Will Mancini

While many forms of advertising may be less effective today there are forms that appeal to young consumers. One book that discusses this is Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are, by Rob Walker. According to Andrew O’Connell of HBR, the key is to “emphasize meaning first, functionality second; remember that people simultaneously want to feel like individuals, and be a part of something bigger than themselves”

At CATALYST last week, the Auxano team designed a strategy to give away hundreds of copies of Church Unique, by creating a memorable experience as part of the giveaway. First we blanketed the conference environment with little business cards that said “BUZZ” on one side with a message on the other: text “catalyst-buzz” to a 95495 (our 5 digit short code). T-shirts were given away with the same message. When people texted the number on their cell, an immediate reply via text told them where they could get a FREE COPY of the book that’s creating all of the BUZZ. Once they got the book, recipients would then wear a big round sticker that said, “I caught the catalyst buzz.” We created meaning with a combination of intrigue- an unexpected yet interactive impression, that was both individual (personal touch with me and our team) and big (co-branded with the large event) as we distributed the most valuable mass giveaway of the conference.

I mentioned an innovative ministry a few posts ago named Wayfarer. I think their articulated values are pretty sticky- five motives that pulsate with deep meaning for this team. The five values are communicated with fifteen words. A few months after they articulated these, Dave Rhodes, one of their founders, was on a plane talking to a stranger about their ministry. In the brief interchange he shared their values and the the conversation continued to unfold to become one of their biggest ministry partnerships.

• Christ before Christianity

• Rhythm before Regimen

• Wrestle before Settle

• Go before Know

• We before Me

Read the descriptions of these values as well as their mission and aim here.

In response to some comments, I have been reflecting further on stickiness.

One thing to keep in mind is how much the idea of “contrived” is a function of the particular micro-culture. I am amazed by how word-choice that strikes a chord in one community, may feel forced in another. For example, a Baptist Church in FL articulates their mission as, “Building relationships that bring people to dynamic life in Christ.” The boomer leaders near Tampa Bay love the idea “dynamic life” in their particular context. A Presbyterian church however, going through the same process, was turned off by the language of “dynamic life” and produced the following statement: “Renewing minds and redeeming lives with the steadfast love of Jesus Christ.” For this group the big idea of “loyal love” that runs through the Old Testament (Hebrew – hesed), is a relevant “ancient-future” articulation that drives their missional community. In addition, two prominent features of their locale make “steadfast” more sticky. First is their proximity to the famous Alamo in San Antonio. Second is their commitment to stay downtown when other churches moved to the suburbs, reflected by their value of “city transformation.” So imagine how one word, “steadfast” (a word that’s not that sexy) captures one of the weightiest concepts of God’s O.T. love as well as a giant piece of Texas state history within view of the church, as well as the most import decision in the church’s history.

The title of this blog is a statement that is becoming more useful as I coach leaders to articulate their values. The primary error that leaders make in articulating values is that they articulate too many. The second error is that they choose words that don’t jar the mind and heart in a way that “shakes up” meaning for peoples’ lives. The third error is that in an effort not to sound contrived, they end up saying something so inert that values are impotent.

During the vision process at First Presbyterian Church in San Antonio, one of the pastors grabbed a denominational book and read a section of the ordination commitment. The covenant included a promise to serve the people with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love. I have never forgotten this four word sequence.

Phil Cooke has done ministry leaders a great favor by compiling helpful insights and exploring the relevance of branding from a church perspective. The subtitle of this book released early this year is “Why Some Churches an Nonprofits Impact Culture and Others Don’t.” The leading question of the book is “What do people think of when they think of your ministry?” Phil’s emphasis in the brand discussion is helpfully flavored by a ministry-friendly definition: “At its core, branding is simply the art of surrounding a product, organization or person with a powerful and compelling story.” There are not many books in this category as few books dare to fuse faith and marketing. One thing I particularly appreciated is that Phil brings some needed insights in favor of branding the church while acknowledging the downsides of “chasing relevance” to an extreme.

The strength of the book is twofold: first is Phil’s authentic passion for the kingdom forged with a solid track record of brand-building for ministries. Second, is Phil’s distillation of principles, practices and proverbs from the business world filtered through ministry values.

The limitation of the book, albeit minor, is double-barreled. The first thing is that Phil is not weaving a coherent argument through the book, but rather, provides a patchwork of observations and insights. The second limitation is that Phil’s experience with ministry dominated by strong personalities of charismatic flavor. This tends to skew insights on branding more toward the individual and not the organization. Nevertheless, these minor points do not eclipse this solid contribution and valuable resource for a rarely treated topic.

I highly recommend this book for any church leader, and it is a must-have resource for any church communications professional. The thousands of designers working every-day to keep our churches communication savvy will appreciate one of my favorite quotes from the book: Better design isn’t just decoration; its connection. See my selected quotes.