Faith branding

Faith branding is the concept of branding religious organizations, leaders, or media programming, in the hope of penetrating a media-driven, consumer-oriented culture more effectively. Primary goals include sharing a message of faith, raising money for charity, preaching salvation, building an inner-city outreach, and giving an audience hope. It refers to new rules for branding and communicating a message in the 21st century digital generation.

Faith-based organizations and non-profits are struggling under our present cultural framework and the power of global media. Media’s influence in our lives is pervasive. In our culture today, education, business, religion, leisure, science, even family life, are all measured against that influence. The challenge for religious organizations and leaders today is how to express their faith in a media-dominated culture. [The United Methodist Reporter, "Don't shy from marketing savvy in branding faith", April 14, 2007, http://www.umportal.org/article.asp?id=2014] How to tell their story alongside the maddening swirl of media “clutter”--TV, radio, computer, digital music player, Internet, mobile phone, and other technologies competing for an audience's attention. Branding faith is ultimately the tool for them to have their message heard through the massive and growing wave of media static out there.

References

http://www.ministrytodaymag.com/display.php?id=16477

Further reading

*Branding Faith: Why Some Churches and Non-Profits Impact Culture and Others Don't] , by Phil Cooke
*Brands of Faith: Marketing religion in a commercial age, by Mara Einstein
*Primal Branding, by Patrick Hanlon
*Shopping for God, by James Twitchell