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Morning Morning Church

Here's another great sign I saw in Australia when I visited in 2005. What's wrong with this one (apart from the missing apostrophe)?


Think about trying to attract people to church... Still can't see it?

Believe me when I tell you - it says church starts at 7:30am! (Sorry, it's a little hard to see from the image).

How is that appealing?

Don't Leave me Hanging

This sign appears on a Catholic Church just down the road from my house. I'll be honest, as a marketing campaign, I really like it. The concept of 'returning home' is a brilliant one, especially in the context of the Catholic church. It really does tug the heart strings and bring feelings of returning to comfort, familiarity, purpose, love and acceptance. That's what home is I guess.

But, there is one thing that ruins this entire campaign. One thing undoes all this good work. Can you see what it is? Take a look at the sign again.


I swear this sign has been up for at least 2 years.

So when does it begin?

Forget about the Customer

A couple of years ago I discovered something that revolutionised design for me - iStock. iStockphoto.com is a website where photographers can sell their images for people like me who want to design brochures or websites etc. They are relatively cheap and with over 2.6 million images available, you can find almost anything you need.

I've downloaded hundreds of images that I've used in church, on flyers, posters, websites, videos etc. I usually download the 'medium' quality image which used to cost me 3 credits each - about $5.13 NZ.

However, I've just visited the site wanting an image of someone reading a Bible on the beach for a magazine I'm putting together to find that the price has increased to 5 credits - about $8.50 per image (medium quality version). That's a 66% increase in probably less than two years.

I've noticed price increases before - vector files went from 3 - 5 credits to 7 credits in one hit. The problem with iStock is that it is controlled, moderated and maintained by photographers and digital artists. Any thread discussing price increases is overwhelmingly pro-price increase. Try criticizing their new prices and you get shot down by a verbal barrage of angry 'arteests'.

The problem is that they're thinking only of themselves. They complain that they're not getting paid enough from the site - i.e. customers don't pay enough. But they're not thinking like a marketer should. If they keep increasing their prices, they'll lose customers, and they'll get paid even less. It really isn't rocket science.

So while they think they're doing the right thing, I am so disgruntled that I hop on over with a couple of clicks to their competitor - Dreamstime (and there are heaps more) who offer the same service for a lesser price.

Don't forget the customer. You can't price something at what you want. You have to price something at what people will pay.

Washed with Cow Pat

I can't quite believe the latest National Bank campaign. Gone is the vibrant Nigel Kennedy Four Seasons soundtrack and in is a slowed down version which sounds just like your cassette walkman (if you can remember those) running out of batteries.

And worse still, gone is the vibrant green. Instead they've washed their ads and their website in a fresh cow pat colour.

Here's a tip if you want to rebrand your church: use vibrant colours. Nothing muddy or washed. Washed and muddy colours give the appearance of weakness and dirtiness.

It is good to know though that even the big boys make mistakes!

Nitty Gritty - Part Three

In part 1 and 2 I talked about change and diversity as two key things churches must do to engage people today. These two are key, but presentation works alongside these and is crucially important.

3. LOOK GOOD

You've just got to look good. And not just your brand, but everything. This extends down to the carpet, chairs, newsletter and powerpoint shows. Everything has to be professional and be polished. Because that's what people expect. Anything less will lower their perceptions and reduce their 'experience' of church.

It starts with your logo. It's got to be contemporary and not cheesy. It's got to be bold and striking. This may come as a shock, but your logo doesn't have to include a cross or a stylized church building on it.

From there, you should adopt corporate standards: a set of standards for use of the logo and how stationary will look. It needs to all look the same, part of the same design family.

Presentation needs to incorporate everything. Going to church needs to be an experience, as people have become accustomed to experiences in everyday life. Listening to their iPod is an experience enhanced by the design of the thing and its ease of use, not to mention its popularity. Going to the movies is an experience, enhanced by the seats and screen size and the air conditioning and popcorn.

Better presentation of everything will enhance the church goers experience. This is far more important than you think.

Nitty Gritty - Part Two

So what else do you need to do to create an engaging and growing church?

2. 'DELL'erise

Take a leaf out of Michael Dell's book (I've said this before). He provides consumers with choice. When you order a computer from Dell, even a laptop, you can build it exactly how you want it. You decide how much ram and hard disk space you need, how big the screen is, the processor speed and even what colour it is. You decide. That's the key. This micro-segmentation is the future of commerce and to a larger extent, culture.

Churches need to provide options. One service for 200 people no longer works. Churches need to offer multiple services; that's how they will grow. By offering choice, people will be attracted to something that engages them personally.

Needless to say, each service needs to be significantly different. It's no use transplanting the same service structure at a different time of day, expecting to attract a new crowd.

We live in a very 'me' focussed world where everything is tailored to making people feel personally engaged and satisfied. This may not be the Biblical way, but it is the way of the world. Churches need to aim at taking advantage of this to draw in people.

Effectively it's product extension. Take your existing product, multiple it, change it and pitch it at a different market.

The Nitty Gritty

OK, let's get down to business. Enough skirting around the real issues. What do churches need to do to survive? What do they need to grow in the 21st century? These are the tough questions and they have answers that I imagine most churches don't want to hear.

1. CHANGE

I managed and coached a basketball team in the Canterbury men's league once. We beat everyone and were playing the equal first placed team in the league in the last regular season game. They were good and we were getting hammered. After a whole season of victories, it was unusual for us to be behind, and by so much (20 points from memory).

I called a time out with five minutes to go and said to the guys, "We've got to change the way we're playing. Let's do something crazy, something they won't expect."

Their answer was, "But Steve, we'll just end up losing by even more."

They were more content to play as they were and lose by 20 than change the way we played and risk losing by 40, but giving ourselves a small chance at winning.

I'm not sure that they realised that losing by 40 or 20 is the same thing. You lose.

Churches seem to think they can carry on as they have been for 50 years doing the same thing in the hope that people will change and 'come back'. Services are the same today as when I was a kid. Nothing has changed except we now use a projector rather than an OHP.

Change the structure of the service. Vary it up. Throw out some elements and get some new ones. How about couch testimony time? How about getting church goers to make a video diary of their week with God for show in the service? How about watching a Nooma DVD for discussion instead of the usual sermon? Whatever, just change.

People expect change and variety. It's the way the world works.

More in this series to come later.

Guest Post

I was recently asked to write a guest post for Brown Blog. It's about Fishermen Inc's new line of plastic Jesus figurines. Check it out here.

Bad PR for Christianity

I was walking down Lambton Quay just this morning when I came across a guy I've seen before. He wears a bowler hat and is dressed fairly smartly (not the guy in the image). But he mumbles under his breath and as you approach, steps out, arm outstretched to hand you a bit of paper. He continues to preach at you without saying hello or even acknowledging you.

He's preaching repentance from sin and says to passers by, "Look what you have done." I'm not sure of his exact message, but upon my return up Lambton Quay again 20 minutes later, I dreaded walking past him so much that I crossed the road.

I just can't see any point to this kind of envangelism. What kind of person would respond? Will anyone repent just because this old man, whom I wonder if he isn't slightly mentally ill, says.

I find this approach counterproductive for Christianity. He is undoing much of the great work that churches and others have done. We seem to battle ourselves don't we? Christians fight with each other because we can't agree on theology or how to engage people with God. So we all take a different approach, cancelling each other out.

That's why seeing street preachers upsets me. It's like bad PR for Christianity.

But, maybe God does use him? Maybe someone will be in heaven because of a seed planted by the Lambton Quay preacher?