Is Today’s Modern Church Making Meatball Sundaes?

By Milan Ford

Published: May 30, 2008

With the emergence of such social networking websites like MySpace, YouTube, and Facebook, not to mention the 70 million people worldwide who host their own blogs, it is clear that the times have certainly changed.

Should Churches Leverage Media and Pop Culture?

Yet despite the number of businesses and civic organizations who have embraced this new era of interactive media and marketing methods to reach their respective audiences, there remains one that seems to be lagging way behind: The Local Church.

While more and more churches continue to place their faith (and budgets) in old media outlets like magazine ads, billboards, direct mail and radio and TV campaigns, it is this new era of online media that is now impacting the lives of today’s generation.

In order to help more churches engage with these and other new marketing media outlets, Milan Ford, content editor for 316networks.com, connected with New York Times bestselling author and marketing guru Seth Godin to help shed some light on this new phenomenon. Author of the best-selling marketing book of the past decade, Purple Cow, Godin was recently named as one of the Top 21 Speakers Of The Next Century named by Successful Meetings Magazine.

His newest book release, Meatball Sundae, unveils how organizations, who have been quite successful in the past, are now trying to change their existing structures to embrace more new and social marketing tactics and methods.

And as you will see, according to Seth, many are making a big mess along the way.

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Milan Ford (316): Thanks for sharing this time with us. I can imagine how hectic your schedule is, so let’s just jump in, shall we? Your new book is entitled, Meatball Sundae. We're scared to ask…what is a meatball sundae? Sounds disgusting.

Seth (Godin): It is disgusting. It’s disgusting because it’s the combination of two perfectly good things. Meatballs--standard items, things we’ve always used, things made in quantity and aimed at the masses, together with the Sundae--the social media, Facebook, blogs and all that new online marketing stuff that people are so excited about.

Meatballs are just fine. An ordinary church service for the neighborhood is fine. But it won’t lead to growth. And if you add something just fine to the revolutionary new media tools we’ve got, it just doesn’t work. The book is a message to marketers everywhere (including churches, who are marketers too) that if you want to play in this new world, you need to understand the new rules and you need to make a new product.

Milan Ford (316): Wow. It seems like everyone is into this “new marketing” era or as you like to call it, “sundae toppings.” Why do you think that is?

Seth: Well, when it works, it works amazingly well. Presidential candidates get millions of viewers, every day on YouTube, for free. Sites like Twitter.com double in size every few months. It feels like old marketing but for free, and better and faster.

So it’s seductive. But it doesn’t work for most organizations. It especially doesn’t work for boring ones.

Milan Ford (316): That’s scary. Your definition of the “old marketing” era sounds a lot like what many businesses and churches are still stuck doing today. Why do you think the “new marketing” is not embraced as much. In your opinion, what are the major obstacles or stumbling blocks that cause churches to run away from it?

Seth: Churches are the oldest businesses around today. And yes, they’re businesses. They don’t necessarily sell a physical product, and they don’t always charge money, but there’s a transaction nonetheless. And that involves the individual paying attention. Attention is precious and it’s rare and it’s non-refundable.

Old organizations got that way by not making fatal mistakes. Old organizations relish tradition and often fight change. But new media (and the growth it brings with it) requires change, because no one is going to choose to talk about you merely because you are old and safe and proven. It’s not worth talking about, not as much as something fashionable or new or interesting.

Milan Ford (316): Seth, There are a few churches out there who have begun to embrace this “new marketing” era; flirting around with MySpace, Facebook, and some have even begun posting worship service videos on YouTube. However, many still feel like the new marketing isn’t working for them. Is there a step somewhere they seem to be missing?

Seth: Why would I spend the time to watch something on YouTube if I knew what was going to happen? If I’d seen it before? Why would I friend someone on FaceBook if I knew that all they intended to do was hassle me and evangelize to me?

Just because it’s important to you (and it could be your Tupperware product line or your sermon) doesn’t mean it’s important to me. The essential idea here is that new media is selfish and you can’t buy or demand attention, no matter how worthy you believe your idea may be.

Milan Ford (316): One big area many churches have yet to embrace is blogging. Foreign and often viewed as tedious to many church leaders, you view it as a major tool to winning and consistently serving a particular audience. Can you explain further?

Seth: Blogging lets you drip ideas, bit by bit, to people who want to hear them. There are two crucial ideas in that sentence, so let’s unpack them.

The dripping matters because that’s how people learn. Not in one hour chunks, but one little idea at a time. Do it for five years or more, every single day (as I’ve done on my blog) and you build trust and credibility and a body of work. The permission (“want to hear them”) is important because if no one is reading your blog, you’ll know. And then you can change it. And over time, you can earn the right to talk to a thousand and then ten thousand and then a million people.

And isn’t that your mission?

Milan Ford (316): It seems that this “new marketing era” is pushing businesses (and churches) to now concentrate more on what is tangible and accessible, rather than what is big and newsworthy. Why do you think that is important for church leaders to note?

Seth: I don't know if I'll agree with 'big and newsworthy'. I think I'd say you need to concentrate on what's remarkable and interesting and noteworthy and touches my faith, and stop spending time on tasks that don't amplify any of those elements. Doing something because you've always done it isn't an idea worth spreading.

Milan Ford (316): Okay Seth. Last question. Although many within the local church or faith community tend to view marketing as something new or a line item on a budget, your book basically correlates marketing to what the church calls…evangelism.

Marketers (in your words) spread ideas. They tell stories people want to hear and believe. Evangelism is really no different. So in your own words, as the world’s leading voice in evangelism (sorry, we mean marketing) today, what do you believe is the number one thing churches should do to successfully engage with today’s “new marketing” era?

Seth: Faith matters. A lot. Religion often gets in the way of faith. Religion, the scolding, rules-based part of religion, the part used as a lever in life or politics to insist that people follow a certain person or a certain idea... that’s not spreading so fast online.

But faith, faith is the salve we’ve always wanted and still want. Barack Obama offers a lot of people a different kind of faith, and we can see how it resonates. People want to believe, they want to be surrounded by people who believe and they want to feel good about it. What an opportunity.

Milan Ford (316): A great opportunity indeed. Thanks Seth!

Seth Godin is a best-selling author, entrepreneur and agent of change. Named by American Way Magazine as “America’s Greatest Marketer,” Seth is the writer of one of the most popular blogs in the world, and was recently chosen as one of the top “21 Speakers of The Next Century” by Successful Meetings. His latest book release, Meatball Sundae, released earlier this year, is already a Wall Street bestseller. You can find more about Seth Godin at http://www.sethgodin.com

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