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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. A tough challenge. 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 creative, unorthodox campaign also greased the wheels for tons of positive press in The New York Times, USA Today, TIME, the New York Daily News, ADWEEK and others. And the college text, "Principles of Marketing" (Prentice Hall '04) included the campaign as a case on "Effective marketing on a limited budget." A follow-up study (reported Feb. '04 church newsletter) revealed that more people were driven to the church from the ad campaign than from the church cable TV and radio media combined. Said Minister Arthur Caliandro: The ads are "brilliant. They are doing great things for the church." The campaign, which began in 1998, still runs with a new subway poster each fall. To hear church minister Arthur Caliandro discuss the campaign click here. |
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