John Deere had a problem. Their equipment was top-teir, their brand was trusted, and their message was clear. Yet sales to homeowners stayed flat while competitors gained ground.

The issue wasn't the product. It was the assumption that everyone buying a lawn tractor wanted the same thing.

I came across an Instagram ad recently that completely stopped me mid-scroll. I watched it a few times over and realized something interesting: while I could see myself being interested in the product, I was even more drawn in by the entertainment of the ad itself. It felt engaging, authentic and full of personality while still showcasing the product perfectly.

It was completely different from the ads I normally scroll past.

Wanted: A senior-level marketing strategist, graphic designer, copywriter, web developer, PR consultant, social media manager, project coordinator, fundraising communicator, SEO specialist, videographer and brand advisor.

Must be available immediately. Must understand ministry. Must not require benefits, onboarding headaches, vacation coverage, payroll taxes or a full-time salary.

Sound impossible?

There's a reason most organizations default to one-size-fits-all messaging: it's efficient. One campaign, one audience, one set of materials. You cover the most ground with the least effort.

And there's a comforting logic to it. More reach should mean more response, right?

But reach isn't resonance.

I’ve been in this business for more than 30 years now, and when you do things for long enough, you identify patterns. Today I want to show you a pattern that I’ve seen continually repeat itself.

A ministry starts to feel stuck, and their immediate assumption is that they need a marketing overhaul.

Sometimes that means a new website. Sometimes it means more social media, better design, stronger campaigns or an entirely new brand image. More recently, I’ve watched ministries try to jerry-rig AI into absolutely everything.

Yesterday, Major League Baseball marked Jackie Robinson Day, as it does every April 15. Across the league, players, coaches and umpires wore number 42, honoring the day Robinson stepped onto Ebbets Field in 1947 and broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier. In 2026, that observance marked the 79th anniversary of his debut.

Every spring in the United States, the college basketball tournament known as March Madness narrows dozens of teams into a final handful through a ruthless format: lose once, and your season is over. It is part sport, part national ritual, and it has a way of revealing what people do when there is no time left for recovery.

There’s a version of this that happens in almost every organization. A campaign comes together and on paper it looks great. There’s smart strategy and solid tactics. It’s textbook, the kind of campaign that checks every box in the brief. Then it goes out into the world and the response is muted. There’s no clear signal that it moved anyone. 

In August 1914, as Europe moved toward war, Ernest Shackleton sailed from Britain with a crew of 27 men aboard the Endurance. His ambition was immense: to become the first to cross Antarctica from sea to sea.

By January of the following year, that ambition had been arrested by the Weddell Sea. The ship became trapped in pack ice, then drifted helplessly for months until the pressure of the frozen ocean crushed its timbers and sent it to the bottom. The expedition that had set out to make history could no longer accomplish the thing it had been formed to do.