Examine your church brand and visual identity, and consider how it compares to the brands in our culture. Doing this will help you connect with people inside your church, and those you are trying to reach outside your walls.

The man who owned the auto dealership sat across the table from me, brow furrowed as he reviewed our proposal. He loved the TV ad concept we dreamed up for his car dealership, but questioned the cost. “Twelve thousand dollars for a 30 second commercial?,” he protested. “I can get one produced by the TV station for free!” This was the early 90’s and TV stations would often “throw in” the production of the commercial as a way to entice the media buy. We’ve all seen those commercials, the ones where the car dealer's kids say, “My dad stacks ‘em deep and sells ‘em cheap.”

Standing, I placed the palms of my hands on his big conference table as I glanced down. I drew a deep breath, looked up, and said, “Sir, your commercial, which you’ll spend tens of thousands of dollars to place during nationally televised sporting events, is going to be sandwiched between TV spots from companies like FedEx, United Airlines and Budweiser. They will spend hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars on their commercials. You can’t afford to compete at that level, but you can compare favorably.” He signed our proposal.

Those with a Kingdom mindset know that their competition is not the church down the street, it’s the things of this world. However, most churches cannot financially compete with the top brands of this culture. Instead, compare favorably with the other brands that the people within the church, and the people you want to reach externally, may be associating themselves with. These are brands that they see while driving, walking, or even skipping down the road of their town!

When examining your church brand and visual identity, we urge church leaders to consider how their branding compares to the brands in our culture, the ones that the church goers and those you are wanting to pursue interact with most...the brands where they:

  • Shop
  • Eat
  • Travel
  • Hang out
  • Play

Looking at the categories and brands above, think about the brands the people in your community interact with. Look at their visual identity and look at your church’s visual brand and identity. Pause. Mull over it. Ponder. And ask questions below if you have them!