Branding your church

How do you get your church to stand out from all the other advertising with which people are bombarded daily? Branding is one effective way.

A recent article in Fast Company magazine says that authenticity is key to effective branding.

Here's an exerpt:

What does it take to be authentic?

Authenticity constantly requires reinforcement, and it can come from a number of sources: craftsmanship, timeliness, relevance. But it is a brand's values--the emotional connection it makes--that truly define its realism. And there are four primary strands that draw out that connection.

A sense of place.

"Authenticity comes from a place we can connect with," says Steve McCallion, creative director of Ziba, a Portland, Oregon--based design consultancy. "A place with a story." The Champagne region of France, for instance, helps give Veuve Clicquot special cachet. And yet, our notion of place does not need to be literal. On the contrary, it can sometimes prove considerably elastic. Häagen-Dazs, the Nordic-sounding ice cream, originated in that quaint Scandinavian village known as the Bronx, New York. The brand's name, concocted from two nonsensical words, is a perfect fake--so well chosen, and so evocative, that it resonates as real to folks who love the product.

A strong point of view.

Authenticity also emerges from "people with a deep passion for what they are doing," says McCallion. So Martha Stewart is perceived to be authentic in large part because her ambitious recipes for Perfect White Cake and Chocolate-Strawberry Heart-Shaped Ice-Cream Sandwiches stand in the face of a world where food is mass-produced and preparation for the average dinner is measured by the number of minutes it takes to microwave the thing.

Serving a larger purpose.

Consumers quite rightly believe, until they're shown otherwise, that every brand is governed by an ulterior motive: to sell something. But if a brand can convincingly argue that its profit-making is only a by-product of a larger purpose, authenticity sets in. "Just as there are purpose-driven lives," says Character's Hardison, "there are purpose-driven brands." (Think Whole Foods) here, or even, in a way, Google. The counterpart is also true: "When a brand changes its story to better capture its customers' dollars, it's basically a poser," Hardison says, "and people sense that right away."

Integrity.

Authenticity comes to a brand that is what it says it is. In other words, "the story that the brand tells through its actions aligns with the story it tells through its communications," Hardison says. "Only then will customers sense that the brand's story is true." When McDonald's launched its "We love to see you smile" campaign in 2000, commentators like Advertising Age's Bob Garfield hooted in derision, arguing that filthy restrooms and grumpy counter clerks rendered the ads "preposterously false." A year later, published reports revealed that rude employees were costing Mickey D's millions of dollars in lost sales. And when bloggers exposed a flog (read: "fake blog") that masqueraded as a travel journal written by a couple who were compensated for their gushing posts about Wal-Mart, the deception elicited a torrent of rebuke.

Our church has always had branding in the back of our minds, but recently we've been putting a lot more thought into how branding might play an important role in reaching new people for Christ. We are now in the process of changing our logo, etc. in an effort to brand our church in a more effective way. I will share what we learn and do.

Please share your thoughts and successes/failures as well.

The whole article can be seen here-

http://trax.fastcompany.com/k/w/mailman/fasttake/20070509/love?f=h