So what is branding anyway? The definition I use may not be the most popular - but it is practical - it gives you a way to engage and understand a brand within the flow of communication. Branding can be understood as the promise made and the experience provided to customers or members and the public. A brand is a promise of specific value and or benefit, it is relevant or meaningful to others and it is different from the competition.
That is a relatively condensed definition, so let's break it down a little. To begin with we are discussing the process of branding, and not the noun - 'brand'. How a brand works is through dynamic processes within a society - and these processes are occurring whether or not we are paying any attention to them. At a low level branding is association and as human beings who are symbol users and communicators, we are always associating things.
One of the more important aspects of the definition is that is inclusive of both the intention for the brand as well as the way it is received - and anyone in marketing will tell you that the most important of those two is the later. A brand is really only as good as it is perceived by the audience. As you may imagine - understanding who the audience is and even targeting your brand messaging for a particular audience is a critical aspect of brand management and we will talk about that in greater depth in separate article.
Another aspect of the definition that is worth exploring is that branding works by differentiating one thing from another. If human beings can be counted on to make associations among words and ideas, they can surely be counted on as well to differentiate between concepts as well. To the degree the associations to a religion or church are distinct from others it can be remembered and considered as separate.
So how well are progressive faiths branded? In the sociology class that I visited, the first thing I did was hand out a matching quiz. It was not your typical quiz for a college class as it wasn't graded and it wasn't even turned in. This quiz was an exercise to determine if the intended brands for progressive churches and denominations are known by the audiences. Below are a few of the items that were on the matching quiz and attached to this blog is the full one - which referenced a combination of denominations and local churches in the Denver and Boulder area of Colorado. Before continuing with this article, try to match the denominations to the tag lines or brands that they are espousing- without looking them up.
DENOMINATIONS
- Unity
- Unitarian Universalist
- United Methodist
- United Church of Christ
- Metropolitan Community Church
TAGS / INTENDED BRANDS
- Church of the Lesbian and Gay Community
- A Positive Path for Spiritual Living
- A pluralistic and diverse Christian denomination
- A liberal religion with theological diversity, and a commitment to social justice
- Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors - Faith in Action
As you might guess, the students did not pass the quiz with flying colors - I think the best result was 38% correct and everyone acknowledged that they were essentially guessing. As we discussed the various churches and denominations it became very clear that the perception of the various religions was very different - sometimes almost the polar opposite of what the denomination or church intended.
In future posts I'll dive into some more of the ways branding is and can be used by churches and non-profits as well as some of the reasons it may not be effectively managed by these groups.
View the full Brand Matching Quiz
Answers to the short quiz: 1:2, 2:4, 3:5, 4:3, 5:1
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The Unitarian Universalist Association tried to brand itself "The Uncommon Denomination" a few years back. While that was different from the competition, I'm not sure what specific value and/or benefit it promised.
ReplyDeletePart of my intention with this post is to identify the 'tag lines' used by some mainline and progressive religions and to show how they are not truly branded - especially in the eyes of a non-member. Creating a tag line is only one small aspect of what branding actually is - and by focusing on branding as a process instead of a symbol or tag it opens up the inquiry such that we can consider the opportunities and the barriers to branding for churches and religious communities.
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