Check out the December 2007 issue of How magazine for a feature on Christian design and marketing. The story includes the Center for Church Communication and our flagship blog, Church Marketing Sucks, with quotes from founder Brad Abare:
“The church is all about spreading the greatest story ever told,” Abare says. “We have a problem when that story is lost to poor communication methods, marketing gimmicks and inauthentic ways of connecting with people. The creation of the blog was a way we could help church leaders, without them having to hire our services. Our mission is to frustrate, educate and motivate the church to communicate, with uncompromising clarity, the truth of Jesus Christ.”
Abare maintains that marketing isn’t sleazy–it’s just another way of getting the word out. “Marketing is simply thinking through what you do and why you do it,” he says. “It’s being intentional. You can certainly do marketing poorly–either so sloppy it doesn’t work or so slick it turns people off. Both suck, and both are at odds with your religious values.” …
“Understanding the church audience is just like understanding any other audience you’re communicating with,” Abare says. “We’re all people with heads and hearts, bellies and budgets, families and friends.”
And when it comes to spreading the word, there’s a term that churches certainly can embrace: marketing. Says Abare: “Some have argued that marketing is just another word for evangelism, suggesting that it’s a way to spread the good news of the Gospel, just as an evangelist would tell people about Jesus.”