BuzzMarketing Part 1

Reading BuzzMarketing by Mark Hughes.

Ideas for church buzz marketing:
1. Distribute urinal screens that say something like, "Don't piss your life away on things that aren't essential." Then have essentialchurch.tv at the bottom. Hopefully it will piss some people off and get them talking.
2. Coffee distribution at a popular intersection in the morning with a message that somehow connects people's feeling that they need coffee (it's essential to them) and the truth that church is essential. It would have to be good coffee.

Quotes and thoughts:
p.viii-ix: we're seeing a mistrust of anything corporate... the solution is to abandon any appearance of a corporate look. Corporate looks slick. Corporate looks like there's something being hidden amid seeming perfection. So don't look corporate, but DO look personal. I wonder if people who do not go to church mistrust large denominations in the same way. The way that churches are dropping denominational ties from their name seems to point to this.

p.xii: create buzz by inviting you and me to have an Empowered Interaction and empowered conversation with your company (the church). How can we empower people to interact with our church? How far can we take this concept? Pastors struggle with allowing people to take ownership of things, especially parts of the worship service.

p.xv: Only when you've gt everything to loose do you really understand the need to think differently. Without the fear of God, you tend to tread the familiar paths. This one hit me right between the eyes. I'm in the middle of a series called Beware of God which is all about understanding what the Fear of God is all about. Right now I am in a situation were I have both everything and nothing to loose. This quote is true on multiple levels and in ways I doubt the author even knew. One of the things that has pushed me to take an unfamiliar path recently in launching a new church is studying the fear of God. Saying God is huge is the understatement of all history. Understanding just how BIG GOD IS has made me want to blaze new paths and attempt big things for Him.

p.2: Buzz Marketing Defined - it captures the attention of consumers and the media to the point where talking about your brand or company becomes entertaining, fascinating, and newsworthy. Hmmm.... I have seen churches do this intentionally and by accident and by the hand of God. When God does it, it's amazing and it's unstoppable. When we do it, it normally takes a lot of time, energy, and money. Now the goal ahead is to have it happen before we launch in three months. I'll start with prayer. I can already see how God could do this and it would be huge if He does.

p. 49: if you plant your marketing seeds in an environment that fosters word of mouth (like a bar) you're ahead of the game. If you want people to talk about your brand (church), get as close as possible to a demographic that talks a lot or in an environment that talks a lot. Where do people around here talk a lot? While watching their kid's sporting events, at Panera Bread, fitness centers, at school. Now all we need to do is go there and get them talking about essentialchurch.tv