{"id":29432,"date":"2019-06-19T12:56:16","date_gmt":"2019-06-19T16:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sharefaithblog.wpengine.com\/?p=29432"},"modified":"2019-06-19T12:56:16","modified_gmt":"2019-06-19T16:56:16","slug":"how-to-brand-and-promote-ministries-within-your-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sharefaith.com\/blog\/2019\/06\/how-to-brand-and-promote-ministries-within-your-church\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Brand and Promote Ministries Within Your Church"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve lived in the church communicator world for any amount of time, you\u2019ve probably come across the issue of branding and promoting ministries within your church. See if this scenario seems familiar. You\u2019re sitting in your office, the student minister comes by and announces that he is changing the name of the student ministry to \u201cextreme ignition\u201d. Not only that, but he wants a new \u201ccool\u201d logo to match by the end of the day. <\/span><\/p>\n

Some of you may be laughing and\/or groaning because this hits a little too close to home. So, what do you do? How do you maintain the credibility of your church\u2019s brand without offending your student minister or stifling creativity? What can you do to create consistency and still promote specific ministries?<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, there\u2019s not a one-solution-fits-all when it comes to branding and promoting specific ministries. However, there are considerations and guidelines that can help drive you as you work to make the best decision for your church.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Church Branding<\/span><\/h2>\n

Before you can jump into ministry branding, you have to first establish a church brand. According to the <\/span>Business Dictionary<\/span><\/a>, branding is \u201cthe process involved in creating a unique name and image for a product in the consumers’ mind\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In the case of churches, your church is the \u201cproduct\u201d and your brand is the \u201cunique name and image\u201d. In the most basic sense, it\u2019s how your community will recognize your church.<\/span><\/p>\n

When branding your church, pay close attention to colors, fonts, icons, and more that may evoke emotion in those that see it. For more on church branding, <\/span>view this article<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Once your brand as a whole is established, you can then shift your focus to branding and promoting your church\u2019s ministries.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

Your Options: A House of Brands or a Branded House<\/span><\/h2>\n

In the marketing world, a popular term that circulates is \u201ca house of brands or a branded house\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n

Marty Neumeier<\/span><\/a> explains it this way:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe first is a HOUSE OF BRANDS, meaning a company that markets a range of separate brand names (Procter & Gamble). The second model is a BRANDED HOUSE, meaning that the company itself is the brand, and its products or services are subsets of the main brand (Hewlett-Packard).\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Here are the pros and cons of these two options when it comes to your church.<\/span><\/p>\n

A House of Brands<\/span><\/h3>\n

When it comes to your church and the ministries within it, a house of brands would mean that each ministry is branded separately. Your kids’ ministry, student ministry, missions ministry, etc. would all look completely different from each other and different from your church as a whole.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pros:<\/span><\/h4>\n