Thanks to everyone who came to our workshop about being a welcoming church at the Edmonton Day of Encouragement. I appreciate your interaction and great questions. A few of you asked for a copy of the presentation, so here it is.
The Netflix train wreck is now a full-on spectacle. Over the past few months, there’s been a flow of bad news and bizarre announcements that has taken Netflix from a customer favorite to one that’s losing people, and reputation, quickly.
In July, the movie-mailing and streaming giant said it was raising rates by 60 percent while providing no new services. While a lot of that increases was due to greedy media studios, Netflix took the brunt of the blame. Following the announcement,...
Certain events can become a catalyst for change for churches. At Life Baptist Church in Las Vegas, it was a move to a new building. It was a chance for the church of nearly 300 people to start with a clean branding slate to better present their message. It was time to clean up the inconsistent messaging and branding they had in the past.
“I can't overhype the importance of branding. Don't be afraid of it,” says Creative Arts Guy Matt Phillips “The truth is that you are already sending a...
I’ve spent every Sunday this summer away from my home church. In a departure from Chicago suburban life, I found myself on the shores of Lake Michigan. My wife and I spend our summer weekends at a small Christian community in southwest Michigan. More than 150 years ago, it was founded as a retreat for people to spiritually refresh during the summer. It’s still that way today. It’s a place where the streets double as sidewalks, the beach is packed on warm afternoons, kids can run safe and...
Our sister ministry, Under the Radar, recently ordered some Chick-fil-A catering for a concert here in our office. Oddly, we found ourselves in the middle of a rare Chick-fil-A flub. Something didn’t feel right when the chicken-serving, service-oriented restaurant was more than a half hour late delivering the food. We found ourselves in a bizarre, unfamiliar place of shaking our fists and cursing Chick-fil-A for denying us fried chicken goodness.
When the food mercifully arrived, we...
Graphic designer Paul Nielsen wrote a really interesting piece about church graphic design. Nielsen says churches often find themselves in one of two camps. They either aren’t thinking about design at all or they’re way overthinking it.
I always say everything a church does communicates something, so why not intentionally think about it. And that’s really the philosophy Nielsen follows when looking at churches who don’t put much thought into their signs, brochures, worship folders, etc. ...
It was March 1, 2010, when Caribou Coffee, the second largest coffee chain in the U.S., introduced their new logo. Yet more than a year later, all of the Caribou’s around me still have the old logo on their main signs. The cups, printed materials and door signage have all changed, but the biggest display of each store is still stuck with the old logo. Sure, the logo didn’t undergo a huge change; basically they just smoothed out the old logo to make a new one. But, still, it seems like by...
Just get rid of the crap. That was Steve Jobs’ advice to Nike CEO Mark Parker when he took over as the leader of one of the world’s most recognizable brands. In this video from Fast Company, Parker recalls the conversation he had with Apple’s CEO. Jobs told Parker that Nike made some of the best products in the world. Stuff people desire. But they also make a bunch of crap, too. So Jobs said, “Just get rid of the crappy stuff and focus on the good stuff.”
This blunt advice from Jobs is...
Willow Creek is one of those churches that can be divisive for people. One side loves the worship experience. Others think this massive church has been a bad influence on smaller congregations around the country. So I wasn’t completely sure what my reaction would be as my wife and I visited the main campus this past weekend.
I think the most successful communications achievement at Willow Creek is making a big place feel personable and non-intimidating. Finding a place to park was easy. ...
I’ve been watching America’s Next Great Restaurant, a show where contests compete by pitching their ideas for a new restaurant chain. The winner gets funded by Bobby Flay, Steve Ells (the founder of Chipotle) and others who will help the lucky person open a three-restaurant chain with the promise of more.
This past week, part of the competition was creating a logo for their proposed restaurants. While they were overall hit or miss, it was interesting to hear the judges critique a couple of...
