, in large part because they are precise descriptors of important efforts. Both of the words brand and marketing are steeped in meaning, and when understood they can help you connect even more deeply with those you are trying to reach. I invite you to reflect on them, that they may impart grace as you strive to bring your message to life.
For Reflection
What is your perception of the words brand and marketing?
How can you use the principles of branding and marketing to better connect with others and draw them closer to God?
Truth 3
Nobody Will Love Your Brand the Way You Love It
“Thy words were found, and I ate them, and thy words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart.”
— JEREMIAH 15:16
What you do every day often reveals your passions. If you run a religious organization, lead the communications for a ministry, or serve as pastor of a parish, chances are you are passionate about your work. You live and breathe life into it, ensuring work is done, bills are paid, and the organization’s efforts are communicated.
Yet, no matter how much you love your organization — your brand — no one else will love it like that. They can’t. They are happy simply to remember it on occasion.
The truth is, people are busy, and they are bombarded every day with things that need their attention. Think about this fun fact: a study done in 2005 by Yankelovich Inc. showed that the average person saw more than five thousand marketing messages a day,1 and this did not include everything we encounter now on the internet and social media. Now more than ever, your brand is simply one of many things vying for people’s attention.
When you think, hope, and act as if everyone loves your brand the way you do, you run into challenges. People get to your brand at different times in their lives, for different reasons. In particular, faith-based brands seek to awaken a deeper longing for God. If you assume that others love your brand the way you do, you are assuming a level of understanding that they may not have yet. Your role is to gently lead them along the path toward God, and you do that by interesting them in your brand, your work, and your ministry. If you assume that they already know and love your brand the way you do, you risk not connecting with them and potentially losing them.
You may remember the brand Healthy Choice. For a while it was all the rage, and the company’s brand managers, thinking everyone loved their brand, quickly moved to introduce all sorts of product extensions. In short order, you could find Healthy Choice cookies, crackers, snacks, and frozen meals; the list grew exponentially. Unfortunately, it did not take long for the sales to plummet. What was Healthy Choice after all? Could it really be a cookie? Consumers were confused and walked away. They never loved the brand enough to invest the time, energy, and interest in figuring out what Healthy Choice was really all about. Fast-forward a few years, and today Healthy Choice is focused on healthier prepared meals in the frozen or refrigerated food sections.