Ministry Marketing CoachMinistry Branding and Marketing that Works

Yesterday, I spent several hours in Texas consulting with a great ministry about helping them with a comprehensive rebrand effort, and a subsequent national rollout.

At one point in the conversation, I encouraged these leaders to be very intentional about allowing their unique brand attributes and propositions to organically emerge out of their brand DNA.

You’re probably thinking, so what in the world does that mean? I’ll attempt to clarify.

One of my doctors, who is also a personal family friend, is an off the charts health mad man. He is near cultish in his commitment.

If you chat with him about your schedule, he somehow turns the conversation toward your sleep and rest habits. If you bring up your computer usage habits, he converts the conversation into a discussion about exercise and the ergonomic attributes (or not) of your office furniture. Mention an ache or pain and he is sure to launch into a speech about your diet and eating habits. Well, you get the point. With him, all discussions lead back to what he really, really cares about—health.

The ministry you are doing (or attempting to do) should naturally emerge out of the stuff you really, really care about.

As much as possible, everything you do should stay anchored in and flow out of your core values, your core competencies and your core passions.

There is some serious power and traction that manifests itself where those three converge.

Here’s a simple visual to try and illustrate the point.

In part, leadership is about discerning and articulating your DNA. It’s about analyzing your genetic code and then aligning ALL of your ministry and communication efforts with your brand DNA.

A good way to discern your brand DNA attributes is to observe and note what ticks you off or energizes you the most. Those probably reflect your core values and core passions. What others think you are exceptionally good at probably reflects your core competencies.

So, at the start of 2010, I encourage you to take time to think about and to clarify your brand DNA. You can go further there than in any other place.

That’s great branding.^sm

What else do you think is important when discerning and articulating your brand DNA? Please hit me with your suggestions.