Building Your LCMS Church Through Branding

1. Building Your Church Through Branding Rev. Michael Mueller Grace Lutheran Church & School www.GraceLancaster.com www.GraceLancaster.org 2. Who Do Others Say I Am? How would your congregation describe your church? Your guests? Your neighbors? Your mayor and community leaders? The lady at the local grocery? 03/01/2015 2Building Your Church Through Branding 3. BrandingWhy Do I Care? Churches often think: offer functional benefits: worship, Bible studies, newsletters, fellowship and home visits Underlying emotional benefit: trust and reliability Creates emotional appeal Branding ties reason for existence to your members, prospects and the community Comprehensive emotional bond Focused tactics from a deliberate set of strategies 03/01/2015 3Building Your Church Through Branding 4. Im Leary of Using Emotions Emotions Using emotions for visibility and growth not deceptive Extremely honest about core identity Aligns everything said and done to reflect that core 80% trust recommendations from family, friends, and influential persons Over all other forms of advertising and marketing That emotions work is self-evident Examine successful consumer marketing campaigns 03/01/2015 4Building Your Church Through Branding 5. How Do People Pick a Church? Trust it Know it Rely on it, or Highly recommended by someone trusted Provides emotional benefits because there is a relationship beyond the church itself 03/01/2015 5Building Your Church Through Branding 6. Determine Core Reason for Being Your reason for doing what you do Authentic Expressed in vision, mission, position, values and character Communicating through everything you say and doconsistently 03/01/2015 6Building Your Church Through Branding Example: Grace Lutherans slogan is To Know Christto make Christ known 7. Mission: What We Want to Accomplish The MISSION of Grace Lutheran Church & School is to GROW in Jesus Christ through love, forgiveness, prayer, praise, thanksgiving, witness, and service. Then, by the grace of God and with the power and joy of the Holy Spirit, we REACH out to all with the good news of Jesus Christ, and SERVE God by serving others with all that we are and have. 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 7 8. Develop Vision Expresses broadly how to advantage strengths Only worry about weaknesses if serious disadvantage Vision flows from core motivation to be who you are 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 8 9. Vision: How Were Going to Get There VISION: Christian living is all about being transformed by the Holy Spirit through the power of Gods Word, remembering who we belong to in our Baptism, receiving forgiveness in the Lords Supper, daily prayer with our Father, and stepping out in faith through our stewardship of time, talent and treasures in serving God by serving our neighbor 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 9 10. Values: The Rules We Play By Relationships Love is central to our relationship with Christ and with our neighbor Evangelism We bring the Christ that lives within us to those around us Teaching Gods Word is made clear and applied to our lives through the Holy Spirit Discipleship The Holy Spirit makes Disciples through Bible study and serving our neighbor Involvement Every Christian builds the body of Christ by using their gifts of the Holy Spirit Service We serve Christ by serving the needs of all people inside and outside the church 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 10 11. Brand Expressed in the name, logo, advertising, website, etc. as tools, but it is the emotional response to the core idea for its existence manifested in its services, people, places and experiences More than filling physical need, an emotional connection 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 11 12. Operating Model A promise of who you are Consistent Organizational model Messaging Everyone on same page Its why current members belong and what attracts new members 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 12 13. Color: Peaceful, Health 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 13 14. Logo Logo Shape is repeated pattern from altar and rear nave windows Triple Cross denotes LCMS, Christian Poppy is symbol of Antelope Valley Poppy is symbol of Peace 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 14 15. Brochure: Cover 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 15 16. Brochure: Inside 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 16 17. 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 17 Activities: Cover 18. 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 18 Activities: Inside 19. 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 19 Children: Cover 20. 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 20 Children: Inside 21. Website: Home Page 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 21 22. 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 22 Website: Menus 23. 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 23 Newsletters Pastoral Article Church News School News Announcements Special Events Church Statistics 24. Implementing a Strategy Find out why members joined Tie to core reason to exist Build reputation among family & friends Help get through lifes troubles Allow to balance work and family pressures Trust and reliabilitycreates emotional appeal 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 24 25. Emotional Benefit May not be intuitively obvious Talk with loyal members and prospectives Look what competition say to members & prospects Why members and prospects need to come back Members and prospectives don't necessarily remember what do for them as much as how you made them feel There's where can uncover emotional benefit 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 25 26. Personal Relationships 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 26 Frequent Fellowship Events 27. 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 27 Youth Retreats 28. 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 28 Visible Community Events 29. 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 29 Visible Community Organizations 30. 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 30 Public Faith Events 31. 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 31 Childrens Programs 32. 12/16/2013 Building Your Church Through Branding 32 VBS Dramas 33. 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 33 Community Service 34. 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 34 Community Fund Raising 35. Meaningful Worship 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 35 36. LWML 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 36 37. Bible Studies 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 37 38. Brand Strategy Development Brand strategy: how, what, when, and to whom you communicate Clear and concise brandstronger brand equity How people feel about or perceive your church How much willing to sacrifice to be a part of it Brand not church services, fellowship, doctrine, logo, website, or name Perception about you, and how you make them feel Limit to your best and make part of your brand strategy 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 38 39. Example Church Doctrine Outcome Reformed Holy living Perpetual purgatory Liberal Serve only Look like culture Pentecostal Emotions Emphasize Spirit nonBiblical approaches put focus on me Lutheran True Grace At peace to serve Lutherans have advantage over most churches 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 39 40. Be Consistent Clear and understood in all communications Especially inside own church Talk only about things relate to or enhance brand Ask: Does this align with our message? Differentiates from other churches 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 40 41. Connect Emotionally Generates more loyalty and active involvement than does rational thought Way brand makes you feel Belong, part of group More tight-knit than bunch of church goers Connect with members and prospectives Answer questions and concerns on social media A little goes a long way 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 41 42. How Connect Emotionally? Sometimes, just a thank you Great brands give more than that Write personalized letter with swag Ask members, guests to write review Feature prominently on Facebook site Pictures, shout outs, videos, praise Remembrance at event, worship service or fellowship event DVD showing what happens outside of Sunday Visit, visit, visit and then visit 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 42 43. Flexible and Creative Be winsome and act with grace, but not at expense of truth and core beliefs Sponsor a convocation on topical questions How would Jesus respond to Islam? How do we determine truth? How can a loving God allow evil in this world? What proof is there of Creation? 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 43 44. Measure What Connects Do more things with key elements Return on investment to strengthen brand Ask for feedback and listen, listen, listen Not resonate, not enough reason to love you Always have post mortem soon after event Engage members in fresh, new ways, but always remind why they love you 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 44 45. Keep Eye on Other Churches Use successes from other churches, if not dilute brand Share successes and failures with other LCMS churches Dont be distracted away from brand Everyone wont be attracted to your brand shouldnt try to be all things to all people 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 45 46. Brand Strategy Goal Members and prospects have multiple needs First connect everyone on common ground Then articulate clearly whats in it for them Goal is to stimulate an engaging conversation that allows us to change perception, diagnose expectations and bring clarity to the dialogue Essence of brand strategythe foundation of your communication that builds authentic relationships between you and your members 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 46 47. Community Community is powerful and effective platform to engage prospects Active community, members feel need to connect with each other in context of brand All want to be insider of something Exciting story to tell the community Personal recommendations, most powerful 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 47 48. Tactics Make new rulesa clear alternative to existing choices Market a beliefconviction, passion and commitmentimprove lives, families, community Create sense of belongingcollaborate and unify Meaningful participation, authenticity, connections Enable expressionBe a conduit for people to expressreflect lifestyle and values that speak for who they are 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 48 49. Tactics Create or curate a culturebe relevant, current echo chamber of peers and influencersamplify and reflect Leverage tensioncounterculturalgive winsome voice to dissatisfactionssolutions traditional culture does not solve Use scarcitybe adopted, not selectedcreate cache and exclusivityits a privilege to belong not everyone can belong 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 49 50. FinallyThink Critically Constantly measuring what you say and do against vision and strategies Brand strategy thinking is about creating the right experience that involves all members and prospects in order to foster a better strategy 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 50 51. Building Your Church Through Branding Questions? 03/01/2015 Building Your Church Through Branding 51 52. Loving Shepherd Video Building Your Church Through Branding