What is branding (for a church)?
Branding! Oh, what a word! People have strong feelings about branding, especially when it comes to churches. Too many conflate branding with selling things, and that feels…icky, especially in a sacred space. It’s just one step from branding our church to…well, you get the picture.
But the basic idea of branding is very helpful, even for a church: Branding is just thinking through your church’s identity. How do you want to be perceived by your community, your congregation, and even those who haven't yet walked through your doors? This is more straightforward for an individual than for an organization, and a church, with its diverse members and leadership, definitely qualifies as an organization. That’s why you need organized branding.
Let’s be clear: your church is perceived by the public, and you only have some control over that. People have impressions, whether you actively shape them or not.
At Capital Hope Media, we often think the process of reflecting on your church’s brand is as valuable as the Branding Guide it creates. When your team—pastors, staff, key volunteers—asks the basic questions of who you are, it can bring tremendous clarity to your mission and work. It can empower your team to move forward with a unified vision.
The end of a branding process creates a document called a Branding Guide. A Church Branding Guide has information about colors, typefaces, and logos, sure. But a more robust guide will give direction to the feel and tone of your church. For example, one church we worked with recently had a great branding guide that described their desired tone as “warm and welcoming, yet reverent.” This branding guide, along with a few other helpful documents, really guides the specific content the church creates, from website copy to sermon announcements.
Psst…What’s a Branding Guide?
The good people at Church Motion Graphics have a great blog post with 10 examples of Church Branding Guides.
While examples of church branding guides aren't always publicly shared, consider how secular organizations like Greenpeace or World Vision present themselves. The principles are the same: clarity, consistency, and authenticity.
Here are a few helpful questions as you consider your church’s brand:
How should people feel about your church? Are you warm and nurturing? Are you traditional and reverent? Are you modern and innovative? Are you a beacon of hope for the hurting? One helpful way to begin wrestling with this question is the 12 Branding Archetypes from Jungian psychology. (There are resources online that explain these archetypes.) Which one resonates most with your church's core values?
What’s your church’s “story”? Who are you, what do you do in the world, and who do you do it for? As this gets more robust, you’ll want to turn it into a helpful document called a “Master Narrative” – a compelling and concise summary of your church's purpose and mission.
What colors, typefaces, and logos define you? Most churches have made some decisions here, but if you haven’t….get specific! These decisions should be made based on the previous question. Your fonts and typefaces, for example, should reinforce the way you want people to feel about your church. Then, expect your entire team to abide by them. Your typefaces should be used in everything from the church newsletter to the website to the projection slides on Sunday morning. Consistency is key.
What tone do you want to use in your communications? This should be a natural outgrowth of the first questions: “how should people feel about your church?” Is your tone formal or informal? Serious or lighthearted? Inspirational or practical?
We love branding at Capital Hope Media. It’s the foundation of all communications that your church will do, if you’re communicating well. Let us help you with that by contacting us.
