Branding

Slogans and logos are everywhere. I bet I could say a phrase and you could instantly identify the product it advertises … “Just do it”? Yep, that is Nike. “It’s the real thing”? Right again, that’s Coke. “Finger Lickin’ Good”? Of course, it is KFC. And if you saw the Golden Arches you would know you could pull into McDonalds, a green mermaid wearing a tiara is Starbucks and multicoloured letters spell out Google where you can find the answer to anything.

Here at BUC we have been talking for a couple of years now about logos, slogans, branding and how to describe ourselves. It is a real trend in churches nowadays to have a catchy phrase that sums up the faith community so that people know what to expect when they walk through the door. A popular slogan for many churches is “Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors”. That’s a good one. When I was on a road-trip this summer I snapped a photo of a slogan on a church sign, “Connecting – Reflecting – Serving” That’s a good one too.

Part of branding is to help people know what to expect but it is more than that. A big piece of our talk and thought around the desire to brand ourselves is to do some myth-busting. We live in a town where, I suspect, we are the only faith community that would self-define as having a fairly progressive and ‘un-fundamentalist’ theology. While not everyone in the pew on Sunday morning fits that category many do and we have a spirit of acceptance for a broad range of belief – including those who don’t believe. We work diligently to use inclusive language and are sensitive to the nuance of new language around gender. We are the only church in town that is affirming and based on the grapevine talk around town we will continue for sometime to be the only church that will have a rainbow on our door. But how do we say all that in a phrase?

I have recently become aware of a writer and blogger named Cindy Wang Brandt. Having grown up with a conservative and fundamentalist faith she has had a conversion experience and is now committed to raising her children as ‘unfundamentalist’. She has some great suggestions about myth-busting for those of us on the liberal end of the spectrum who regularly come up against the firm and sure fundamentalist answers to things. And her self-naming is just that, she is an author with a progressive faith focused on parenting forward.

Like all good church folks we are putting together a committee (!!!) who will consider how to “brand” BUC in a way that the community will see us as relevant and appealing. At a recent workshop on branding we were told that 60% to 70% of new people who come through the church doors come because of the website. We recently updated and relaunched our website and now we are on to branding. Any suggestions as to how to describe this awesome faith community we have here at BUC?