Does local church branding really matter?
Church people, both pastors and parishioners, sometimes ask me if branding really matters. As a branding professional with a lifelong personal investment in the growth and continued relevance of the church, I would have them rephrase the question in a variety of ways, so that the answer might be self-evident.
- Does it really matter if our church offers a clear, compelling promise to people?
- Does it really matter if our church projects a unique and appealing personality?
- Does it really matter if our church is recognizable in its communications?
- Does it really matter if our congregation stands out in the hyper-competitive marketplace of ideas that is modern society?
In short, yes, branding your local church matters. Understanding why is easier when you understand brand, its benefits, and how churches can develop and deploy it.
What a church brand is and is not
First and foremost, a brand is a promise.
In other words, a brand isn’t a description of your church. It’s not your mission or vision statement. It’s not your denominational identity alone. And it’s certainly not just your logo. Instead, it’s what you as a local body of believers promise that your members, your community and the world can depend on from you.
Your congregation can either define that promise, or let the world define it for you. As one popular maxim puts it, “Your brand is what people say it is,” how they think and speak of you in person or online. And in an era when merely speaking the word “church” can preemptively conjure a host of negative imagery, effective church branding isn’t a nicety, it’s an urgent necessity.
The benefits of branding for a local church
In business, a strong brand allows organizations and their products or services to stand out in a crowded marketplace, build trust and relationships beyond the transactional, and create loyalty (for a concise overview on the benefits of branding, try this Stanford University primer ).
Churches can reap similar benefits, even if the motivation is distinctly different. A report from the Episcopal Church Foundation says that a well-defined and communicated church brand can:
- Foster a deeper connection with current members
- Attract new members
- Extend your reach and impact within the community.
My own experience helping local mainline churches has shown me that a refreshed church brand can make the timeless and traditional newly meaningful and compelling, for current and prospective members alike.
How to discover, define and communicate your brand
Unfortunately, church leaders, lay or clergy, sometimes recoil at the thought of branding and the communications it is meant to guide, fearing that the church will give in to the commercial artifice and manipulation of which the business world has often been guilty. But an effective church brand can’t be manufactured like an opportunistic new product; it has to be discovered by an honest process.
I won’t go into the full process here, but refer you instead to my free eBooklet “The 3-Step Branding Process & Workshop for Progressive Churches.” It spells out a simplified method to:
- Discover the needs and attitudes of all constituencies
- Define your brand personality and essential benefits, both rational and emotional
- Develop a differentiating positioning statement, plus a brand style guide that reflects it
Your church brand matters
If you’re interested in church growth, if you want to energize your current members, if better connections with the community is a concern – if any or all of those matter, as I’m sure they do, then a fresh look at your church brand matters, too. I encourage you to download the free PDF here, and please contact me if you have questions.