Is the brand essence of the churches in danger?

That depends entirely on what you mean by that.

Shortly before Easter, Bundestag President Julia Klöckner reiterated her criticism of the church and said: "The brand essence that we have as a church and as Christianity is great. But it doesn't seem to be getting through any more."

In just two sentences, it raises more questions than it answers.

What exactly does she mean by the brand essence of the church? What does the church stand for today - and what does it position itself against? How does it want to be perceived? And is the brand essence really as clear as is suggested here?

What does "church" even mean in this context? Is it possible to take a generalized view of Christianity - or are the differences between the Catholic and Protestant churches, for example, not too great to make a common statement?

And what exactly doesn't seem to be getting through anymore? Do the many people who have left the church in recent years really have something to do with an unclear brand essence - or do the causes possibly lie somewhere else entirely?

One thing is certain: The churches are currently confronted with many questions - and have few clear answers.

Is it time for the churches to initiate a structured brand development process? Or is this process already underway - during the Kirchentag, for example - and it's just not being referred to as such here? And is it delivering recognizable results?

I would argue that churches have always worked on their brand as part of their strategic orientation. They simply don't call it brand development, they don't appoint brand managers and (so far) rarely commission brand consultancies. And yet they ask themselves similar questions, deal with their strategic orientation, their public image and their activities - very similar to a classic brand development process, just with a different vocabulary. Is this enough to guide the church's brand through another century?

The Catholic Church has one of the oldest brands in the world - even if it has never been managed in the sense of modern brand management. However, in the context of the election of a new head, it too is currently facing the same fundamental questions: What does it want to stand for? How does it want to be perceived? And how does it express this clearly and consistently across all available channels and activities?

Whether you call it brand management or strategic alignment - churches, NGOs, start-ups and global corporations are essentially facing the same challenges. And even if churches are already going through various strategic processes, a targeted brand development process could be quite helpful. Sometimes it helps to look at familiar topics with different terms and from a different perspective in order to gain new insights.

And even if many questions remain unanswered at present, there may be more to learn from the churches in terms of brand management than one might think at first glance.

More on this in one of my next posts.