Just thought I’d share some more thoughts on branding.

By the way, I know some people are afraid of the words “marketing” and “branding” being used in church circles. Let me allay your fears. I’m not talking about “gimmicks.” This isn’t about church cosmetics. I’m not trying to dumb-down or water-down the gospel. Here’s what drives me: the greatest message deserves the greatest marketing. Period.

Think of marketing in the context of Luke 14:23. Jesus said, “Go into the highways and rural roads and compel them to come in so that my house may be full.” The word “compel” means “to demand attention.” That should be the goal of church branding and marketing.

FYI–we’ll talk a lot about branding at the Buzz Conference next May. We try to brand our small groups (Small Groups Illustrated). We try to brand every sermon series. We try to brand our locations–Now Meeting @ a Theater Near You!

I think every church is a sub-brand. In other words, each church is a unique expression of the Kingdom of God. Too many churches are too generic. The key to branding is originality. We need to discover our unique churchprint.

The Law of Scope

There is an old aphorism: less is more. I think it’s true when it comes to branding. Less is more and more is less. It’s the law of scope.

Too many churches try to do too much! They try to be all things to all people and end up being nobody to noone.

In his book, The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, Al Ries says, “The power of a brand is inversely proportional to its scope.” He says, “A brand becomes stronger when you narrow its focus.”

Too often we try to expand our scope of ministry. Maybe we ought to narrow our scope. Do a few things well. Think of it as ministry pruning. I know that sounds counterintuitive at first earshot, but keep reading.

Al Ries says, “A brand should strive to own a word in the mind of the customer.”

Think of cars.

What word do you think of when you think of Volvo? For most of you, it’s the word “security.” What about Ford? “Tough.” Lexus is “luxury” and BMW is “prestige.” Car manufacturers realize they can’t be all things to all people. They narrow their focus.

So what “word” comes to mind when people think of your church?

Part of branding is discovering your God-given gifts and passions and playing to your strengths. Ultimately, I think branding is accepting yourself for who God made you to be. You stop trying to be who you’re not and celebrate who God made you to be.

Let me use Theaterchurch.com as an example. I’d love to have some more 50+ people at NCC. I think it’d make us a little more well-rounded. But I’ve decided not to bemoan who we’re not. I’ve decided to celebrate who we are–a congregation with 80% single twenty-somethings. That’s our niche in the Kingdom.

Don’t get me wrong. We want to be a well-rounded church. We celebrate diversity. I try to teach the “full counsel” or God. But we can’t be all things to all people. I used to feel guilty about that! And then I had a paradigm shift.

I realized that every church in our city that preaches the gospel is on the same team! Our primary role is reaching single twenty-somethings and young couples. We’re also a church for the unchurched and dechurched. We have to play our position to the best of our ability. I think celebrating the uniqueness of every church is one key to become a team player. A kingdom mindset demands it.

For what it’s worth, we have two goals for everybody who attends NCC:

1) Plug into a small group
2) Plug into a ministry

We try to keep it simple. It’s the law of scope.

Here’s the bottom line: let’s do less so we can do more.

Big Idea

One more thought on the law of scope. The way to say more is to say less.

If the law of scope applies to anything it applies to preaching. I rarely preach three points. When I was started out in this pastoring gig I had a mentor, Dick Foth, who encouraged me to say “one thing” each week. It was some of the best advice I’ve ever gotten. We call that “one thing” our “big idea” which we got from Community Christian in Naperville, Illinois.

If you preach too long or say too much you hit a point of diminishing return no matter how good you are!

Can I share a defining moment?

Part of me hesitates because I’m not “name dropping” and I have to preface this by saying that NCC is a-political. We have an amazing political diversity. I think that is the by-product of not playing the political card. Most of our people eat, sleep, and breathe politics day in and day out. So we don’t touch political issues with a ten foot pole.

Having said that let me say this.

The former Attorney General, John Ashcroft, and his wife have attended NCC since we were a core group of 19 people. He’s been a tremendous personal encouragement to me. He’s always affirming, but I’ve appreciated his candor as well. One day he said to me, “That what a great series you preached on Sunday.” I wasn’t sure how to take that

He said that the first half of the message was really good, but the second half was even better so he forgot the first half. I had a hard time discerning if he was complimenting me or dissing me But I think he was trying to tell me that I was trying to say too much.

If you want to say more then say less. It’s the law of scope.