As of today, it’s a slogan from Microsoft’s new global career website.
The opening tagline reads, “Come as you are. Do what you love.” It continues,
“Imagine
You have unique experiences, skills and passions—and we believe you can bring them all to Microsoft for a rich, rewarding career and lifestyle that will surprise you with its breadth and potential. Just imagine the excitement and satisfaction of what you can do, where you can go, and the difference you can make with the resources of Microsoft behind you.”
This text alarms me, but at the same time intrigues me. As a copywriter for a recruitment digital agency, I envy this writer’s knack for compelling a candidate to desire employment at Microsoft with the help of good syntax and a handy Thesaurus. The text affirms the reader’s unique attributes, invites them to come freely as they are, and promises to open opportunities of satisfaction and excitement, all within a career at Microsoft. Hell, I might even apply.
It alarms me not because I don’t know if Microsoft can deliver on what they promise. I mean it is just marketing, right? People surely don’t believe everything they read. But marketing does sway your opinion, influence your thoughts and feed your emotions. Otherwise I wouldn’t be crying after that Folgers commercial. It alarms me because Microsoft just made thousands, if not millions of people, feel more welcome to be a part of their corporate workforce than the church has ever made people feel welcome to be a part of their community.
I’m sometimes on the fence about churches actively marketing. Whether that’s through billboards, pamphlets, the always-stimulating church bulletins, websites, or dare I say that maybe even some churches are Twittering? I realize Jesus is not a brand. But maybe my hesitation in ‘church marketing’ isn’t because I don’t believe in the message we have to share; it’s the way we’ve shared it. It’s not the what, it’s the how. Maybe the ‘how’ doesn’t always need to rely on 3-pointed alliteration. (Notice that I’ve utilized this essential church marketing technique in my headline.)
I occasionally read a blog titled ChurchMarketingSucks. The preface to their mission statement resonates with me:
Something’s wrong with your church. Something’s wrong with the Church. Church marketing efforts and communication in general suck. We’ve got the greatest story ever told, but we don’t know how to tell it. The church has a problem communicating, and it’s time to change.
We love the church, but it needs some help. Typos, cheesy logos, and bad clip art aren’t helping the cause. But snazzy marketing won’t save this ship, either. It’s not about being perfect, but there’s a better way to communicate. It’s authentic, it’s loving, and it knows how to spell.
This isn’t simply about putting butts in pews or selling glossy postcards. It’s about helping the church be the Church, and seeing lives changed as a result. If helping the church communicate better allows one person to finally glimpse the Gospel, then our work has been worthwhile. It may be fuzzy math, but God can worry about that.
So I’m intrigued by the way Microsoft has shared their story, but what story do they have to tell? 8-5, monetary success, the exciting life of a cubicle dweller? I’ll admit– with a good sound mix, A-list celebrity talent, and a theatrical trailer dubbed by Don LaFontaine there could be an exciting plot line in there somewhere. But surely themes like love, hope, freedom and redemption would offer more compelling ‘marketing-speak’? How did the greatest story ever to be told resort to puns on Christian T-shirts?
