I just had the pleasurable … unfortunate … experience of visiting … dealing with … a local auto repair shop, needing someone to repair my brake lights. I did some homework first, of course, checking out their website. I was specifically looking for two things: electrical expertise and open on Saturdays. There it was. They had both. So I threw on my ball cap and headed over.

Gary, my "highly trained" mechanic.

My online experience of the company was promising and positive. My in-person experience … was not. Here are a number of specific phrases used and promises made on their website and my subsequent assessment.

“When you want expert car repair … come to the best … we have highly trained on-site mechanics.” [FAIL] To be fair, they indeed performed auto repairs and did have an on-site mechanic … who arrived fifteen minutes late that morning. I know he was late because I arrived right as they were opening and the office manager – one of two people there at the time – reported that he was en route and would arrive shortly.

Let’s talk about Gary for a moment. In his mid-50s, Gary has been working on cars since he was 13. After spending nearly four hours myself on-site that Saturday morning “helping” him investigate the source of my problem, I’m convinced the new-fangled world of high-precision computerized vehicles has left him behind. But he could certainly chain smoke Pall Mall with the best of them and talk quite a bit about how well he could hold his liqueur. I would not, however, put him in the “highly trained” or “professional” category of specialists.

“[Name of Establishment] is considered a rare gem, an authentic jewel, among the throngs of auto repair businesses in the DFW area.” [FAIL] True, competition is fierce in a big city. What’s rare is the use of such stupid poetic language on a website to describe an auto repair shop. They were clearly neither a rare gem nor authentic jewel, but rather the embodiment of every stereotypical portrayal of hick-town grease monkeys you see in the movies.

“Secure on-site vehicle storage” [FAIL] During my visit into the office I noticed a small box in plain view containing a product called “Imitation Security Camera.” Enough said.

“Finally! An honest mechanic.” [PASS] I do believe, throughout the course of this five-day ordeal, that I was never lied to about costs nor misled to believe something that wasn’t true. In fact, I was able to save some money by going with used parts at half the cost of new ones. Overall, however, they were honestly slow, unskilled, and decidedly over-priced for the level of quality service they provide their customers.

“Why didn’t you just leave?” Because my car needed to be fixed just as those visiting our churches for the first time need God. I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and happened to regret that decision.

Using flowery language and making lofty claims on your website and printed materials do not make them true. Actions behind the words make them true. Deliver on your claims.

The glory days of Penny Whistle Park

For an entire generation, Penny Whistle Park was a nostalgic indoor carnival/amusement park here in Dallas. Rides, games, food, all that. But now there’s a new generation that has no memory or knowledge of it. The building and property has since become a landscaper’s nursery. It’s been a nursery for years now.

Somewhere along the way, Penny Whistle Park lost something and never got it back. I’m guessing that while amusement parks changed and got more sophisticated, the owner(s) chose to cling to nostalgia. Expectations rose higher while Penny Whistle’s delivery on experience didn’t.

This is what Penny Whistle Park has become

This is a post not so much about change as it is about the shifting cloud of relevancy. Being relevant as a church, and remaining relevant, is a moving target. It’s something in constant motion that demands more time and energy … and money … than many (read: most) are willing and able to devote.

Did people in general suddenly lose their appetite for amusement? No. The amusement parks committed to reaching their audience advanced to meet the expectations of a new generation. Is the Gospel of Jesus Christ going to suddenly become untrue? No. The churches committed to reaching lost and “far from God” people will advance to meet a new generation where they are.

Mourning the loss of a beloved amusement park is one thing. Closing the doors of a church that lost its relevancy is quite another. Every day to and from work, I drive right by what used to be Penny Whistle Park … and remember what used to be.

It’s official. I am really excited to have been asked to present a breakout session at this year’s MinistryCOM Conference in Chicago, September 10-11.

If you are unfamiliar, MinistryCOM is “the only national organization dedicated to recognizing and supporting ministry communications professionals.” But it’s not only for churches. Many other ministries, non-profits, and parachurch organizations can benefit from the wealth of knowledge, information, networking opportunities, and resources available year-round.

What’s the topic of my breakout? Here the breakout description:

Advertising Doesn’t Work

Advertising is often a mysterious, intimidating, frustrating, and expensive notion. It’s been said that, “The most expensive form of advertising is the kind that doesn’t work.” The ugly truth is: Advertising doesn’t work. And it doesn’t matter whether it is television, radio, billboards, newspapers, phone books, online, or direct mail.

But there is good news: The whole truth is that it isn’t the advertising medium that’s working or not, it’s the offer you make that either succeeds or fails.

This session will begin with answering the all-important question, “Why advertise?” From that solid foundation, you will quickly learn how to build a framework of success for your advertising through real life dollars-and-common-sense examples and case studies. You will also learn that regardless of your budget, you can develop a winning strategy, minimize your risk, see results, and maximize your church’s impact in the community.

About the Presenter

Roland has a varied professional communications background spanning nearly 20 years in both secular corporate and Christian organizations. As a video producer, a portion of that time was with Bluefish TV. Roland’s marketing and advertising experience was gained in the radio business from his years as a Promotions Director in the DFW Metroplex for Christian Talk Radio KWRD 100.7 FM and KLTY 94.9 FM, “America’s No. 1 Christian Radio Station.”

Roland has since answered the call to “help the Church matter” leading people into a life-transforming relationship with Jesus Christ. He has served as Director of Communications at Firewheel Church in Garland, Texas. He is now on staff as an Art Director at Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas. Roland, his wife Beth, and three children live in Garland. A proud native Texan, he is anything but a redneck.

If you’re planning to attend MinistryCOM this year in the ‘Windy City,’ let me know (even if you don’t plan to attend my breakout). I’d love to connect. Keep in mind that Early Bird pricing ends in May. See you there.

Had another great discussion recently about the obscene shortcomings of “awareness” campaigns. It seems like too many people are just stuck in thinking that the only thing their church needs is greater awareness in the community. “People just don’t know we’re here,” they lament.

I don’t buy it. I think most churches believe they have an “awareness” problem when they don’t. I’m convinced that more than plenty of folks surrounding the churches in our communities are well aware of our existence. The simply don’t care.

They don’t care because we haven’t given them any reason to care. When external church marketing and advertising tackles nothing more than “waving our arms” at people, we’ve wasted our time and money. Rather than engaging them in a remarkable, compelling story and giving them a chance to be a part of that story, we happily give them our service times and location. Then we sit back and play “here’s the church, here’s the steeple, open the doors, where’s all the people?”

The other important group of people who need to care most are our own members. If members aren’t naturally compelled to invite their family, friends, and coworkers into the church community, there’s a reason for that. They don’t care enough about the value the church provides to share it with anyone else. They also don’t care because we haven’t given them any reason to care.

By the way, most people won’t care about what YOU care about. But their interest will more than likely peak when they hear about what THEY care about. Identify those in your community and within your congregation. Then begin sending out that message.

They’ll visit your church for the first time when they care. They’ll begin a life-transforming relationship with Christ when they care. They’ll grow and mature as Christians. They’ll happily volunteer their time. They’ll cheerfully bring their tithe. They won’t be able to wait to share their faith and lead more people into the Kingdom … when they care.

A number of us in the HPPC Communications Ministry had lunch yesterday with Richard Reising and some of his crew at Artistry Marketing. The primary topic of conversation, of course, was church communications, growth, and ministry marketing.

As church communications professionals, we have an incredible responsibility for – and often critical role in – the health of the church. We asked Richard what he believed to be the biggest thing that contributes to church growth and health. His response? The “get it” factor.

Dr. Phil believes you either get it or you don’t. I tend to agree. From the Senior Pastor, to the rest of the entire staff, the “get it” factor is paramount. You’ve all simply gotta get it. Varying degrees of get-itness, or complete lack thereof, threaten to limit your focus, mission, and unique qualifications to fulfill your calling. It’s not enough for only a handful of low-profile members or staffers to get it. Everyone needs to get it.

Can one learn to get it if they don’t? I believe they can IF they’re willing to take an honest look at themselves, identify areas of inadequacies, and commit to making significant – sometimes painful – changes. Richard’s new blog [www.beyondrelevance.com] is an excellent resource for church leaders at every level.

By the way, Richard is working on a new book. I’m not at liberty to say what I know about it, but I can tell you that the working title is NOT “Purpose Driven … Anything,” “The Prayer of Richard,” or “Your Best Marketing Now.”

I spent four years, my “tour of duty,” in Christian Radio here in Dallas before answering the call into church communications and ministry marketing. One thing that’s true about media in general is that it’s all about money. Big money. The station making money, and advertisers making money, so that advertisers will spend even more money with the station.

Before you get sucked into some grandiose promises from your Account Executive and spend a lot of money on your advertising – even if you’re convinced you have an awesome campaign idea – please read the rest of this post.

Here’s the truth: Advertising doesn’t work. That’s what we told all of our potential advertisers to our station. And it doesn’t matter which medium(s) you choose – radio, television, newspaper, banner ads, billboards, direct mail – it just doesn’t matter.

Here’s the whole truth: It’s not the advertising itself that’s working. It’s the offer you make that’s either working or not working.

Before you even consider advertising, the starting place for your marketing goal is to determine the offer you’re making to your audience. By the way, “awareness” is not a marketing goal. Awareness campaigns, unless you’re a brand new church plant or have just relocated, are for lazy thinkers. For more on that subject, see my earlier post.

Begin with one offer – one truthful promise you can deliver – and build your strategy from there. Keep your offer simple, tangible, and real.

How do you do that? Good question. Here’s something to ask yourself: What are you best at? But not four or five things. That one thing. Just one. Focus on one campaign at a time. Refer to your singular driving vision and purpose. Look to your greatest strength rather than a hodge-podge mix of mediocre strengths and potential weaknesses.

• Do you offer a welcoming, loving community?
• Do you offer the chance to impact your local community? The world?
• Does every Sunday message inspire, challenge, motivate, and mobilize a force for effective change?
• Do you have an effective homeless ministry?
• Do you have an incredible Small Groups emphasis for growth, fellowship and discipleship?
• Is your worship music out-of-the-park awesome?
• Is your children’s ministry the best in the city?
• Does your student ministry help kids grow into passionate disciples?
• Is a partnership with a local crisis pregnancy center making a positive difference?
• Do you have a counseling center that is helping save marriages from the brink of divorce and restore a Christ-centered relationship?
• Can your church report more people coming into a relationship with Jesus Christ and the greatest measurement of life transformation than any other church around?

Today’s consumers are bombarded, jaded, cynical, skeptical, protective, and defensive. Yes, even other Christians. You’ve gotta make it a simple, compelling offer. I’m convinced that it would be incredibly poor stewardship to throw money at something that won’t provide a good return on investment (ROI). I’ll even go so far as to say that if you can’t identify one singular offer, don’t advertise.

I’d love to know your thoughts.

HPPC Sr. Pastor Ron Scates spoke in staff chapel yesterday about how Christianity isn’t so much about us as individuals as much as it is a collective community. He suggested that Westerners tend to individualize … “Jesus and Me” … what should be a communal … “Jesus and We” … dynamic.

Shane Claiborne, author of Irresistible Revolution, is a self-proclaimed ordinary radical who understands through first-hand experience the power of the collective Body. He and his ragamuffin band of “Lovers” see themselves collectively as the Church doing the right thing(s).

Will Mancini, in his book Church Unique, writes about the tendency of churches to overlook the collective potential of the Body and settle for an inferior, short-sighted “one-to-one relationship between a spiritual gift and a ministry initiative.”

Mancini also provides an interesting note on 1 Corinthians 6:19 that talks about the body being the temple of the Holy Spirit – suggesting that the “you” in the passage isn’t singular, but plural. “Paul is telling the church that their corporate body is the temple, not their individual bodies.” Hmmmm … interesting. That’s not what I’ve always been told. Anyway …

All of this has got me to thinking about my work in church communications as it relates to inspiration, motivation, and call to action. Just who is my audience? The collective whole or a handful of influential motivator/leaders?

The answer, I believe, isn’t an ‘either/or,’ but a ‘both/and.’ The secret is in the order. Speak to the individual first and you’ll reach the whole group. Think smaller to get larger. Here’s how that works:

In radio, we told our advertisers that you aren’t speaking to all of our thousands of listeners. You aren’t even speaking to only those numbers of people specifically interested in your product/service. You’re speaking to just one person. Just one. Channel your energies into compelling motivations that speak to individuals.

You’re engaging in an intimate conversation with one person. One person, multiplied by thousands. Focus on that exchange. As long as we are all committed to a “Jesus and We” approach to ministry (as we should be), we’ll dynamically speak to the whole Body at large.

Anyone have another perspective or insight?

Before I began working here, Highland Park Presbyterian Church entered into an advertising contract with a company that places spots in local movie theaters. The intended campaign was put on hold for various reasons but the company graciously allowed us to postpone our ads in order to revamp.

Admittedly, it’s a generic “we’re all about people” ad. While I would have preferred a more developed and targeted marketing campaign, here is our 0:15 sec. spot to run for 13 weeks before the movies begin at AMC Northpark Mall in Dallas, Texas. Don’t blink. You might miss it.

Communications, from the communicators perspective, can be a psychological trip. Here’s an example from my radio days.

Let’s say that a radio station Program Director tells the station DJs, “Hey y’all, this is the hottest new track. We’re going to put this into heavy rotation immediately.” All the DJs hear the tune and agree. “Wow, he wasn’t kidding. This is awesome for sure.” It goes into heavy rotation.

Week One is Cloud Nine for the DJs. The hottest new single is rockin’ the studio. Week Two is more of the same. Week Three, with little slow down in rotation, it’s beginning to get a little tired. By Week Four, the DJs are ready to throw up if they hear that stupid song again.

Then one fateful day, caller number three requests to hear hottest new song. Calls begin pouring in, one after the other. Day after day it rains requests. Program Director was right. It is indeed the hottest new track that everyone wants to hear over and over and over and over … for two more months.

What changed? Why, just suddenly, would the planet finally get it and love it, too?

Nothing. Nothing’s different. Nothing changed. Then WHY?

Here’s what’s happening: As communicators we are very close to, and have such vested interests in, our message, vision, story … whatever. We are passionate champions of our cause and want others to join us. So we talk about it. We write articles about it. We send press releases. Then we talk about it some more. Surely by now people have heard, understood, and are ready to take action and move in a new direction. But have they?

That’s just it. The truth is that the majority of people today live highly compressed lives with little margin. Not to mention how marketing and advertising industries have jaded us and made us skeptical. It can take weeks or months … even years sometimes … to penetrate their protective bubble, gain their confidence and trust, and mobilize them into action.

Just about the time we are ready to slow it down and take the song out of rotation is when people are beginning to hear it and want to hear more of it. We spend what seems like endless energy just ‘priming the pump’ but then stop pumping the pump right before the water appears. So our message never gets heard. The vision never gains traction. The people never move.

Say it until you throw up … then say it some more.

Starbucks billboard on I-35 near Temple, TX

There was a time when churches were yearning to know how Starbucks created such a culture that cultivated such a cult following. From their marketing, to their customer service, to employee training.

It was also widely known that Starbucks desired to be the community’s “third place.” Meaning, in the triangle of the average person’s life, besides work and home, Starbucks would be the third destination. So for those who considered St. Arbucks their church home, all was well. Who needs church when you’ve got your Starbucks?

But now … Starbucks is reporting that profits are down. Stores are closing. 600 stores, actually. And they have taken new directions in marketing campaigns that would have NEVER been considered.

Here’s what John Moore, former marketing executive from deep within Starbucks’ inner circle (back in the day), has to say:

Sadly, this is another decision the company has made which has “… lead to the watering down of the Starbucks experience, and, what some might call the commoditization of our brand.” [SOURCE]

As marketers, we know there is not a faster, better, or cheaper route to commoditizing a brand than using unemotional language like: Faster … Better … Cheaper.

Back in the day, Starbucks marketers were coached to: (1) NEVER communicate like a fast food company; (2) NEVER convey a new and improved mindset; and (3) NEVER allow a tactic to take priority over the company’s heritage and personality.

Now, as it turns out, there’s as much to learn about what to do … and what NOT to do … from Starbucks to create a culture that inspires and instills brand loyalty.

Read John Moore’s post in it’s entirety here.