strategy

As the ways to communicate online and with technology expands, so does the number of places your logo and colors need to be kept up to date. Your logo has to be replicated across every platform on dozens if not hundreds of profile pictures and thumbnails. And you’re probably using more online services than you think. In fact, the only thing holding some churches back from rebranding is the simple logistical costs of transitioning. That’s why it’s more important than ever to have a timeless visual brand. For every additional year your branding stays relevant, you’re saving ministry dollars on the costs of a rebrand. Conversely, a DIY or cheap logo that’s fresh but doesn’t stand the test of time is costing you money in the long run.

Where I live in Oklahoma is not too far away from Drummond Ranch. The Drummonds are a wealthy family with 433,000 acres of land in Osage County. I own 37 acres, which feels like too much some days. The Drummonds own more than 10,000 times more than that. It’s been said that at one point in the 1960’s they had an operation with 200,000 head of cattle. Those numbers are mind-blowing. If you’re a cattle rancher with 200,000 head, you can bet that branding (literal branding) is on your mind. Now let’s say you wanted to “rebrand” your ranch (I might be having too much fun with the wordplay). Even a tiny change would be massively costly. A ranch of that size would ruin its recognition (and finances) by rebranding every 5 years or even 10 years. If you truly needed to change your brand, there’s only one responsible thing to do: Spend the extra time and money to future-proof the rebrand. Upgrading your branding to something more timeless is a financially savvy move in the long run. Get a brand without an expiration date, and tending it will become easier.

If there’s a disconnect between your vision and your church visuals, you might have considered a rebrand at some point. There are different ways to approach a church rebrand, but there are two old ways of doing it that can be anywhere from “just ok” to a total disaster. The Bootstrapped Brand This seems like the intuitive way for a lot of churches. Here’s how this approach normally looks: Have a member design your logo Find a font that “looks nice” Rebrand again in 2 or 3 years when you outgrow it You don’t feel like investing much time and resources into the rebrand, so you rely on a home-grown approach instead. Here’s the problem: without a professional designer, what these churches get is probably not the best quality, and probably won’t last as long as they want it to. The Secular Agency This second way seems like it solves the problems inherent in the bootstrapped rebrand. Here’s what it often looks like: Go online and find a designer who does corporate branding Endure 6 months or more of revisions and tweaking End up looking, well… corporate… This approach invests time and money into the rebrand, recognizing that a DIY identity is probably not what you want. The problem with hiring a secular agency, is that they are probably not specialists in branding for churches. They may not understand the unique two audience dynamic of a church brand, and they probably don’t have as much practice capturing a distinctly Christian aesthetic. The Better Way Maybe I’m biased, but there’s a better, more effective, and less stressful way to rebrand your church. I truly believe it’s critical to have a dedicated, professional designer who understands and specializes in churches. You shouldn’t have to pick between an expensive, year-long process of a secular agency or the uncertainty of doing it yourself. I do just that, but don’t take my word for it. Look at the portfolio of churches I’ve helped.

Today I want to exhort you. Keep up the good work! I’m encouraged to keep pressing on when I hear stories or see online that you’re tending your church brand. Here’s how I’m trying to follow suit! Writing Daily I’ve been a lot more intentional about this, and people are noticing. Writing daily has helped me collect lessons learned in my work and articulate my unique philosophy around church branding. This has also given me content to pull from for social media posts. I’ve been able to easily share a combination of quick quotes from this newsletter and finished rebrands without having to switch into writing mode for every post. Understanding My Audience I’ve started paying attention to which of my brand’s touch points are having the biggest impact. To do this I have some website analytics running and some questions I ask now on introduction calls. This helps me focus my writing and website copy on what’s relevant and engaging for my audience and clients. Community Participation This year I’ve made it a goal to give back to pastors and churches wherever I can. Part of that effort has been interacting and responding to posts in a Facebook group called Church Creatives. This is a wonderful community of 80,000+ pastors and church staff who appreciate the value of creativity/ design for churches and ministries. The second thing I’m doing is distilling my branding experience into free resources that pastors can use to align their branding with their vision, prepare for a rebrand, and make a bigger impact. More on these in the near future. That all seems like a lot, but what’s made it manageable is a daily cadence and habit of tending my brand, even if it’s just 10 minutes of jotting down some notes or reacting to a Facebook post. So take it as an encouragement: You can do it too!

A friend told me they have a saying in sales world, “Confused people never buy.” It’s a maxim to keep rookie salesmen from making the critical mistake of overloading their prospects with information.Instead of focusing on one or two unique benefits of the product, they’ll talk about all the little complex features. But this is actually counterproductive. Seasoned salesmen know that people buy when they have the most clarity around just one or two pieces of information. Here’s the question: does your church brand promote clarity or does it create confusion? Like it or not, branding can easily be the difference between visitors who don’t come back and excited new members who join. Tend your brand in a way that tells a simple, coherent story. P.S. Simple and clear doesn’t always mean easy. That’s why I offer a complete rebrand package for churches who are tired of mismatched branding and want a permanent fix.

A church rebrand can be a lot like cleaning the house: You know you need to do it, but it always takes longer than you thought. There’s not an exact number of weeks or months, but I’ve noticed some patterns that can give you a ballpark idea for how long a church rebrand takes. Here’s the formula: 12 Months or Hard Deadline / Designer Availability (1-4) + 1 week per committee member Hard Deadline This formula is part of why I encourage pastors to set a hard deadline for the launch. Without one, it’s easy to keep making minor tweaks for months, with diminishing returns. Many churches I've worked with have chosen to announce the rebrand at an annual gathering or upcoming church event. This gives you less flexibility, but it’s a great way to keep your eyes on the prize and push through sticking points. Committee Size The larger the group, the harder it becomes to schedule meetings, commit to colors, and review designs. Decision paralysis is a documented phenomenon that is amplified by more inputs. Only adding 1 week per committee member may not be enough, but it’s close. Designer Availability Using an in-house designer is going to be the most flexible and fastest way to rebrand, hands down. With a larger agency, you may be one of dozens of clients and might not get the fastest turnaround. I personally only take on a couple of new clients per month so I can focus my attention on the project at hand, keeping it on track. Transition Time Smaller churches may not have much in the way of merch, letterhead, or building signage. They may or may not have a website. In the design world, we lump all these items into a category we call "brand collateral" or "collateral" for short. For larger churches, the transition may take longer because they have more collateral to update. Building signs can take weeks to get printed or manufactured, the website needs to be redesigned, and merch probably needs to be created.

There’s a time for everything: A time to change your brand and a time to double down, A time to whisper with your logo and a time to shout, A time to plant seeds of your vision and a time to water them, A time to honor your heritage and a time to distance yourself from the past, A time to speak to your congregation and a time to speak to your community, A time to be bold and a time to be subtle, A time to plan communications and a time to wing it, A time to seek design help and a time to do it yourself, A time to repeat yourself and a time to say something new. Consider the times as you tend your brand!

For creative decision-making, I’m a huge fan of the 3-person team/committee. But why? Proverbs tells us that in an abundance of counselors there is safety, so what could go wrong with a large committee? This is actually a serious mistake I’ve seen organizations fall prey to when it comes to creative-heavy projects like a rebrand. Here are a few of the downsides to a large team: Decision paralysis Studies show that the larger the decision-making group, the more individual members fear making the wrong decision. When no single person has authority, consensus is hard hard to reach and people feel overwhelmed by the consequences of the choice. Scheduling problems The obvious and most painful part of setting up a church branding team is finding a time when everyone is available to meet. Above a team size of 3 or 4, you can expect to add a week of lead time per extra person to every major decision throughout the project. Conflicting preferences Believe it or not, you actually want your church rebrand team to all have similar (but not identical) design taste. Mixing a few complimentary perspectives can have interesting and pleasing results. Involving too many people in the creative process is like mixing too many colors of paint. The result either won’t look unified (think Picasso) or it will be boring and generic (think brown sludge).

Church road signs are notorious for being clever instead of clear. The thing is, people only remember a message if they understand it. Unless you’re G.K. Chesterton or Mark Twain, you’re probably confusing people with clever puns, double entendres, and wordplay. The same goes for your branding. Is it easily understood? Does it connect with a deeper meaning? Does it point to your story? Strong brands prioritize clarity.

Balancing high standards with inclusivity in the life of a church can be challenging. For example, not everyone may have the skills to sing in the choir or play an instrument during worship. How can we maintain quality without relying solely on professionals? Here are three categories you can use to think about this topic: 1. The Talented Specialist God has put people with unique gifts and talents in every church. We should use them! If you have someone in your congregation who specializes in exactly what you need - they’re probably the best choice. 2. The Willing Volunteers Then there’s a grey area of things you COULD do in-house. At my church, we’re redoing some fencing around our AC condensers outside the building. We’ve gotten bids from professional contractors, but we also have guys with lots of construction and welding experience in our congregation. Those guys could probably get something decent put together in a couple weeks. It’s a decision between spending the extra money on a professionally built fence that will look more beautiful and last longer, VS doing it ourselves with a shorter expiration date (and probably less beautiful). 3. It’s Out of Your Wheelhouse Finally there’s the category of things that would be wasteful and fruitless to NOT hire a pro. A lot of churches don’t have the expertise to set up a sound system from scratch, file their taxes, or to renovate their sanctuary. When I work with churches on a rebrand, I do my best to make sure they can take the reigns when we’re done. Branding takes ongoing intentional effort, so I give clients a toolkit of graphics, colors, and fonts they can use right inside Canva (did you know churches can get Canva Pro for free?). Conclusion All that to say, I think there’s a level of excellence that each church has to decide if they want to pursue on a case by case basis. If you have someone in your congregation who does it all the time, the decision is pretty obvious. Conversely, it’s easy to hire a pro if nobody in your church would even know where to start. The 2nd category takes more wisdom to decide on the best course of action. Often these situations call for a hybrid approach, hiring a professional to get you started so that your volunteers can eventually take over.

Finding a designer to hire for a project comes with unexpected and paradoxical challenges. Unless you have a personal connection to a someone specific, you’re judging your options based on a stranger’s published work. Paradoxically, you’re forced to make aesthetic judgments of their style and fit before you actually hire them to help with your aesthetics. The best designer might not be the one whose style resonates with you the most. The counterintuitive truth is, the best designer might not be the one whose style resonates with you the most. Okay, so how can you evaluate a designer more effectively? Here are a few ways off the top of my head: Success stories on similar projects Clearly defined process Familiarity with your needs Pricing The thing is, if you’re trying to just make something you like, the subjective approach works just fine. If you’re trying to make something that will solve a problem or communicate an idea to more people, objectivity is critical.

Recently I’ve been watching a sci-fi TV show called “Severance.” The show follows “severed” office workers at a large corporation who have had surgery to divide their memories between their work and personal lives. Believe it or not, I think there’s a hidden gem in this idea that applies to church branding. Hear me out. Think about the average member of your church congregation. Does he ever consider his belonging to your collective body Monday through Saturday? Are your shared beliefs on the tip of his tongue during the week, outside the walls of your church building? If not, then you might have a church of “severed” members. This naturally occurs in modern life, but it’s something we can and should counteract. In the TV show, severed employees can unify their two identities through a process called “reintegration.” The good news is, there’s a way to “reintegrate” the identity your people have at church with their identity outside your walls. The way to do this is by cultivating a healthy brand. A church brand that is sticky and memorable can remind your average member of his belonging to a local church body, even as he goes about his rhythms of daily life. What are you doing to help your members avoid being “severed?”

Last weekend, I went hiking in the Ouachita National Forest with a friend from church. It was my first time on that particular trail, but thankfully he had hiked this trail multiple times and knew it like the back of his hand, or so I thought. I started to get nervous when he stopped in his tracks and said, “I’ve never seen this bridge before.” He crossed the bridge and ventured on a little further. “I don’t remember passing through this open area.” We figured we had missed a fork in the trail, so we crossed back over the bridge and backtracked for a mile or two. No sign of a turnoff or any other indicators of another trail. We were forced to go back to the bridge again. At this point, we had hiked nearly 3.5 miles of detour, with nothing to show for it. What would have helped us avoid that unexpected pain? A guide who had brought others along that trail dozens of times. A map of the entire trail, with a “You Are Here” indicator. The reason I’m sharing this story is: My friend thought he remembered the trail, but there were critical things he had missed the first few times. Whether you’re hiking a secluded trail or rebranding, it’s smart to get expert insights and a proven roadmap before you waste time on detours and roadblocks. Thankfully, after exploring a bit more, we realized we were on the right path after all. We ended up having a great trip.

I see too many churches missing chances for continued visitor engagement. Does this sound familiar? “Thanks for attending, follow us on Facebook for announcements!” Giving people a link to your social media page isn’t bad, but there is a much better way to encourage visitors to continue engaging with your church. Most people are coming to church with the intention of getting something deeper than what they can get online. So give them that! Instead of asking something of them, offer them something that they would be crazy to say no to. Here are the three easy and effective ways to do that: 1. Next Steps After What They Just Got This is an easy one. Offer visitors the next thing that follows from how they just engaged. Why? If they came for a worship conference or at a summer camp, the next steps are going to be activities like discipleship, Bible studies, and community. If they experienced the power of the gospel and God’s people at the event, they’re going to naturally want this. And, if you’re like most churches, these are all programs that your church already offers! 2. More of the Same Thing Offer visitors more of the same thing they just experienced. This is helpful in circumstances where the engagement is something your church participates in on a regular basis. If you have a weekly cadence of a Wednesday night Bible study for Sunday morning worship, and a visitor attends for that particular event, offer them an easy way to continue to come. This offer should somehow make attending next week even easier. 3. Something Similar But Better This one is pretty self explanatory. If a visitor is attending a Wednesday night community bible study, offer them a small group of people in your church where they’ll go deeper and get to study over a longer period of time with people they know. If someone visits a Sunday morning worship service, offer them Wednesday night worship or a prayer meeting. Following these three strategies will help you guide visitors along the journey of engaging and identifying with your church, so that they can ultimately join.

Advertisers are always looking for a way to get you to buy a product. To do that, sometimes they’ll parody or copy each other to make their message more memorable. It’s amazing how well this strategy works, but does it have a place in church branding? No. Copying another church’s messaging, branding, or marketing might look nice. It might even get more traction at first. In the long run, this approach is deadly. The first reason is that you could open yourself up to legal action. Many churches trademark their branding, which means you can easily break the law if you’re directly copying their image. Even if you don’t get sued, there’s a second and even worse outcome. Many people already think of churches (especially in heavily churched areas) like desperate credit card companies: always offering new incentives for people to switch churches. I’ve heard it called “sheep stealing,” “member trading,” and “transfer growth.” While it’s not always the intention of the leaders at one church to steal sheep, it would be wrong to encourage “church hopping” for such superficial reasons as slick branding. The solution Build your church brand around your unique story and vision. It’s that simple. But wait, is it ever okay to copy? Where is the line between taking inspiration and being a copycat? That’s what I’ll cover tomorrow.

Where is the line between taking inspiration and being a copycat? There’s a legal answer, but that’s not always helpful when it comes to doing something original. I’ll briefly mention trademark infringements with a recent example from the corporate world, but then I’ll come back to the simple, common sense principle I follow to avoid unintended likenesses. The Legal Threshold According to US copyright law, changing 25% of an original work is enough to avoid infringement… most of the time. There are cases like this Bucc-ees lawsuit where some changes and tweaks aren’t enough. But if I had to guess, you’re probably not interested in toeing the line and copying as much as possible from other organizations without getting in trouble. You probably want to know, “How do I extract the best ideas from someone else’s branding, without letting it influence ours too much?” The Common Sense Answer Take inspiration from more than one place. It sounds simple, but this is really all there is to it. This is the approach I use when designing anything: Gather inspiration from at least five different sources. List the features of each that stand out as relevant to the project Start creating and see how those features interact Take inspiration from more than one source, and you’ll never have to worry about copying someone else.

“We have a lot of recognition and nostalgia with our current branding, but it doesn’t do everything we need it to.” Sound familiar? There are times when it doesn’t make sense to fully rebrand. In fact, more often than not your more cost-effective and better option is to do what I call a “brand refresh.” Today I want to show you what that looks like. A brand refresh is updating certain elements of your visual identity to make it more versatile and appealing, without starting over from scratch. If you're fully rebranding, that means you're changing everything from your messaging to your visuals. If you're hesitant to do that, it's probably because you've built up brand equity and familiarity with your current brand. A brand refresh allows you to maintain that core imagery and style that your congregation has grown to know and love, without being stuck in a rut. Here's a common way churches could do a brand refresh: Adjust your color palette to be more digital-friendly and pick a secondary font family that is more legible at small sizes (like in your bulletin). With just a few minor changes like this you can gain a lot of flexibility for very little cost. A small adjustment like this often comes with a chance to refine certain aspects of your messaging. In the next installment, I’ll talk about ways to capitalize on that opportunity.

Marshall McLuhan was a Canadian communication theorist who coined the phrase, “The medium is the message.” In other words: how you choose to say something changes what your audience walks away with. McLuhan’s point was that each medium doesn’t just deliver your message - it shapes it and sends unspoken signals like: The value you place on the relationship How urgent or serious something is How you want to be perceived Let’s look at an example. Sending a text message says, “I want to be quick and efficient.” A phone call says, “This is personal.” The words exchanged can be the same, but the vibe of that medium changes what message actually gets received. Effective branding is effective communication, so it’s important to understand this idea! Here are a few church-specific examples: Animated sermon graphics say, “We care about looking fresh and young.” A church-wide email newsletter says, “We expect our members to stay informed.” Hand-written note cards from a pastor or staff member say, “You are known and cared for.” You have core ideas and feelings about your church that you want your congregation and community to “get.” The medium can either supercharge or neutralize the power of those ideas. If they’re not getting it, you might want to find a different way of presenting it.

Recently I shared a story about a church who was threatened with a lawsuit due to a similar logo. But that was probably just a fluke - is spending the time and money on a trademark really necessary? As it turns out, there are other cases of trademark battles involving churches, and more nuanced reasons to venture down the trademarking path. I’ve been learning about this process lately, so I figured I would share what I’m learning here and contextualize it for churches. With that, here are five reasons you might want to trademark your church name and logo. 1. You’ve been confused with other organizations This first one should be obvious, but trademarking your church’s name and logo is the best way to prevent organizational identity theft and brand abuse. In 2010, the International House of Prayer (IHOP), faced a trademark infringement lawsuit from the restaurant chain International House of Pancakes, also known as IHOP. The restaurant chain alleged that the ministry’s use of the acronym “IHOP” and the website domain “ihop.org” caused confusion and diluted its brand. Although the lawsuit was eventually dropped and settled out of court, the ministry agreed to rebrand itself as IHOPKC to distinguish itself from the restaurant chain. 2. You sell merchandise If you’re selling books, shirts, or creating digital resources under your church’s name, a trademark can help you maintain control over the brand. As soon as you start putting your name or logo on merchandise like shirts, mugs, hats, books, etc., you’re entering the realm of commerce. A trademarked image and name helps you protect your church’s right to sell those products without worrying about knock-offs or competing merch. Otherwise, another church could copy your image for their own merch and start profiting off it. Online platforms like Amazon, Shopify, and Etsy will sometimes even require you to trademark your brand, rather than run the risk of stores impersonating you. 3. You create media resources Similar to physical products, digital products can be replicated, resold, or changed without your permission, which can quickly turn into a huge headache. In fact, digital products are even more vulnerable than physical products because they are easier to make and distribute copies of. Media resources like trainings, devotionals or Bible-reading plans, and paid digital content (even if it’s just raising support for a campaign) can all be exploited without trademark protection. 4. You’re expanding digitally In that same vein, creating content online can become more complicated as your brand and audience grows. Even if there’s no money changing hands, your church’s reputation is an asset that can be maligned or challenged. All that to say, if you’re expanding online (websites, social media, podcasts), you probably want to think about trademarking sooner than later. 5. You’re expanding geographically If you’re starting satellite campuses, or gaining regional/national recognition, trademarking helps protect your brand across state lines. At the end of the day, without proper trademark protection, your name or logo can be used by others, leading to confusion or association with unrelated or even opposing groups.

Sometimes we need to be confronted about how bad a situation really is. It’s too easy to develop blind spots over time, and your branding isn’t an exception. Like an untended vine, it can quickly get out of control. So here are ten warning signs that you might need help reigning in that branding. You cringe when you hand out a business card or flyer Your social media pages all have a different profile picture You have to hunt for your main logo file on a regular basis There are more than 3 fonts used on any given flyer, banner, or bulletin You don’t have the original HEX codes for your core colors Outdated materials and web pages still surface every few months to haunt you You’re seeing more unofficial logos than official ones used in the wild Your staff or volunteers don’t feel equipped to make the church “look good” online Your website, wayfinding, and bulletin look they’re from three different eras You’re constantly reinventing visuals, changing styles, or revising logos because nothing sticks If several of these sound like you, it might be time to consolidate and clean up. Or, it might be that you’re transitioning, and you need to start from scratch with a new and fresh look as you start this new chapter. Either way, consider getting professional help. I work with churches specifically to solve those problems with their branding. Contact me here, and we’ll talk about what it looks like for me to help you design an identity that reflects your God-given vision and lasts for decades.

A couple of years ago, I tried to talk a church out of hiring me for a rebrand. The church had an outdated logo and the leadership had a new vision/mission statement they were beginning to push. Here’s why I hesitated: the church was running 400+ members/regular attenders and I couldn’t believe they didn’t have someone from their own congregation with design expertise. Here’s how the conversation went with the pastor (we’ll call him Jake). Braden: “So why rebrand with my help? Isn’t there anyone in your church already who is a graphic designer?” Jake: “We’ve got a couple of people with a creative background, but nobody who’s up to the task of a complete rebrand.” Braden: “Surely they could work as a team to design it?” Jake: “Here’s the thing: we don’t want to put people in a position where they’re stepping on each other’s toes. We want this to be a unifying thing for our church - not a divisive thing.” Braden: “Hmm… if you’re sure…” Jake: “Bringing in an outside expert helps us avoid those situations. Plus we know we’ll get a better result in the end that we won’t have to second-guess in a few years.” Now, a few years later, Jake is still using that brand identity to reinforce his vision and communicate effectively in their thriving church. It turns out, he wasn’t the only one who feels that way. For many church leaders, bringing in a believer with expertise and an outside perspective is the clear best choice.

Carefully crafting color categories can catalyze cohesion. Alliteration aside, the categories or buckets you sort your colors into will determine the overall look and feel of your church’s brand. If you try to use too many colors spread out across different channels, your visual identity can start to feel incoherent and disjointed. Core colors Keeping the visual identity unified is why we normally pick 2 to 4 “core colors,” which are the duo, trio, or quartet that glue your whole brand together. Core colors can help focus the look of the brand and make it recognizable by a particular combination of colors alone. This also means core colors must be used and guarded more carefully than other colors. Supporting colors Supporting colors are generally taken from other parts of the color spectrum. We do this to add a certain level of variety and depth to the overall brand. Having supporting colors sprinkled in throughout your brand helps prevent it from being strictly monochromatic, which can come across as flat or boring. Even if your core colors aren’t monochromatic, they can be easy to overuse, diluting their impact and handicapping their ability to grab attention. So, to sum up, distinguishing between core colors and supporting colors is all about proportions and ratios. Disproportionate use of even the perfect palette can send the wrong message, so prioritize which colors you want to stand out and maintain that balance. P.S. This week I’m focusing on church brand color selection principles, which I’ve gathered the hard way from years of church rebrands. If you want the complete guide, I’ve collected all of the principles into a single post here.