Book review: “Marketing God”

While working for the Ditch Witch® organization, a very successful construction equipment manufacturer, I gained appreciation for what marketing strategy and branding can do to attract people to an organization’s products and services. At the same time, as a practicing Catholic, I have had the opportunity to serve in a variety of roles in our local parish and have wondered if the application of marketing principles also might apply to evangelization and spiritual development in our Church.
 
Lo and behold, I was recently given the opportunity to read and write a book review on “Marketing God” written by Donna A. Heckler. After just a few minutes of reading about the author’s background and some of the book endorsements, I was convinced that this book would be helpful to me personally.
 
Coming from a business background made it easy for me to relate with the author’s use of marketing terminology and business examples. And, the fact that she shared correlating Scripture to go along with each of the various marketing and branding ideas made it easy to connect with her premise of, “how we can take the elements that cause people around the world to become loyal to a brand and use these techniques to help people find God.” (from the Author’s Preface)
 
The content of the book is organized within 40 Truths (chapters) with each chapter only a few pages in length. The author shares many of her real-life experiences, personal insights and elements of her faith as she writes on many of the key marketing principles as applied to ministry. Although the book is only 180 pages and reading it doesn’t require a great amount of time, I found the content and the exploration approach thought-provoking and worthy of time spent pondering on each of the 40 Truths.
 
While I recognize that faith is much different from business, and that God isn’t a product, reading this book definitely increased the confidence I have for the notion that applying marketing and branding strategy can be beneficial to those of us striving to bring more people closer to God.
 
Perhaps the best example I can share on the impact marketing can make on faith is Bishop Robert Barron’s “Word on Fire” ministry. This non-profit global media evangelistic organization works to “draw people into, or back to, the Catholic faith” (Word on Fire website).
 
The brand “Word on Fire” provides a clear, strong message as to what the organization and its offerings are all about, and through the use of “contemporary forms of media and innovative communication technologies,” “Word on Fire” creates easy access for millions of people around the world to experience several types of faith-based resources. My wife and I both receive the “Daily Gospel Reflections” e-mail on our phones from Bishop Barron and are being drawn deeper into our faith because of this type of marketing strategy.
 
Marketing God may be a new concept for you to consider, but it is a beneficial concept in evangelizing. Therefore, if you serve the Church in any type or form of ministry, I would highly recommend you read this book.
 
John H. Dolezal is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.