Marketing

By Brad Abare

EVENTS
Association vs. Action

Long gone are the days when eventgoers were content with being captivated by sheer crowd energy and connecting with like-minded peers. Events and conferences are a dime a dozen now, and the plethora of options is causing little distinction between purpose, preachers or participants.

Our need for gathering will always be intertwined with the natural desire to be included, noticed and celebrated. However, in a generation in which FaceMyTwitterBookSpace is the connector du jour, we no longer need monstrous gatherings to meet people around the world or fulfill these internal needs. We can do that with a mouse click or a text message.

I recently attended a gathering of 3,500 students coming around three ambitious causes: fighting poverty, caring for orphans and ending modern-day slavery. Despite lower-than-hoped-for attendance, it proved to me that our reasons for getting together are changing. I wonder if ...

•Students and young adults want less of the self-esteem boosting events from the past and more moments of shared energy that fuels action.

•Weekend churchgoers would prefer to spend less time in service and more time in service to others.

•Denominations struggle to grow because rallying around good doctrine seems a lot less important than rallying around good deeds.

In our pursuit to assemble people, may we all consider why we're bringing them together in the first place. Jesus never gathered a crowd. The crowds always gathered around Him. What are you doing that's worth gathering around?

COMMUNICATION
8 Tips for Good (Print) Communication

1. Remember "the who." They're not just a band, "the who" is also your audience. And if you don't have them in mind every second you're creating printed pieces, you're wasting time. When you put things in print, this is not the time to think about you, it's the time to think about them.

2. Print adds legitimacy to your message. Whenever something is put in print—whether it's proper or propaganda—it adds some legitimacy to what you're saying. It's great to see and hear, but when you can touch or take away something it makes the message stick a little more and creates a reference point.

3. Ask if what you're sending is worth passing on to others. Everything you print should be so relevant that people want to pass it on to someone else.

4. Don't forget the call to action. Ask yourself what is it that you want people to do as a result of receiving and reading your print piece. Do you want them to attend an event? Spread the word? Give? Smile? Pray? If you don't know what you want people to do, how will you ever know how to get them to do it?

5. Web content does not equal print content. Just because something is online doesn't mean it needs to be in print. Words online are much cheaper. Because you know your audience better with print (i.e., who is getting the piece), it should be easier to have your messaging be direct, pithy and poignant.

6. Be careful with pre-designed templates. Stock photography and template-ish stuff can look a little cheesy sometimes. I'm not opposed to using them, but be careful. If you're doing a short run with a limited audience it's easier to get away with it. But if you have a citywide mailer going out, think twice before using the cookie-cutter multiethnic families with all smiles, genders and ages represented.

7. Have it proofed twice more than you think you should. Tyops are so easee to overlook. But not everything is so obvious. Once you think you have your stuff proofed enough, send it by one more fresh pair of eyes.

8. You + Computer + Photoshop = Very Bad. This is a lesson for all you wannabe designers. To all of you entrepreneurial creative leaders with a computer and illegal (or legal) copy of Photoshop, give it up. Chances are pretty good God didn't call you to be a designer, so stick to what He called you to. Not only does it probably take you 10 times longer than anyone else to create your pieces, you're also never satisfied.

ADVERTISING
Lost in Translation

"It takes a sexually aroused man to make a chicken affectionate."

"Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave."

"Suffer from diarrhea."

These are just a few of the mistranslated ad slogans from mega-marketing campaigns over the years. Perhaps you have heard them in their intended forms:

"It takes a strong man to make a tender chicken." (Purdue Farms)

"Come alive with the Pepsi Generation." (Pepsi)

"Turn it loose." (Coors)

Although companies often hire translation services and run native-speaker checks when creating a campaign, the reality is that words, phrases and concepts do not always transfer so well to other countries and cultures.

How does your church communicate with the community you're in? Do the people in your surrounding areas know you the way you think you should be known? Are you the church with the loud music? The cheesy sign? The frustrating parking? Oftentimes a church's intended message can get lost in translation. When you say you're the "church that never sleeps," then why is there no one to answer the phone? When you say your church has "something for everyone," how come the youth ministry is virtually nonexistent?

The next time you communicate who your church is to people, try running it through a few "translation services." If Coca-Cola can figure out how to communicate to the other side of the world, certainly your church can communicate to the people across the street.

Brad Abare is the director of communications for the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, founder of the Center for Church Communication, and president of Personality, a communication and marketing consultancy.

MinistryResource
What if church marketing materials were communal? At the Center for Church Communication (cfcclabs.org) , they are. Far from just an open-source online community, the Web site also offers fresh resources, ideas, networking, ministry "labs" and more.