evan mcbroom THE OTHER SIDE of the boat

Church Branding - eternal, worldly & local

The Short Story: heard a great sermon this weekend.  Rev. Chris Chase from Good Samaritan Episcopal Church in San Diego taught on Church Branding.  His lesson

• In Revelation we learn that there will be those who will be marked/sealed as belonging to God -eternal.
• Jesus teaches us to "love one another" as a sign to the - world.
• The local church needs to identify itself uniquely in it's community - local - and Good Sam is in that process.

The Longer Story: This past weekend I traveled to San Diego to lead a branding discovery session with church leaders from Good Samaritan Episcopal Church - or "Good Sam" as they are know to friends and family.  Good Sam is a beautiful place filled with people who are easy to be around. They describe the worship service as a "lighter and relaxed interpretation and presentation of the Episcopal tradition."  It was that. Liturgy, robes, communion and an altar girl wearing orange canvas shoes. They are warm and welcoming bunch and they quietly pour themselves into the lives of each other andhurting people - locally and beyond.  Over and over they described their experience at Good Sam as one of "healing."  One member of the discovery team, Julia, a bright young woman in her Junior year in high school, described Good Sam as "Mrs. Weasley's house from the Harry Potter series." She said, "it's a little clunky, and the people are sorta quirky, but it's a place you can totally just come be yourself."  Every head around the table nodded in agreement.  

 This was an interesting day because, in addition to attending worship services and leading the discovery session, I was also invited to teach a Sunday school class, Church Branding: What Story are we Telling?  Communication Director Leanne Shawler invited me to lead this session, helping the congregation toward better understanding and fostering discussion on the topic.  Often, the work of church branding is done behind the scenes and then revealed to the congregation.  At Good Sam, it's a collective experience.  While a team will lead the effort its the congregation is well aware of what's underway.  Not only was there a class on church branding, but Rector Chris Chase's message presented a fascinating perspective as well.  The entire branding team and process was lifted up for prayer.  

Chris outlined three distinct and powerful perspectives on church branding - eternal, worldly and local. The highlights:

1. In Revelation we learn that there will be those who will be marked/sealed as belonging to God - eternal.
2. Jesus teaches us to "love one another" as a sign to the - world.
3. The local church needs to identify itself uniquely in it's community - local - and Good Sam is in that process.

  The message is about 20 minutes long.  It's worth a listen.  

Look back. Celebrate. Look ahead.

Looking back: Seven years ago this month I quit my comfortable agency job in search of where God was leading me.  It was financially comfortable, but I had grown exceedingly restless, sensing that God was moving me out and moving me on.  It was January 2003.  A full-on search began, and by April I had discovered Fishhook.  With no funding and no business plan I printed cards at home on card stock and hand-cut them on a paper cutter.  Swiftly God began opening doors and the work came.  Looking back it just blows me away that now, seven years later, Fishhook has grown to 9 people and God has provided steady work and steady growth. We've bobbled some passes.  We've worked through hard stuff. I can look back and see about 5 or 6 specific phases of Fishhook - key points of change, struggles and improvements.

Celebrate: Today, I as have a little time to pause and reflect, I'm celebrating that in the last three weeks, we've helped church leaders launch 2 new brand identities and 3 new Web sites.

Identity and site: www.wheatlandsalem.org

Identity and site: www.golove.org

Site: www.kingswaychurch.org (we developed the identity a few years ago)

This work demonstrates the power of collaboration when our Fishhook team works closely with church staff, pastors and volunteers.  This work reflects, for me, the faithfulness of God as the one who is bringing His calling on my life to fruition.  

Looking Ahead: Next week, we will have a team retreat and we will spend some time considering what may be ahead...what does the next version of Fishhook look like.  What might God have in store?  I can't wait to explore this with the our team.

Extending the church brand into childrens ministry

Kudos to Kingsway Christian Church.  With an already solidly established brand presence on Indy's western suburbs, they have extended the brand identity to their first major ministry.  At Fishhook, we call this a sub-brand - a separate, weighty brand that is connected to the parent through the visual identity, communication and brand experience.

This branding includes the development of a new mark, specific for Kingsway Kids with a strong tie to the overall corporate mark and a twist as the corporate tag line (real - passionate - truth) plays out to describe the Kingsway Kids experience (real - fun - truth).

Much more than just the logo, the sub-branding is part of a larger overall effort to

• increase the visibility of Kingsway's Childrens Ministry (renamed Kingsway Kids)
• improve the connection, communication and collaboration with parents and volunteers
• celebrate how God is at work through Kingsway Kids and more

Kingsway mobilized multiple staff and lay teams to tackle various aspects of the project and Fishhook was honored to collaborate on this major, multi-month effort of research, creative development and implementation.  You can check out some of the streamlined communication tools at the Kingsway Kids area of the Web site.  Check out the videos and High Five newsletter.  

Here are just a few lessons we learned and/or principles we applied in doing this work:

1. It's better for a church to be a "branded house" than a "house of brands."  We see this best in the corporate world.  Disney is a branded house - a strong tie across their sub-brands (Disney World, Disney Land, Disney Stores, Disney Cruise Line, etc.) Procter & Gamble is a house of brands (Tide, Bounty, IAMS, Crest). Design the identity of your ministry brands and your overall church brands to support each other.
2. Parents and volunteers want one place to go to get informationabout classes, lessons, events and the assignments...especially if they have multiple aged children in the ministry.
3. Stories move people. If your ministry has a story to tell, give it a place to tell it.  The newsletter and Web site will become the place to share stories and resources will be directed to help tell the stories. 

Congrats Kingsway and Kingsway Kids! (and thanks for letting us be part of the fun...I mean work)  

Rubbermaid should have broadened their branding team...

to include 10 year old boys. They would have found the naming flaw with this diaper changing table I found in a park restroom. Comments?

A name says a lot

Remember ValuJet?  Wikipedia says...

ValuJet Airlines was a low-cost carrier that operated in the Eastern United States during the 1990s. After a series of safety problems and the fatal crash of ValuJet Flight 592, the company executed a reverse merger with the much smaller regional airline AirWays Corp., now known as AirTran Holdings; thus, ValuJet now operates as AirTran Airways.

The name was a major problem.  I specifically remember a comedian, who was probably speaking for many people, saying, "ValuJet?  Who wants to fly ValuJet?  I want to fly Safety-Jet!"  The name just compounded their problems.

This morning I saw this van on my way into the office.  "AAA Economy Fire Extinguishers."  Come on.  If I'm ever faced with the need for a fire extinguisher, I want the most dependable fire extinguisher.  The most expensive, dependable, fully charged fire extinguisher I can find.  Now, I may not be their audience, so, perhaps the name is perfect.  If I'm a property manager and I'm required by law to equip my properties with fire extinguishers to meet code and "good" is good enough...this name suggests that these are my guys. 

Why the name discussion?  I received the following email this morning aimed at church communication directors: 

Kirsten Anders from Traders Point has a question for you guys. If you could take a few minutes to with a quick response, we sure would appreciate it.  They currently use the title "Minister of Assimilation" for the person who works with new members, familiarizing them with TPCC and getting them more involved into the church.  They are looking for a new title to give this person. What do you guys call this person or what are some suggestions you have?

I'm excited to see what they come up with.  Many churches (including my own) have used this title...and I think it's horrible.  Who wants to be "assimilated?"  Most people want to be loved!  Oh, and it's even worse if you say it with a bad Arnold Schwarzenegger accent:  "Don't move.  Vee vant to assimyulate you."  Yikes! 

So...got any suggestions?  Comment here and we'll make sure Kirsten follows along.

"These donuts are filled with..."

So I'm driving my son to swim team practice last Thursday night.  He's 9.  Third grade.

As we drive to the pool, we stop at a light next to a donut delivery truck.  It's hard to miss.  It's a big box truck, with full graphics wrapped on the sides and back showing the soft fluffy glazed donuts this particular chain if famous for.  The design screams "yummy donuts" and the text tells us that this truck is full of donuts bound for our grocery...fresh and delicious.  I noticed the truck but didn't think much of it and then my son began teaching his Branding 101 lesson.  He said, "Dad, look at that truck!  It's all rusty and dirty and the picture is pealing off."  (he was right - the truck and wrap were way past their prime)  Then, as we pulled up next to the cab, my boy looked inside and said, "Dad, that guy is SMOKING!" 

I responded, "Wow buddy, you're right. What's that all say to you?" 

He said, (and I'm not kidding) "They might as well be saying 'these donuts are filled with manure!'" 

What's he saying?  Details are important.  How this truck looks and how their driver behaves while driving the truck matters and has an impact on what people think of the product - on the brand.  I think I'll look around the Fishhook brand this week and see if I've got anything that's "rusty and smoking - or filled with manure." 

Thanks boy!

Good Start - Great Follow Through!

I'm in my office on Sunday evening, trying to catch up from the end of a nutty-busy last week in advance of a potentially nuttier-busier week ahead.  As I do, I'm reminded of the lunch I had last week with John Puckett - Senior Pastor of Dover Christian Church. 

In late 2006, we had the good fortune of meeting this fine team through our friends at Traders Point Christian Church.  Dover is a small (really small) community (flashing yellow/red light intersection) 8 miles west of Lebanon Indiana.  At the time, they had weekly attendance of around 250.  We collaborated with their team to create a new logo, tag-line and establish some branding guidelines for them to use as they implemented the brand internally.  They knocked it out of the park.  What was most rewarding (now that they've "had" their new identity for about a year) was not to be reminded of how fitting the identity is for them, but to see how well they rolled it out and integrated into their communication.  They're not done...but they have done many things really well. 

Watch in an upcoming edition of Fresh Catch - as we ask John to share how they implemented this new brand identity.   John, Wayne, Karen, Jan, Jerry and Keri...Well Done!

my new CAFFEINATED friend

As part of the CKN network, I get to speak to church leaders about the role of communications in their building projects.  Through that relationship, I've met my new friend, Michael Trent.  Michael owns Third Place Consulting - working with churches and others to create effective third place environments.  He calls himself "the church bartender."  I love that!  And I wish I could get away with looking as cool as Michael looks...(hair spiky, not shaved...all that).

Check out his blog with a report from WFX.  I'm adding Michael to my "blogs I should read" list.  See...it's over there on the sidebar!

Buildings and Brand Experience: Part II

 

As I booked my hotel on-line, I was glad to know there was a swimming pool, and I packed my suit.  Now, I'm not sure on this trip that I was actually going to swim - but I packed my suit just in case.  When I got to the hotel, and discovered where the pool was located, I thought, "no thanks." 

This hotel has placed the swimming pool just off the lobby.  I took the first photo standing in the small lobby, shooting through the window just next to the registration desk. 

The second photo was taken inside the pool area, and you can see the desk clerk through the window. 

Here's the thing...for me, swimming is not a "private" thing - I know other people might be swimming and we'll see each other in our swim suits warts and all.  But, I don't want to be on display while swimming for all the people walking through the lobby.  Maybe I'm too vain, too self-conscious, too something?  But, I don't know what drove the decision to put the pool where it is.  But for me it created a bad experience...and it impacts this hotel's brand identity.

Active Logos - worth reading

My friend JD sent me this link  on "active logos."  It's very interesting.  In many church communication environments it might be hard to carve off enough "play time" for a designer to do this stuff - but what a joy it would be to have the opportunity to do it.