Follis Advertising: Follis Book Excerpt: Awards

Selling God.

Over the years I've worked on a hundred products with as many product claims, but never did I think "omnipotence" would be one of them. The client, in this case, was a church. In essence, it was selling God.

A church is not the type of account you'd expect to see on an agency roster. You don't see churches offering Back-to-Church Specials or package deals to Heaven. Although this church hadn't been running any kind of ad campaign, it was their use of mass media that first drew me to them. While flipping channels one Sunday morning I was captivated by a grandfatherly minister who combined spirituality, contemporary relevance and a liberal dose of humor. When the sermon concluded, the announcer informed me I'd just heard Dr. Norman Vincent Peale broadcasting from The Marble Collegiate Church in New York City. Not long after, I moved to New York and got to experience Dr. Peale's inspiring message in person.

The church was different -- a far cry from the dogmatic, judgmental church I'd grown up with. Instead of leaving after the service, people streamed into a large hall for coffee and conversation. This upbeat atmosphere proved to be an ideal place to feel connected, make friends, and explore life's questions. It wasn't hard for me to conclude that Marble was one of the best kept secrets in a city that can often feel isolating.

As my ad career in New York progressed I continued attending Marble making periodic attempts at offering the church a Madison Avenue marketing perspective. It wasn't until years later, and after the church had received some unexpected funds, that my free consulting offer turned into a bona fide client -- albeit, an unusual one.

From a basic marketing perspective, church is a "service". However, the product it offers is piece of mind...spirituality...God. To some, I suppose, the idea of God-as-product is sacrilegious. Yet, as an adman, I can tell you that any service that doesn't market itself won't be around for long. That includes churches. I can also tell you that whether it's The Almighty or a box of Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats you begin by looking at the product benefits which, if you look at it as selling God, were quite interesting:

            1) Does everything.
            2) Open 24-7.
            3) Life-time guarantee.
            4) Free.

figured with benefits like these, how could I lose? Then I realized that God/Church/ Religion are very touchy issues. I also knew that most New Yorkers would prefer their Sunday Times to church. To connect with this audience the campaign had to be smart, real, and playful. The initial result was a campaign of 5 simple, all-type ads:

1) Now That Spirituality Is Cool, Here's Where To Get Some.

2) In This Town It Doesn't Hurt To Have God On Your Side.

3) Make a Friend In A Very High Place.

4) You Don't Have To Be A Sinner To Attend Our Church. But It Helps.

And to highlight the buffet brunch after the service:

5) This Sunday, Feed Your Soul Then Stuff Your Face.

The logo and tagline read: Marble Collegiate Church -- Where good things happen. I was convinced that the tone of the campaign was right, I just wasn't sure how it'd play with the church conservatives. To my relief, the work was very well received. The minister loved it and the church approved a media plan which employed a guerrilla marketing approach involving magazines, subway posters, postcard racks, a mobile billboard, an aerial banner and a website. Despite the limited budget it wasn't long before the campaign got noticed. The New York Times did a story and not long after, the Daily News came out with a similar piece. Even Time and USA Today picked up on it. More importantly, the campaign was attracting new members. Just months after the campaign broke the church received the largest group of new members in over a decade. Like any successful campaign, though, it wasn't without its moments.

One particular evening I was burning the midnight oil fine-tuning the church website for an overdue client presentation. The church task force assigned to the project had been waiting anxiously for weeks and I wasn't about to disappoint them. After dealing with several unexpected delays, the site was finally looking good. In particular, was the home page which featured a bright blue marble background pattern which we'd downloaded off the web. The attractive marble background seemed the perfect choice for Marble Church. As I prepared to head home at 1:30 am, my bloodshot eyes focused on something odd. This blue "marble" background began to reveal images of naked male anatomy. "It's late, I'm hallucinating", I tried to convince myself. Yet, as I forced my bloodshot pupils to focus, I could distinctly see the images of male torsos, complete with ample genitals meshed in a pattern to create the optical illusion of marble. I sat in shock. As much as I had concluded that God's graces were behind the smooth sailing campaign, I couldn't help but wonder if the Forces of Darkness were now taking their turn at bat.

Thankfully, the following morning -- mere hours prior to the meeting -- the offensive pattern was replaced and things continued with no further acts of Satanic sabotage.