Branding Methodism: Media campaign seeks new ways to draw, keep younger members Mary Jacobs, Mar 13, 2009
UMNS FILE PHOTO COURTESY OF LAMAR ADVERTISING
More than 40 billboards and transit shelter ads in the Pittsburgh area appeared in December to test a new advertising campaign for the United Methodist Church.
By Mary Jacobs Staff Writer
American Protestants are more loyal to their favorite brand of toothpaste or toilet paper than they are to their Christian denominations, according to a recent survey.
The study, conducted by the Phoenix-based Ellison Research firm, shows that seven out of 10 regular churchgoers in the United States would be at least “somewhat open” to switching denominations if they could no longer attend their current church.
What’s more, a new Religion Identification Survey conducted by researchers at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., and released March 9 shows an increasing number of Christians are eschewing denominational labels altogether.
People calling themselves mainline Protestants, including Methodists, have dropped to 13 percent of the population, down from 19 percent in 1990. Meanwhile, the number of people who use nondenominational terms has gone from 194,000 in 1990 to more than 8 million. (It should be noted that the percentage of Americans who call themselves Christians has also dropped dramatically to 76 percent from 86 percent in 1990.)
As the United Methodist Church launches “Rethink Church,” the latest phase of a multi-million dollar media advertising campaign, the new research raises the question: Is the denomination attempting to build “brand loyalty” in an arena where it’s increasingly irrelevant?
“Protestant denominations are facing what most companies face as they try to develop brand loyalty,” said Ron Sellers, president of Ellison Research. Consumers—and churchgoers—who are faced with many different options “may not perceive strong differences among these options.”
The Ellison study reported that only 30 percent of churchgoers are completely loyal to their denominations—meaning they would only consider attending church within their specific denomination. (Many of those “brand-loyal” respondents are Catholic; denominational loyalty differed dramatically among Protestants).
Internet bloggers have been debating whether the study reflects a triumph of ecumenism or a failure of evangelism. “Certainly, it’s good news for people who market toothpaste to Protestants,” quipped David Waters, of the blog On Faith.
But the bottom line is clear: For many Protestants, the importance of denominational affiliation is slipping.
“Those distinctions, which seemed so important as the various Protestant churches were evolving . . . are really not that important to the average churchgoer in the United States,” said Robert Thompson, a professor of popular culture at Syracuse University, in a Religion News Service report.
So, is this good news or bad news for the United Methodist Church, and what does the study mean for “Brand United Methodist”?
Church leaders counter that with the May 6 rollout of the new media campaign Rethink Church, they’re trying something much bigger than just creating awareness for the United Methodist name.
The campaign’s goal is “to encourage a global spiritual dialogue,” said the Rev. Larry Hollon, top staff executive for United Methodist Communications. “We will ask, ‘What if church were a verb and not a noun?’”
Bohan Advertising/Marketing, the Nashville agency creating the ads, said Rethink Church acknowledges that few people pick their churches based on denominational affiliation. “Christianity is really the brand,” said Kerry Graham, Bohan’s president. “The denominations are sub-brands.”
Aimed at people who are 18-to-34 years old, the ads paint an image of church as more than just a place where people worship on Sunday mornings, and where they can become involved in many ways, such as through volunteer projects or online connections.
Rethink Church is the latest phase of the church’s Igniting Ministry campaign, which was launched in September 2001 with the tagline: “Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors. The People of the United Methodist Church.” The 2008 General Conference approved $20 million for an advertising and media campaign over the next four years.
The original phase of the campaign raised U.S. awareness of the church from 14 to 30 percent, said Mr. Hollon. Still, membership in the church has continued to decline.
“There’s only so much you can do with media advertising,” said Lovett Weems, director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary. “But if you can have a clear, positive message . . . it does help prepare the way.”
Campaigns like Rethink Church, Dr. Weems said, can make people more aware that there is a United Methodist Church, and in turn “make whatever United Methodist congregations are doing more likely to succeed.” Mr. Hollon cautioned that if churches don’t participate in the cultural conversation through the media they will risk disappearing—or worse, allow others to define their image.
“One of the great weaknesses of the mainline denominations over the last 30 years is that they have abdicated the territory of media and left it to religious entrepreneurs,” he said. As a result, televangelists “became the representatives of Christian faith in a society that was increasingly less aware and less religious.
“If the mainline denominations don’t engage in the public arena of media, they don’t exist.”
Awareness campaigns also can help shape the thinking of people within the denomination as well as those outside of the church, Dr. Weems added. “It not only tells others who you are, it helps shape who you become.”
Mr. Hollon says that’s part of the plan. One of the campaign’s goals is to convince church members to think beyond the traditional evangelism model of bringing people into the church, “discipling” them and sending them out.
Jamie Dunham, Bohan’s chief planning officer, said that traditional model doesn’t work well with younger people. “Our competition is not other denominations,” she said. “It’s all of those other active volunteer associations that young people can choose. The younger generation wants to immediately have some impact.”
The Rethink Church ads will feature the United Methodist logo, with a new incarnation of the tagline: “Together, we can open hearts, open minds and open doors.” But there’s no direct appeal to go to worship this Sunday at a United Methodist Church. Instead, readers and viewers are invited to visit a Web site called 10,000 Doors, which will present a myriad of “entry points” into the church.
The campaign will challenge church leaders to contemplate “whether we need to measure engagement, as opposed to how many members we’re attracting to the church,” said Mr. Hollon. Rather than simply inviting others to worship, he said, a church might engage with a community by meeting a need, such as providing day care.
“We’re asking church members to be the church in new ways, and in ways that open the doors so that people come,” he said. Mr. Graham compared the Rethink Church approach to a popular ad for a psychiatric clinic, which states: “If you don’t get help here, get help somewhere.”
“The greater good is what the Great Commission is all about,” he said. “There’s a whole breed of people more interested in being the church than going to church. We’re offering doorways to allow them to do that.”
For some United Methodist churches, like Ginghamsburg Church, in Tipp City, Ohio, which draws some 4,500 people each week, maintaining an open door means taking the denominational affiliation out of their church names. Unless you recognize the cross and flame on the church’s Web site, you won’t know it’s a United Methodist church.
Karen Smith, Ginghamsburg Church’s director of communications, said many younger people today haven’t grown up in the church, “so the names of denominations have little to no meaning to them.”
“Including United Methodist in our church name does not help prospective attendees achieve a clearer picture as to who Ginghamsburg is and what we are all about,” she said.
Whether a Methodist-free name attracts more church members is another question, said researcher Dr. Weems, since churches with denominational labels and those with more generic names are both are reaching new people. “It is hard to make a case that only one approach can be successful,” he said.
But even if the Methodist brand is no longer part of the way to lure people into churches, it can help keep them connected when they do join, Dr. Weems pointed out. In fact, “denominational heritage” can serve to strengthen their commitment.
Many new church members “are more than willing to learn the denominational heritage and theology,” he said. “In fact, many become excited about what they learn.”
UMNS FILE PHOTO COURTESY OF LAMAR ADVERTISING
So, is this good news or bad news for the United Methodist Church, and what does the study mean for “Brand United Methodist”? 
The campaign will challenge church leaders to contemplate “whether we need to measure engagement, as opposed to how many members we’re attracting to the church,” said Mr. Hollon. Rather than simply inviting others to worship, he said, a church might engage with a community by meeting a need, such as providing day care. 
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