Since the death of Christ, the Cross has become universally recognised as the symbol of Christianity. Such is the power of symbolism and marketing, the ancient Roman torture instrument has become a sign of God’s loving mercy. Other symbols of Christianity are the Chi Rho (first letters in the title of Our Lord as “Christ”), as well as the fish. Symbols matter, and in contemporary language have come to be known as “brands”.
During a lecture by a professor at the London Business School on branding, he asked the audience what they first thought of on hearing the word “safe”. The majority of people, he said, no matter where they are on the planet will think of Volvo. It was indeed the first thing I thought of, but I put it down to Swedish bias. However, he did the same for “magical” and the majority thought of Disney. He then asked us to do similar word association exercises with friends and family. I tested it on Twitter and with people around me, asking what they thought of when they heard “The Catholic Church.” The answers varied, but not as much as one might think. There is of course a bias depending on where and whom one asks, as this relates to a faith and not a service or company, yet the vast majority of associations were negative. The most common were: authority, power, abuse, papacy, tradition, corruption, John Paul II, money.
It is safe to say the Church has a bad reputation in many quarters. Ask faithful believers, and they will give another view. For such a huge organisation, it is difficult to find one defining concept, but looking at the replies, several seem to point in the same direction, even among believers. Power, authority, Papacy. It is interesting to ask how, or even if, the Church can do anything about this bad reputation. In other words, branding truly matters, and a negative brand image has a damaging effect. Creating a brand for such an enormous enterprise – dependent on many variables and over long periods of time – is no easy task. It also raises the question whether a brand can change over time, and how to effect such a change.
One long-term solution is to try to change the brand image, but another is in fact to enforce it. This is the solution identified by The Young Pope (played by Jude Law) in the HBO series by that name. Instead of rejecting the idea of power, why not own up to it? Pope John XXIII is said to have flung the windows open upon being asked about the reasons behind convoking the Second Vatican Council, stating: “I want to throw open the windows of the Church so that we can see out and the people can see in.” The Young Pope’s solution is entirely different: he shuts the windows.
People are intrigued by mysteries and by what they perceive as secret. But make it too secret and it becomes associated with something nefarious – think only of Freemasonry and the Bilderberg meetings. Instead, The Young Pope invites enough attention for the intrigue to be held in suspense, slamming the doors shut in the face of those who let curiosity get the better of them. Similarly, when Dan Brown wrote his shockingly bad novels featuring Opus Dei, the world turned its attention to an otherwise unknown and peripheral group. People associated it with secrecy, but by welcoming people to visit them, Opus Dei were able to use the attention to promote their message.
The strength of the Church is that it has always been tied to stories. The stories of the Gospels, the historical stories of emperors and statesmen who have converted to the religion, the stories of the saints and martyrs, and the story of the Popes. Through the foundation of the Propaganda Fide in 1622, the Church took the word “propaganda” to the far corners of the world, and it is a shame that we have forgotten it. Brands are a part of life, and the Church has a brand like no other. It would be sad to see it lost in an attempt to become just another NGO, albeit with open windows.
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