Referring to our weekly reading, Mara Einstein’s Social Compass in Evolution of Religious Branding (2011), which discussed the
branding and marketing techniques of the Church of Scientology and the United
Methodist Church, Professor Sylvie Shaw posed the question, what of the
branding of the major churches that do not run obvious marketing campaigns?
Does the Catholic Church, for example, have a brand? And if so, how is it
promoted?
The Vatican website, http://www.vatican.va/,
has a link to Vatican News that publishes stories from the Vatican’s press
office, effectively delivering stories that are not only of interest to
Catholics but that also promote the Vatican and the Catholic Church in a way
that it wishes to be portrayed. The news service provides print stories, a
calendar of significant events, even CTV – Catholic Television.
http://www.vatican.va/
The Church of England website, http://www.churchofengland.org/,
provides a similar news service but it is also very open with regard to its
promotional activities. Only three clicks from the home page, on their “Working
with the media” page, you can find “Advice on promoting your church to the
media” providing tips on the type of story to send to news agencies and how to
make them stand out, as well as format and structural advice.
On the other end of the spectrum - neither a major church that doesn't require advertising nor a church with a major marketing budget - is the small urban church,
for example, Brisbane’s Invision Ministries. Invision Ministries’ website, http://invision-ministries.org/, possesses
contemporary design to promote and represent their brand to the urban “businesses
of Teneriffe, Newstead, New Farm and surrounding areas” who contribute to the
charity work of the church, as well as to potential parishioners in the area
who relate to the contemporary urban branding.
Even without big budget advertising campaigns of the Church
of Scientology and the United Methodist Church, churches big and small can
promote their brand to their market using websites and the activities of their
own press offices.
References
Einstein, Mara. Social Compass in Evolution of Religious Branding (2011)
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