Read this really great blog post from my friend Kenny about Brand Confusion.
I am a big advocate of churches using branding and being intentional about how you present yourself as a church. Everytime this comes up you push people in two camps 1.) Branding is what the devil does in his spare time and 2.) How do I make everything Disney does sound like Jesus did it.
I am somewhere in-between. I believe that you market yourself whether you want to or not. Why not be intentional?
Here is my branding pet-peeves about churches
1. We are addicted to new – change our branding just about the time people start to recognize it.
2. We have to many identities per church – a separate brand for each ministry get overwhelming and confusing.
3. We use insider language when trying to reach people outside our four walls
4. We think that no one notices that we took the cheap road
5. We think that a nice flyer is more important than real meaningful relationship.
6. We don’t do anything to stand out from the crowd.
7. We care more about what we are not know for than what we are know for.
8. We don’t connect our brand with who we are – our essence. We are driven by may look cool but may not best represent who we really are.
9. Are all fluff and no substance or all substance and no heart.
10. I’m from New York every list has to have 10 things on it.