Ministry Marketing CoachMinistry Branding and Marketing that Works

These days you see a lot of church marketing people wanting to imitate the marketing of Apple Computers. Okay, fair enough, that’s a pretty good company. Ministry marketers seem to like what they see coming from Apple.

Maybe its because you hardly ever meet a MAC user who isn’t a dedicated loyal user/believer of his computer. If you don’t believe me, try dissing the MAC when you are in a group of MAC users. It really ruffles their doilies!

Church marketers must wonder where all this Apple brand zeal comes from and want to adapt what they learn from Apple marketing to ministry. But the crazy thing is, what they like about Apple is really from Jesus– not secular marketing!

The Apple marketing leader you might want to know more about is Guy Kawasaki he was one of the original Apple employees responsible for marketing the Macintosh in 1984–you know,  back when they first turned the company around from slumping sales with an “insanely great” product.

You can find Guy’s books in the marketing/business section in any of the finest bookstores. Guy is a true marketing guru and an expert on the art of starting new business ventures.

But his claim to fame really comes from his contribution to the field of marketing, in helping to coin a new radical form of WOM marketing called “Marketing Evangelism.”

• Seriously, do a Google search for the term “marketing evangelism” and you won’t find preachers topping the list, you’ll find that these “Inexorable Thunderlizard Evangelists,” are brand managers, software salesmen, and Word-of-Mouth marketers.

• Look for “Evangelist” jobs on Monster.com, you won’t find people looking for people to come to their church to preach Jesus, you will find companies looking for brand managers, PR people, etc.

This kinda cracks me up. Church leaders are falling over themselves trying to re-brand the term “Evangelist” with obscure terms like “Life Coach” and “Youth Communicator,”because they think “the world” won’t understand or appreciate the term. Meanwhile, in the secular world, one of the coolest job titles going is “Evangelist.” Go figure!

Guy Kawasaki started something big when he helped popularize the concept of marketing evangelism. But, know this, he  didn’t just borrow the name “Evangelist” and pump new meaning into it. He talks about how he went to the Christian source for what he later adapted.

In his 1992 book “Selling the Dream” he tells how took what he learned from there and applied it to marketing for Apple Computer. Guy explains that,

“Sometimes religion learns from business, and sometimes, as we shall see later with the Billy Graham Schools of Evangelism, business learns from religion”

He tells how he was inspired by Christian principles he learned from one of the world’s better evangelical preachers.

“In addition to subjects such as preaching, public relations, training, and disciplining. I attended one session with Dr H. Eddie Fox, the word director of evangelism of the World Methodist Council. His topic was, “Preparing and Delivering Evangelistic Messages,’ and he was, bar none, the best speaker and event instructor that I had ever seen.”

You want to reach people better with your ministry marketing ? Well one of the best marketers on the planet recommends his secular marketing evangelists colleagues try this:

“I came away from the conference an even stronger believer in the usefulness of training evangelists. It was inspirational, educational, and entertaining. If you are thinking about being the best evangelist you can be, think about attending the Billy Graham School of evangelism.”

So, there’s another example, how the best marketing book you need to read to understand how to reach people isn’t a marketing book at all, it is your Bible! The world reads it and heads it–maybe we should.