Expectations & After Taste

A topic that I hear a lot about and have wrestled with for quite some time is the issue of branding. In the world of leadership, communications, design, planning environments, etc. that I live in, the idea of branding gets thrown around a lot. Like many, for the longest time I thought branding was the look, feel, logo, colors, etc. of a product or organization. While that might be a part of it, I have come to understand that branding is a much larger concept and understanding this concept can help bring some powerful evaluation and implementation to any organization, including the church.

At the MinistryCom conference I recently attended, Shawn Wood from Seacoast Church did a talk on Brand Schizophrenia. While I have some great notes (I am note nazi when it comes to classes, seminars, conferences…), the two greatest things I heard that cut through the clutter on the issue of branding were:
1. Brand is expectation of an experience
2. Brand is the emotional after taste after an experience

Friday night, Kelly and I were on a date at a local restaurant. Our expectation was that we would have a tasty, pleasant evening with a couple of our favorite dishes and then off to the rest of the evenings activities. Since, we had some where to go next, the clock was on our radar and we continued to look at it more and more as it took forever to get our food. As we kept waiting, I was reminded of others who had said they had a similar experience of having to wait at this same place.

Well, we did get our food, and luckily the managers came out and comped our food. After the conversation with 2 managers, I thought again of brand. I wondered if the managers had become aware of their negative brand of being a restaurant who struggled with their promptness of completing orders and bad service. They were quick to step in and tried to be proactive about changing our "after taste" of the dining experience. I also wondered if how bad my after taste would have been if they had not stepped in and tried to correct the negative experience.

For the church, brand is important as well. What are the expectations and impressions that come to people’s mind when they hear your church name mentioned? Is it positive, negative, or maybe there is no response? Are there barriers to them attending because of those expectations? Then, if someone does experience your church, what is their after taste? Was the environment engaging, message helpful, music uplifting and encouraging, was the context helpful, were the people friendly and welcoming, could guests easily find where they were going, was it stressful or relaxing, was it too long, was their a lot of Christianese…? Are we listening to the after taste people have? What are you doing if people have a negative after taste?

I have also heard it said that branding is managing people’s expectations. We talk a lot at FBCSmyrna about finding how we can best create environments (experiences) that are irresistible for people instead of repelling. We are constantly evaluating, learning, and trying to improve the after taste we leave with attenders and guests. It is important for companies who are selling products to be constantly aware of their brand; if it is crucial for them, how much more for the church as we present the greatest message and organization on earth.

I anticipate writing more on this subject. What positive or negative "after tastes" have you had lately…