In this week’s episode of The Ministry Growth Show, we’re sharing our thoughts and insights on the visual identity portion of your brand. When we say brand, most people think of a logo, but a brand is built up of so many more elements than just your logo. Today, we’re discussing the visual identity and the importance of consistency in your brand.
Transcription:
Welcome back to the ministry growth show. If you’ve been following along over the last couple of weeks you’ll know we are in the middle of a new series where we’re sharing our thoughts on all things brand. If you’re just joining us, be sure to go back and listen to the first 3 episodes of this series. Those episodes are going to be helpful if framing today’s discussion on visual identity.
Before I get started today, I want everyone to notice that we are 4 episodes into this series and we’re only now starting to discuss the visual identity of your ministry brand. When I say brand, how many of you think about your logo? When most people hear brand, that’s the first and sometimes only thing that comes to mind, but if we’ve learned anything from the previous 3 episodes, your brand is made up of so much more than your logo, colors and font. Your brand is everything you do and say, it’s your voice and tone, it’s your service and offering to the world, it’s your strategy, it’s the character in your stories, it’s our communications strategies and business models. Our website, social platforms, digital tools, and other marketing tools are places where our brands comes to life, they are pieces to the puzzle that make up the brand. Your brands represent your beliefs…. And as I talk about the word brand in this way, you can begin to see that your brand is so much more than your logo, fonts, and colors.
Today, we are going to cover the visual identity portion of your brand, but I wanted to preface the conversation with what I just shared before we dove in, because I think it’s important to note that you cannot build a brand simply by creating a pretty logo. Your visual identity is only the starting point. Your visual identity quote un quote “brands” your ministry in the same way a brand is stamped on cattle. That’s where we get the term. It’s a way of creating visual recognition of everything you do as a ministry.
Now, why do I think this is important? Remember, we’re working in the ministry world. Aren’t we all on the same team? There shouldn’t be any competition and therefore any reason to differentiate ourselves as we’re all working together for the sake of the gospel, right? In the business world, in the commercial world, it’s obviously incredibly important to set ourselves apart, but why is it important within the context of ministry? In episode 2, I talked at length about differentiating ourselves, not for the sake of competitive advantage, but rather for the sake of communicating shared beliefs with our audience.
The reality is, we all have different gifts, talents and abilities, right? We all have different things that break our hearts. For example, I personally love investing in ministries that are front line, 1040 window, disciple-making ministries. That’s where my heart is broken. I want to invest my time, talents, and resources to ministries who are disciple making ministries on the front lines of the gospel. My wife on the other hand is a labor and delivery nurse. She has a passion for the unborn and therefore loves investing in ministries that are fighting for the unborn. I have a friend who has a heart that breaks for the American church. There’s not one single ministry or church out there that focuses on serving all of those needs. That’s the beauty of the body, different body parts have different roles, one not more important than the other, but in order for audiences to support our ministry brands, they need to know why we exist and what we believe. Our visual identities help us communicate those differentiators and ultimately those beliefs, but they are not an end in and of themselves. Rick Warren is now the president of Finishing the Task, a coalition of ministries partnering together to see the great commission completed by 2033. In a recent public address to the partners of the Finishing the Task coalition, Rick Warren said, and this is paraphrased, but he said, “we can all carry our own flags, we can all keep our own brands, we’ve all got our own unique ministry callings given to us by God, but there wasn’t one country that independently won world war 2. It was in the partnership of the allies that we all won world war 2 together, all while carrying our own flags towards a common goal.” There’s nothing wrong with building the ministry you’ve been called to, we’re all working towards the same goals, but we can absolutely build brand to guide people towards our beliefs and shared goals.
Brand Advocacy – The Holy Grail
Earlier in this post I touched on brand advocacy. I want to address brand advocacy specifically because it should be the end goal in all brand development. We’ve all heard of “word of mouth” advertising. We all know that word of mouth is the most effective way of growing any organization and building a donor base that is loyal. When we can get our target audience to speak highly of us, on our behalf, of their own free will, well there’s simply no better way to grow an organization. Brand advocacy is the holy grail of business growth and longevity. In order to create brand advocacy we must be consistent with all aspects of our brand. But, consistency is not enough. At Reliant, we believe the best way to create brand advocacy is through education. When our target audience is educated they have knowledge, and who doesn’t want to share the knowledge they possess? Let’s look at Tesla Motors for example. Have you ever had a conversation with a Tesla owner? I have, and I was lucky to get out of the conversation after 30 minutes. Tesla owners can’t wait to tell everyone they know, about what they know, about their Tesla vehicle. Tesla’s entire client base is educated, and they can’t wait to share their knowledge with friends, family, and any stranger willing to listen.
The good news is that the potential for creating brand advocacy is easier for ministries than it is for secular, for-profit organizations. At least, I think it should be. I mean, there’s a lot to unpack there. Why is it we are more inclined to advocate for the features of the new car we just bought, than for the ministries we invest in and give towards? There’s no way we have time to unpack all the things that are taking place there, but I believe that there is more brand advocacy potential, key word potential, in building brand around our ministries than the brand advocacy that even the most successful companies in the world have developed. That’s because the causes our ministries are serving or fighting for have a lot more emotional weight than whether or not I purchase a new pair of shoes. Let’s use a fictitious human trafficking rescue ministry for example. If I’m investing in an organization that rescues women out of sex slavery, there’s a good chance I might tell my friends and family in passing. But, if that same ministry educates me on how vast and widespread the horrors of human trafficking are, if they include me in and share with me the smallest details of the ministry, if they share exactly where my investment is going and how it makes a difference in the lives of countless women, if they engage me with inspirational and engaging stories of the transformation my investment is making, won’t I be more inclined to tell that story to friends, and family? Won’t I be inclined to essentially sell on that ministry’s behalf without being paid a dime?
Let’s look at a case study for a minute. You might’ve heard of this new series called The Chosen. The series has taken the Christian world by storm. In a matter of 16 episodes they’ve reached 375 million people. I want to know, are there any Christians out there who haven’t either seen the series, or had a friend ask them if they’ve seen the series? We all at the very least fall into that second category, right? Everyone is talking about this series. Why is that? I think there are a lot of reasons. First, and keep in mind before I make this statement, that I’m incredibly harsh on Christian media, but it’s one of the few pieces of Christian media that isn’t absolute trash. Seriously, why has it taken the Church so long to create a piece of media that holds it’s own in quality against the media produced by the world? And look what happens, the Christian world has been so desperate for quality media. It’s like we’ve been wandering around in the proverbial desert of Christian media for generations and then The Chosen comes along and is a gigantic refreshing pitcher of water. Second, and this is more in line with the brand discussion we’re having today, but Dallas Jenkins has used digital brilliantly throughout the course of this series. He’s invited the viewer to be a part of the journey by involving the viewer in the production process through crowd funding, and he’s given us all an incredibly detailed behind the scenes look at the production process. The viewer is given an opportunity to be a part of the story both financially and experientially. How is that not a lesson in building brand for the rest of our ministries? Dallas Jenkins and the crew over at The Chosen are inspiring us with the greatest story ever told, they are inviting us to be a part of the journey or the story, and they are educating us along the way. It’s important to note, that Dallas Jenkins and his team read and followed Primal Branding by Patrick Hanlon before they start The Chosen project. I referred to Patrick Hanlon in episode 2 of this series. Dallas and his team aren’t just creating episodic series on the life of Christ. They are building a community with shared beliefs, and they are using their stories to carry and deliver their shared beliefs throughout that community, ultimately strengthening the community as a whole.
If we can get our target audience excited about the work we are doing, if we can educate and inform them, and if we can inspire them by simply testifying of all that God has done to transform lives through our ministries, they will have knowledge and experience that they can’t wait to share with their friends and family. If you can get your target audience to advocate on your behalf, I can promise you, your ministry will never be the same, and much of this starts with a consistent brand identity.
Alright, now that we’ve got some clarity how how we define and view a brand, we can discuss visual identity. When we break down a brand into it’s most simple form, all brands are comprised of words and visuals. Visual identity or brand identity is the creative and visual elements that make up your brand. It’s your logo, color palette, and the typography that are used to represent the brand. This is your audiences first visual representation and impression of your brand. When we create a visual identity, I’m going to always argue for simplicity. Think about all of the most recognizable brands. Target, Apple, Nike, Disney, McDonald’s, Lego, Google, BMW, and FedEx. These are some of the most recognizable brands in the world, and what do all of their logos have in common? They are all visually simple, clean and easy to remember. Their logos are made up of simple, easily recognizable shapes, colors, and fonts. But possibly more important than all of that, is the fact that all of these companies are consistent with the use of their brands. Consistency is so important when we talk about brand recognition, and I think this is the most common mistake I see in the ministry world. Without a consistent use of a brand it will be difficult to establish brand recognition with our audience. Creating brand recognition is vital because brand recognition leads to brand loyalty and brand loyalty fosters and builds towards brand advocacy. In order to create brand recognition though, you must be consistent with your visual language. Take for example, Dignity Health. A couple of years ago they went through a rebrand and out of that process came a 122 page document detailing the rules that must be followed anytime someone wants to use their visual identity. This principle of consistency is important across the entire brand. We can’t just be consistent with the visual identity, consistency has to permeate the entire organization. The audience experience across the brand, with every brand touch point, with the cause you fight for, the services you offer, the culture you develop for employees and staff, from your marketing and advertising all the way to your accounting department. The stronger the consistency, the stronger the brand.
Sorry, I got off on a tangent. We were talking visual identity.
Your ministry’s logo is your visual identity. The logo is the mark by which your target audience visually remembers you. Here’s a few general rules that are good to follow when designing a clean, simple, easily recognizable logo. 1. The logo should work well monochromatically. This means it must be just as strong viewed as a black, grey, or white version, as it is in color. 2. The logo must be strong “flat.” There may be three dimensional elements to the logo, but the logo must work well flat. 3. The logo must be scalable. This simply means it must work well when viewed in any size. 4. The logo should be timeless. Now, to be fair, creating logos that are timeless is more of an agency rule for us than a hard and fast rule for every organization or company. There are some instances when following trends, or designing something that has legacy, tradition, or nostalgic appeal might be called for, but to the best of our ability we try to create logos that don’t follow trends. 5. The logo should be relevant to and informed by the messaging components of your brand. There should be consistency not only in your use of the brand, but consistency across the visual and written components. And lastly, the logo should be aesthetically pleasing. Now, this is probably the most difficult rule to follow because opinions differ on what’s aesthetically pleasing from one person to the next. This is another reason why it’s important to understand who your target audience is, because you want to create a logo that is aesthetically pleasing for that audience. This rule has far less to do with your staff and critics’ opinions, and much more to do with your target audience’s opinions.
Now, please don’t think or hear me say that your logo is going to sway your target audience to support or give just because it’s beautiful, simple, and easy to remember. I’m not saying that a great logo has ever been the reason someone purchased a product, service, or gave to a non-profit. At the end of the day people are only loyal to brands and only advocate for brands they support and love because of the experience they have with that brand. Brand experience is what causes someone to give. Brand experience encourages that supporter to come back again. Brand experience is why someone will give to your non-profit on a monthly basis. Brand experience is why a supporter will tell her friends, family, and anyone willing to listen about your ministry. It is imperative that you create a brand experience for your supporters that is unlike any other experience they’ve had with other ministries. Your logo is important, but it’s only a small piece to your overall brand experience. This is why story is so important and why we try to incorporate story into every aspect of the brand development process. Stories help us create incredible brand experiences. Stories can help us engage with our audience at an incredibly deep emotional level, and the result the person has with your brand is ultimately a great experience because they’ve been emotionally engaged. A great brand experience should permeate everything you do and say, and your logo is the very first visual introduction to your supporter’s experience with your brand.
The visual elements of your brand can also create a great deal of trust, especially in younger audiences. If the visuals of your brand aren’t well executed, or the experience your audience has with your brand on your website isn’t strong, you’ll especially have a hard time engaging with and building trust with younger audiences.
The next element we’re going to discuss is your color palette. Color is often times an underrated element in any brand development process. A lot of times we see colors chosen based on personal preference, but color can have a much more significant affect on consumer behavior if we put thought into the decision that’s based on research. We know that colors have a psychological affect on people, and as ministries trying to grow and make the largest Kingdom impact that we can, we believe it’s wise that you use color to your ministries advantage in your brand development and marketing. There are whole fields of research that explore the psychology of color. We won’t go into that today, just know that there are plenty of resources on color theory, and a simple search for “color theory” our “the psychology of color” on Google will provide more information than you could ever consume. Today I simply want to share the importance of color, and the importance of choosing the right colors in your ministry brand development process.
Now, your ministry will never be able to lay claim to any color or set of colors exclusively, but you can consistently associate your brand with a color or set of colors. In fact, color is often times the one thing that remains when companies and ministries go through a re-brand. The logo mark and typography choices might change or update every 2-5 years, but often times color associations with a particular brand are so entrenched in consumer minds that to change color palette would be detrimental to the brand. Can you imagine Coca Cola changing the color associated with that brand… red, to something like yellow or even a slight change on the color wheel to orange? That would harm the association people have with the Coca Cola brand. There has to be consistency in your brand color choice and usage. If you’ll recall, at the base level brands are made up of words and visuals. Color is an incredibly important piece to the visual aspects of your brand. Our minds remember and associate things with color before they make associations with shape. So, creating an association to a color or set of colors in your brand will play an important role in helping your supporters remember your ministry brand.
Let’s look at a few examples of color associations in successful brands. UPS has a strong association with the color brown. The Livestrong brand and McDonald’s both have strong associations with the color yellow. When I say Facebook, the color that instantly comes to mind is blue, right? John Deere, Starbuck’s, and Spotify all have one common color association, green. Again, I’m not going to go into the why these brands chose to associate themselves with these colors from a psychological perspective, the important thing is that they all use the colors they’ve associated with themselves on a consistent basis. Now, let’s be clear, consumers or supporters do not purchase or donate because you have a great logo or because you’ve used the right colors. They will choose your ministry, and they will keep choosing to invest in your ministry because of the experience they have with your brand. Consistency in our color usage will allow you to create a brand experience for your target audience that is comfortable and recognizable. As humans, we tend to not like change. We enjoy comfort. We enjoy things that we recognize, know, and understand. A consistent use of color will help create a brand experience that is recognizable, comfortable and easy to remember.
Focus on creating a great brand experience for your supporters, and be consistent in your use of your visual identity as a tool to that end.
