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Background:
A vibrant NYC church with a 376-year heritage and programs for people of all ages and lifestyles. But getting younger members was the future of the church and it needed more. Challenge: Attract cynical, young New Yorkers to Marble Church when few had even heard of it. We somehow had to make Marble relevant and cool without alienating church conservatives or reflecting poorly on an esteemed 376-year heritage. Not an easy task. Solution: An edgy, but playful, guerrilla marketing campaign with irreverent headlines that highlighted the many unique Marble benefits. The cost-effective approach utilized a creative media mix of mobile billboards, transit posters, phone kiosks, postcards, website and airplane banner. We also created a positive, branding tagline: "Marble Church. Where Good Things Happen." Result: Despite the limited budget, membership increased over 30% two years after the campaign broke while web traffic increased 10 fold. The church received the added value of positive national press in The New York Times, USA Today, TIME, New York Daily News and ADWEEK. And the college text, "Principles of Marketing" (Prentice Hall '04) included the campaign as a case in "Effective marketing on a limited budget." A follow-up study (reported in the church newsletter, Feb. '04) indicated that more people had heard about Marble Church from the Follis ad campaign than from the church cable TV and radio broadcasts combined. Says Dr. Arthur Caliandro, Senior Minister: "The ads are brilliant. They are doing great things for the church." Listen to John Follis and Minister Caliandro discuss the campaign and results. |
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