Vocation Marketing

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Vocation Marketing

• Professor Christopher M Moore

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• Marketing is multi-faceted.
• It requires a systematic approach and is a
  critical dimension of the Church's machinery.

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World Class Marketing

• Know what people need and want
• Know exactly what you stand for
• Make it easy for people to understand
• A diverse sales force reflecting a diverse
  customer base
• Be ever consistent
• Recognise the power of the event
• Recognise that brands help us identify
• Say what you mean and mean what you say

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7 Features of Younger Lives

• Consumerism I am what I own
• Judge on instinct What feels right- and right
  for me...
• Transience is the norm Instability in family
  Structures, lifestyle dislocation, market-driven
  flexibility, change is prized.
• A passive belonging Being a part does not mean
  being involved. Virtual Communities, collapsing
  time and space. Self-determining the nature of
  participation.
• Spiritual rather than religious Spirituality-
  consumed as experience. A pass-time,
  Self-interpretation, emotions and well-being.
  Transient and flexible.
• Value drift Disrupted inculcation of values.
  Sentiment mistaken as value. Established
  originators of value- such as church- viewed as
  marginal and impotent.
• Issues driven Strong humanitarian
  responsiveness. Media reactive. Short term.
  Limited action, passive giving.

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Plus one more.

• Life more likely to be viewed in phases and
  stages
• Point of opt-out, change and revision
• New Job, partner, home, location, pace of living,
  lifestyle dimensions
• Greater acceptance of life-change decisions

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What are the Implications of this?

• Passive involvement, minimal action
• Commitment reluctant
• Corporate promiscuity
• Risk embracing, responsibility averse.

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Who would become a religious?

• Polar Views
• Youth marginalised, running away, something to
  hide.
• Older and wiser more accepted, "bit of life
  experience", credibility, considered decision,
  professional creditable
• Something that you might do.... After marriage,
  after children, a career, a life changing event
• Later in life activity - a second career, a
  second chance?

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As a Vocations commision, what is our job?

• Is it to get people to final profession or
  ordination?
• probably not...after all, as we have seen, people
  have a difficulty with "commitment" as a concept.
• They see it as alien, wrong and overwhelming.
• They dont commit to anything anywhere else so
  why should they have to do it here?

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Is our job not just to get people to consider the
role?

• to get them to consider the opportunities of the
  role?
• to get them to reflect upon and explore the
  nature of formation?

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So, is our job not to act as introducers

• awareness, interest and leads.
• making the proposition NOT over-whelming

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• Thus, we are a vocations marketing team.
• Are we too small, over worked, reluctant? Is it
  any wonder why we have a problem?
• What about the management? i.e. The Church
  leaders.
• What have they invested in terms of finance,
  resources, training, time and consideration.
• What is the age spend compared to income that is
  given over to recruitment
• Why, given the importance, is the position not
  strongly supported?

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• We have a limited, under-resources and
  under-developed marketing team, so no wonder we
  have problems!
• Things are unlikely to get better until we
  address the marketing team issues.
• Who could/should be in the marketing team?

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• Who should we be targeting?
• To work this out we need to review historical
  data
• Develop profiles of age, place, experience,
  journey route, mode of contact.

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• The targets
• Different sub groups, common threads, features
  and characteristics, different needs and
  interests, different type and form of dialogue

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• Research to identify potential 'recruits'
• Particular focus upon what they identify as the
  'obstacles' to recruitment
• Reflect upon what can be done in order to
  alleviate/eliminate these obstacles
• Under 25's v Over 40's Different risks and
  commitments
• Our shared problem- shared solution

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Communications

• has 3 functions- Create awareness, generate
  interest and support interaction.
• Communications Must be planned, refreshed and
  resourced. Effectiveness requires clarity in
  terms of what you WANT AND NEED to say
• What is it that you NEED to say?

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Ideas for slogans

• Seen it, done it, bough the T-Shirt? Time to
  become a priest then.
• At 20 I became a punk, 30 a history teacher, 40 a
  Black belt...did I mention I became an ND at
  28....?
• It was my youngest daughter who said - "Dad, you
  would make a great priest"

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Once we know the main target groups

• Devise communication that is relevant and
  meaningful to who and where they are
• Use media that is relevant to them

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• Internet,
• universities,
• Flyers, Parish Publications,
• Face to Face,
• text messages, Call line,
• The Herald.

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Internet

• Important first place of enquiry
• Must be reachable, easy to navigate
• Relevant language
• Segmented according to the target
• Email address on EVERYTHING we do...

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Official Sponsors

• Vocations Management- done well- is a costly
  activity. Limited number of companies willing to
  support the cost via sponsorship
• Link/acknowledgement of their support on the
  internet
• Not only about money - support in kind
• Internet maintenance
• Advertising/printing costs
• Finance to support training and development

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• What place and space has been made to make it
  possible for supporters and users to make a
  contribution?

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• For political parties- biggest fear and
  reluctance is to tell the 'members' that no one
  wants to join or lead them Ostrich in the sand or
  said so often no one cares to hear
• Aside from cultural issues- shift from the
  Bishops' failure to our shared solution
• Shift from maoning about the problem to the
  finding of solution
• Finding Solutions requires a participative
  approach
• Getting Ideas and opinions- but not by just
  resorting to the old ways
• Internet and text, phone and in person.

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• Role to play
• Root of the Solution...
• Becomes the solution
• Good point to start is to ask what sort of church
  do we want in the next ten years....

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• Pray, Pay and Having a Role to Play

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• Contact Fr Stephen Baillie, St Johns, Barrhead
• 0141 876 1553
• stjohn_at_paisleydiocese.org.uk
• www.paisleyvocations.com