I'm a casual observer of marketing. In grad school, marketing was one of my favorite courses. I like to analyze commercials and billboards when I see them, trying to determine the target audience based on their design, content, images, music, location, airtime, and so on. For example, I'm pretty sure that TV commercials for degrees in VCR repair are not targeted at me -- and neither are billboards for microsurgical vasectomy reversals. I promise.
My intrigue with church marketing is equally as developed. Whether it's a late-night commercial, a road-side billboard, a logo, or even a church name, I cannot help but think, "Hmmmm ... who are they trying to reach with that? And does it work?"
Therefore, when I stumbled across Church Marketing Sucks in a random Google search, I had to pay a visit. While I have not read every word on every page of their website, I certainly agree in principle with their purpose: to frustrate, educate, and motivate the church to communicate, with uncompromising clarity, the truth of Jesus Christ. From what I can tell, these guys are believers and are simply frustrated with what they've observed.
So, take a look. I would be curious to hear your thoughts. (About the website ... not the billboard above.)
(By the way ... if you're offended by the "S" word used in their name or if your browser blocks that word, you can use their alternate URL -- Church Marketing Stinks. Fair warning, though -- the content on the site is the same.)
4 comments:
so what are your thoughts on HFBC's new billboard of a 3 scoop sunday that says HFBC Now sundays come with 3 servings? It is on 290 heading inbound on the left hand side.
I like the billboard. I think what I like most about it is that it does not focus on Gregg. As he would agree, it ain't about him!
I am totally with you on that!!!
i'm not sure ANY church marketing successfully targets anyone besides people that already go to church or have had experiences with going to church. churches that do that kind of marketing are preaching to the choir, so to speak. not to say that the choir doesn't need preaching, we do. i just can't imagine any of my unbelieving friends being convinced by a billboard or ad to come to church or to consider Christ in their life.
i think the frustration with church marketing lies in how to reach unbelievers. unfortunately i don't think there is any way to do it with a marketing campaign. the most successful kind of "marketing" i've witnessed is when people just are doing their own thing, creating, talking, touching people's lives b/c of the love in their heart and it gets unbelievers listening and involved in their lives. for instance, musicians that are christians but are just producing music out of what comes from their heart, not with a goal in mind to reach a certain audience. sufjan stevens has a huge non-christian following, and many of his songs have a christian message, but he is just expressing his true self without any pretentions and people are listening and reading his lyrics and possibly learning more about Christ along the way.
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