The Real Thing

By Russ Ward

Coca Cola has made a bit of a stir when it announced that it was changing the way they are going to be marketing their products. For decades it was largely an image campaign where the logo and slogans such as "The Real Thing" or "Things Go Better With Coke" inundated the market.

They built product awareness with huge ad buys on billboards, in magazines and great product placement on grocery store shelves. They produced thirty seconds of the warm and fuzzy with TV ads such as "I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony." All of this made Coca Cola seem and feel like a product that could add life or even create world peace, if only everyone could get their hands on an ice cold Coke.

But times have changed and even mighty Coca Cola has had to alter its approach to keep up. They simply had to rethink their communication strategy, retool and relaunch. This does not mean that the product will change! That would lead to rebellion against the brand they have built, need I remind you of New Coke? However, the way they are going to communicate to potential customers will change; the change moving towards content marketing. So what does all of this have to do with the way your church communicates? Hopefully, a lot. Find out how this applies to you church here.