ZION NYC —
Brooklyn-based church plant establishes community and discipleship through creativity.
ZION NYC
ZION is a church in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Their team are native New Yorkers who love Jesus and want to spread his message.
Headquarters
Brooklyn,NY
Industry
Religious Organization
Organization Size
10 — 20 Employees
Services We Provided
– Branding
– Web Design
– Social Media
– Marketing
The Client
Long before ZION Church launched in 2017, Justin Mattera knew he wanted to plant a church that would provide a space for everyone who called Bay Ridge, Brooklyn home to gather. A church for all generations, ZION has grown and evolved in its early years as a church.Through it all, they’re driven by a desire to build community, foster discipleship, and champion creativity.
The Challenge
Justin’s experience in online branding and design, as founder of Mattera Management, enabled him to build both the church’s brand and mission simultaneously, ensuring that the core values and characteristics of ZION were integrated with its online presence. For a developing church plant, an online presence that utilizes design and content strategy is a specific challenge with the potential to serve as a valuable tool in the pre-launching process. One of the best ways a church can raise awareness around its “brand” is through effectively communicating its identity online. With that in mind, we set out to make sure ZION’s core values informed every facet of their online presence.
The Solution
When we set forth in creating a content strategy for ZION, we wanted to make sure that every component was designed to build upon the church's core values of community, discipleship, and creativity. We chose the logo by conducting a focus group to see how various age groups responded to different logo options, and when we started publishing content online for ZION, we utilized a Facebook ad strategy to reach senior members of the surrounding areas. Today, the church’s oldest member, who’s 88 years old, first discovered the church through Facebook.
Putting creativity to work to help build church community.
Design is not only important to the marketing world, but the church world as well. For ZION, “creativity will shape how we tell the story of Jesus and how we dive into community with one another.” That commitment to reflecting the Creator through content drove the process behind each graphic designed, social media campaign created, and strategy put in place. Once the foundation of the church’s online presence was laid, we continued to consult with the team at ZION to ensure their strategy and website remained consistent and relevant to their growing and changing community. When all was said and done, we not only wanted to create an online presence but enable the platform to grow as the church grows.
The Result
A church’s story is best told through the lens of its people. So, we equipped the ZION community with tools for maintaining their social media and marketing streams, creating an authentic and self-sufficient process that communicates the heart of the church across various online platforms. We accomplished this by working with the church to develop a dynamic marketing team, identifying people within their own community who were gifted and passionate about creative ministry.
