With over 8,000 members in five campuses, C3 Church San Diego had grown to be the largest chuch in the C3 momement of over 650 churches globally. To distinguish themselves within the movement, they wanted to change their name to Awaken. Still part of the C3 Movement, Awaken would be distinguished by it‘s name and unique brand. C3 San Diego had a well-recognized name and presence in the community, and is one of the fastest growing churches in the country. Prophetic was hired to help them to not just keep momentum, but increase momentum through the renaming, rebranding, and relaunch of the church. Everything, including signage and environmental design needed to be completed in less than nine weeks to be launched January 5th. Did we mention Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years?
Prophetic was approached initially to consult on the renaming. The client asked if we could help them retain the name recognition they had built over 14 years with the C3 San Diego name, and phase in the Awaken name over time. Considering that they were opening at least three new campuses in 2020, including one 72,000 sq. ft. facility, we recommended that they instead did the name change all at once and really celebrate it.
We recommended using the new year, and their annual ”Vision Sunday“ (The first Sunday of the year) to launch, which gave us a short runway to launch, but we believed it would provide the greatest opportunity, as New Years resolutions also bring many new people through the church‘s doors. We saw an opportunity, not just for a fresh new name and fresh new look, but also to look at systems, values, and messaging to align those before designing a new visual wrapper. We began with an envisioning with the executive and marketing teams.
Our envisioning process is like like personal development for brands and the teams that support them. We dug deep below the surface addressing questions that the teams had never addressed together. We looked at the organization wholistically across all verticals and asked ”How can we make this better?’
There had been core values, mission and vision statements, etc. that had been written separately but never addressed in a way that would touch every ministry, and every person at the church. We recognized the need to clarify the church‘s overall voice, and the tone that it took in each expression. Once that was established we designed the new brand, and the hundreds of expressions that brand would take.
In Awaken there are 12 distinct large ministries, and many more smaller ones, each is purposed in reaching a specific demographic. We looked at the overall brand first, as signage pagages for each of the church‘s five buildings needed to be produced for the launch. We then addressed the other collateral, digital, and environmental assets in order of need, working tirelessly both creating and directing their internal teams to create the hundreds of deliverables for launch. A lauch that was kept totally secret from the members of the church until the unveiling.
The fist Sunday in January is always “Vision Sunday” in the church. We chose that day to unveil the new name and the new brand to the congregation in a celebratory atmosphere. The coordinated effort came off without a hitch. Everyone was so excited about what was to come in the church, and inspired to awaken into a bigger and brighter future for themselves as well.
Though no-one could have predicted 2020, Awaken Church was perfectly prepared to grow in a year where so many churches closed. Online services exploded, the church opened two new locations, and broke ground on two more. With the clarity that was established through the rebrand, new ministries and initiatives for the church brought growth during a global crisis.
We don’t look at just one aspect of a brand. We consider the whole experience. How a brand looks, speaks, behaves, feels, and dreams.