Digital Presence and BrandingProblem
Davison Meadows Baptist Church (DMBC) wanted to invest in the community, but weren't sure how to identify themselves or reach out in the digital space. Since the group had limited technical knowledge, maintaining a digital presence was intimidating. |
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Approach
Creating a sustainable digital presence for DBC was a six-step process, with constant communication before, during, and after each step:
Research Target Market
Target Market Research surfaced two high-priority primary personas and two community based secondary personas. The church was eager to reach out to these people and discussed ideas for specific activities.
Creating a sustainable digital presence for DBC was a six-step process, with constant communication before, during, and after each step:
- Research target market
- Identify church personality
- Establish visual identify (Branding)
- Conduct digital inventory
- Update and create online spaces
- Identify owners and plan for maintenance
Research Target Market
Target Market Research surfaced two high-priority primary personas and two community based secondary personas. The church was eager to reach out to these people and discussed ideas for specific activities.
Primary Persona
Secondary Personas
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Concept Map collaboratively created with stakeholders to understand and prioritize next steps.
Identify Church Personality
The church had recently participated in a Timeline Workshop identifying DMBC history and its current state. I leveraged the outcomes from this workshop to initiate conversations with leaders and laity. Identifying the church personality resulted in a mission statement and tagline.
Mission Statement
“A faithful, loving, welcoming church which seeks to help people grow close to God, founded on the Scriptures. “
Tagline
Faithful Loving Welcoming
The church had recently participated in a Timeline Workshop identifying DMBC history and its current state. I leveraged the outcomes from this workshop to initiate conversations with leaders and laity. Identifying the church personality resulted in a mission statement and tagline.
Mission Statement
“A faithful, loving, welcoming church which seeks to help people grow close to God, founded on the Scriptures. “
Tagline
Faithful Loving Welcoming
Establish Visual Identity (Branding)
Branding was an iterative process requiring continual communication with leadership and laity. After final sign-off, the brand was socialized and Brand Books were made available to the membership. The Brand Book facilitated consistency across print, digital and building decorations.
Branding was an iterative process requiring continual communication with leadership and laity. After final sign-off, the brand was socialized and Brand Books were made available to the membership. The Brand Book facilitated consistency across print, digital and building decorations.
Early sketched branding exploration. The final brand was refined through stakeholder review and independent designer review.
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Branding mockup
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Sign Mockup (over existing sign)
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| davison_meadows_brand_book.pdf |
Conduct Digital Inventory
I conducted a digital inventory, searching out every digital space which mentioned DMBC. The digital inventory revealed that the church was not without a digital presence. In fact, the church was in 32 different locations including business and church listings.
Update and Create Online Spaces
I created a gmail address and gave it to church leadership. I updated as many online locations as possible with the tagline, mission statement, service times, logo, and contact information.
I also created a new Davison Meadows Facebook page, merging it with an unofficial page. Using social media management best practices I added content weekly until the new pastor took it over.
Identify Owners and Plan for Maintenance
I met with the church to ensure that they were equipped to update their digital spaces.
Results and Lessons Learned
Communication was key for this project. The congregation wanted to own their messaging and branding, contributing significantly to the success of the project.
The project deviated from the original Project Plan, but since there was constant communication during the project, this was not a negative experience. In fact, the flexibility led to an outcome more tailored to the situation of the church.
The project did more than establish a digital presence. It rallied the church, helped the church understand their strengths, and gave them messaging for reaching out to their target audience.
I conducted a digital inventory, searching out every digital space which mentioned DMBC. The digital inventory revealed that the church was not without a digital presence. In fact, the church was in 32 different locations including business and church listings.
Update and Create Online Spaces
I created a gmail address and gave it to church leadership. I updated as many online locations as possible with the tagline, mission statement, service times, logo, and contact information.
I also created a new Davison Meadows Facebook page, merging it with an unofficial page. Using social media management best practices I added content weekly until the new pastor took it over.
Identify Owners and Plan for Maintenance
I met with the church to ensure that they were equipped to update their digital spaces.
Results and Lessons Learned
Communication was key for this project. The congregation wanted to own their messaging and branding, contributing significantly to the success of the project.
The project deviated from the original Project Plan, but since there was constant communication during the project, this was not a negative experience. In fact, the flexibility led to an outcome more tailored to the situation of the church.
The project did more than establish a digital presence. It rallied the church, helped the church understand their strengths, and gave them messaging for reaching out to their target audience.
| project_proposal_dmbc.pdf |
| davison_meadows_brand_book.pdf |