Branding Hope

When I pulled into our parking lot the other day, I noticed this brand new sign telling the community who we are. What’s significant about this sign? The funky design? No. The LED display? No. Is it that a word is missing from our name? That is correct!! That word would be “Presbyterian”. And it is not because there was no room on the sign or that we have defected from our denomination.

No, but it is strategic. It is a barrier busting decision. Being a church for the unchurched, we are always looking for ways to remove barriers that might come between people and their desire to come visit Hope and hear the good news. The past few years we have been publicly referring to ourselves as Hope Church from up front, but this is a huge step in changing our “brand”.

Again, we are not anti-Presbyterian. During our new member class, we still talk about our denomination and what it means to be a Presbyterian church. That is who we are, but we also say that we are much bigger than a denomination. We are a church that is committed to Christ and committed to reach into our community as effectively as possible. Any comments? Is this defecting? Is is being disingenuous?

The Lure of the Web

            

I am starting to get a few more people who come to our new member class –Introducing Hope — who have found us or at least first checked us out through our web site.  Just 2 or 3 years ago our web site —how can I say this — sucked!  We had a do over, and it is not perfect, but it is much better.  And we are striving to keep it up-to-date.  I ran across a reference to an article in USA Today at MondayMorningInsight.  Check out what they have to say about shopping for a church on the web—–

Across the country, fall is high season for “church shopping,” as people in search of a new faith community to call home set about the task of finding one. But that doesn’t mean they’re showing up, singing hymns, shaking hands and sampling doughnuts at a different church each week.

Instead, observers say, they’re visiting church websites and evaluating congregations — often without having actually met anyone at the church. And that has some church people worried that the practice of faith is getting ever more impersonal — and consequently less powerful — in an age driven by efficiency and impatience.

Church shoppers “used to have to go to the service, sit in the back row and watch,” says Tom Bandy, president of EasumBandy & Associates, a church consultancy. “The website has just replaced that. The color schemes, the formatting, the language, the music — those things powerfully reveal who they (in the church) want to come there and who’s going to be accepted there.”

Read the rest of the article here.

Power of the People

In our new member class - Introducing Hope - we begin our second session with an ice breaker. We ask folks to answer three questions:

1. What is your name?
2. How did you hear about Hope?
3. What is one interesting thing about your spouse if you are married or yourself if you are single?

That last question brings some strange responses. One time after I stated those questions, a woman then proceeded to share that the most interesting thing about her husband was that he was worthless and presently involved with another woman. It was a tad awkward but, thank goodness he was NOT there — with the other woman!!!

That second question is one we track around here, and it has proven to point to one conclusion. The best marketing is happy and talkative customers. I can say that over the past 5 years when I have asked that question, the answer has pointed to other Hope members or attendees who have spread the word to friends and family.

This was reiterated to me today when I read Church of the Customer blog. They pointed to a Nielsen study that stated that seventy-eight percent of the people Nielsen polled trust the recommendation of a friend. Here is how the results came down:

To What Extent Do You Trust the Following Forms of Advertising?

Recommendations from Consumers	78%
Newspapers	63%
Consumer opinions posted online	61%
Brand websites	60%
Television	56%
Magazines	56%
Radio	54%
Brand sponsorships	49%
Email I signed up for	49%
Ads before movies	38%
Search engine ads	34%
Online banner ads	26%
Text ads on mobile phones	18%

Source: Nielsen Online Global Consumer Study April 2007

That is about right — it has been my experience that around 80% say that they have come to Hope via an invitation from a family member or a friend.

How have I applied this information? For one thing, one of the last things I say at our Introducing Hope class is that they are our best evangelist. They are all in an incredible position that none of us as Pastors can touch. They are the hands and feet —- and mouths who bring people through our doors to hear the message of Christ.