If you liked it then you shoulda put a pope on it

Like them or not, popes are the oldest community managers in human history.

Penalized by an absent CEO and a troublemaker COO, the Catholic Church wasn’t doing that well as a startup. It’s only after the figure of the pope was introduced – in fact – that the community started thriving and could be taken to a new level.

Opinionists, bloggers, press magnetizers: popes have been around less than Jesus (but more than – for example – Pokemons) and nonetheless they proved to be amazing brand ambassadors, always coming up with new outstanding marketing ideas.

During my recent trip to Rome, in particular, I noticed that the Church’s marketing efforts have become more and more visual. Take a look, for example, at these postcards, masterpieces of graphic design, featuring random circles placed over Rome from which various popes send a benevolent look to your friends and family.

What can I say?
It’s pop!
It’s fresh!
It’s better than having your name on a bottle of Coke and it makes you wanna confess your soul out!

The only criticism I feel like advancing is the fact that the Church is missing opportunities. They have the power and the resources to think bigger than this, expand the campaign to new media and engage new audiences!

For this reason I thought I’d help them out and pitch some ideas:

pope signal