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Taylor Hoerr
Rome
Professor Gatti
1 December 2015
A Comparative Analysis of the Brand Identities of Pope Clement VII and Pope Francis
Introduction
In todays capitalistic society, any type of organization is a business that must market itself to
society. Since the public has a limited attention span, being recognizable and memorable is vital
to the success of every group. The identity that an institution chooses to embody is a powerful
tool. It makes a statement in the market for what a company stands for and allows it to
differentiate itself from competitors. There have been wars, alliances, and revolutions [that]
frequently have issues of identity at their core (Balmer, 2008). Even across disciplines, such as
business, philosophy, communications, and religion, identity has been deemed of critical
importance to a companys success. This timeless struggle only highlights that the identity of an
organization is an enduring question throughout history. Identities are constantly changing and
evolving as groups struggle to redefine themselves throughout history. The modernization of the
Catholic church and its need to create a consistent brand can be exemplified by the comparisons
of the brand identities of Pope Clement VII and Pope Francis.
Importance of Branding
The branding of an organization is important and influential on the public audience
because it impacts their entire perception of that company. Branding traits are a concept that do
not just apply to marketing, but also encompass strategy, structure, history and culture
(Balmer, 2008). Psychology is also a field that is relevant to branding. By using clinical
psychology, brands are able to tap into the deep unconscious of consumers to magnetically pull

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consumers to their brands (Holt, 2002). The uses of psychology for branding purposes have
been shown to define the self and influences an individuals behaviours and cognitions
(Balmer, 2008).
The influence from a variety of fields makes branding a complex concept. Branding is the
outward bound symbolic communication from an entity [and] can encapsulate, as well as
communicate, the quintessence of a corporation including its, values, standards, purpose and
distinctiveness has a considerable provenance (Balmer, 2008). The messaging from a company
provides a stable and coherent brand. By using branding consistently, a company can build
support of the network as a whole (Lasswell, 1948). Any weakness in this consistent
messaging also involved a weakness of the security of the State [or Vatican City in this case] as
well as the overall brand (Garzia, Sammarco, De Lucia, 2004).
Once this identity is established, it can serve as the basis for a companys unity of its
purpose, a sense of belonging among employees, guidance for management actions, decisions
and action, as well as the basis for all institutional communications (Balmer, 2008). As such, a
brand identity can only be best utilized if it is applied in variety of perspectives and by making
reference to, other, corporate marketing concepts (Balmer, 2008). Developing a consistent and
true brand identity provides a central message that influences the reputation of the brand, as well
as a consumers associations with that organization.
Branding in Relation to the Catholic Church
While the concept of branding clearly relates to businesses and organizations, people do
not initially think of this idea in relation to the Catholic church. In contradiction to this
generalization, religious marketing has risen substantially over the past two decades (Einstein,
2011). People are fueled by a consumer culture to expect their products and services to be

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convenient, entertaining, and customizable. And they want their religion, like any other service,
to also be convenient, entertaining, and customizable. Due to these societal changes, the Catholic
church, and many others, have been attempting to modernize themselves in order to improve
sagging public reputation and to revitalize traditional ways and ideas (Einstein, 2011). In
their religious marketing efforts, an increasing number of churches, including the Catholic
church, have begun employing branding as a method to keep their audience engaged.
Branding allows for consumers to readily remember and have particular associations
with an organization (Einstein, 2011). The Catholic church has specific associations with it,
such as the pope and Vatican City, that allow consumers to associate a person or place with their
religion. The Catholic church has recently become interested and invested in research of the
subject and methods of advertising rhetoric and social communication because it wants to
understand how to effectively reach people (Kappeler, 2009). By understanding and developing
a brand for the Catholic church, it is hoping to better connect with its audience and achieve its
goal of increasing its attendance.
A Strong Brand and Increased Audience
By connecting and identifying with a strong and consistent brand, audiences will have an
increased church attendance rate. This is due to a brands identity and the effect that it has on a
consumers loyalty to that brand. The value, trust, and satisfaction that a brand develops with
its customers mediates a brand identitys effect on brand loyalty (He, Li, Harris, 2012).
Loyalism to a brand will cause the consumer to engage in pro-brand behavior because they
identify with the focal brand or company, and such brand identification arises largely due to the
identity of the brand (He, Li, Harris, 2012).

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A recent study shows that 7 out of 10 regular churchgoers in the United States would be at
least somewhat open to switching denominations if they could no longer attend their current
church (Ellison, 2009). Although churchgoers would stay fiercely loyal to their church and even
fight wars over their religion, the modern religious person lacks any loyalty, or brand loyalty, to
their church. Creating that brand loyalty among its congregation would cause the churchs
audience to become more loyal to a specific church or denomination, and keep coming back.
Catholic leaders, including the pope, are accepting the idea that religious power must work
more and more as communication and as a brand loyalty play a part in their audiences
satisfaction with the church (Pace, 2007).
Brand Identity Book Overview
In the twenty-first century, a brand would develop a brand identity book. This document
allows an organization to outline their goals, establish the personality of their company, develop
distinct guidelines for how the brand should be handled, and allow a company to keep their
messaging consistent. An organization can use this internal document to keep building
relationships with customers and developing a deep, interpersonal connection that keeps a
consumer loyal to a brand (Holt, 2004). This relationship can only be built with consistent
messaging, which a brand identity book and internal branding outlines. Through this, the entire
organization should emote in unison the spirit of the brand (Holt, 2004).
The Catholic churchs evolution towards modern ways of thinking could be shown in two
brand identity books, one from their past and one from their present. To best exemplify the
changes that have occurred in the Catholic church throughout this modernization process, this
essay analyzes a brand identity book from Pope Clement VII and Pope Francis. Both popes were

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influential in their respective time periods, but the changes in the church can be seen in the
different ways the popes were branded to the public.
Pope Clement VII Brand Identity Book Analysis
For European Catholics, Pope Clement VII was the moral compass and protector of
traditional and symbolic traditions. During the time of his reign, Pope Clement VII was dealing
with a great deal of moral turmoil. European countries were fighting over land, the Spanish
troops were sacking Rome, the Protestant Reformation had begun, and King Henry VIII was
demanding a divorce (Pope Clement VII and Henry VIII of England, n.d.).
In order to reaffirm the power of the Catholic church, in terms of both political and moral
power, Pope Clement VII stayed tried and true to the conservative, Catholic traditions. This
included strengthening the Catholic territories as well as making a show and grand gestures of
Catholic power and influence. Unlike other religions at the time, especially Protestants, Pope
Clement VII and the Catholic church had a foundational background that was supported by
power and symbolic of strength and greatness. By having this firm foundation, the Catholic
church was able to legitimize its religion over other emerging churches.
Pope Francis Brand Identity Book Analysis
For the modern Catholic, Pope Francis is able to take the traditional and stuffy ways of
the Catholic church and connect them to modern day core values. He goes about this by
denouncing the posh and lavish lifestyle of popes in the past, opting for a simplistic and humble
lifestyle. The pope also takes the time to volunteer and focus the church on giving back to the
community and doing right by ones fellow man. Unlike other religious leaders, Pope Francis

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succeeds in bridging the gap between religion and culture by connecting religious beliefs back to
core values of acceptance and service of others.
Pope Francis is also a man of progressive thinking for the Catholic church. With
countries legalizing gay marriage and Obamacare securing free birth control for women, the
church had to make a choice on what side they would take on these issues. Although the Catholic
church has always been known for being against both of these issues, Pope Francis has made it a
point to become more understanding and moving the church a little closer to accepting these
values that their congregations have already begun accepting for themselves.
Modernization of the Church
The pope from the 1500s and the pope from todays society extremely differ in the way
that each was known, or branded. While Pope Clement VII was concerned with solidifying the
power of the pope through political alliances and territory, Pope Francis is more concerned with
connecting with the public on their core values and showing the humbleness of the power of the
pope. Moving the Catholic church towards modernization, Pope Francis is also willing to
welcome new and progressive ideologies. Pope Clement VII would have been against this, and
that can be seen by his denying a divorce to King Henry VIII and him being against the
Protestant reformation.
These two brands of popes show the evolution of the Catholic church and its efforts to
modernize in recent years. As attendance was falling, the church had to re-examine itself and its
own identity to come to grips with the modern world in order to try to bridge the gap between
modern ideals and the churchs philosophy and beliefs (Kappeler, 2009). When the Catholic
church begins the shift towards modernity, it also shifted ecclesial organization from closed to
open (Kappeler, 2009). This can be seen by the way that Pope Francis has removed the barriers

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of a posh and lavish lifestyle of the pope to that of just a humble man wanting to do Gods work.
By doing this, Pope Francis has presented the church to the public as an open and relatable
organization. Within this new context of thinking, the possibility of discussing modern ideas and
principles is becoming more and more widely accepted. The once dominant ecclesiastical
organizationthe Catholic Churchseems prepared to move with the times (Pace, 2007).
Conclusion
Over time, organizations change and develop in order to move with the times. If they do
not, they risk being deemed as out of touch and irrelevant. Because of this, an organization that is
built on tradition, the Catholic church, has also had to undergo efforts towards modernization and
presenting its new concepts and brand to the public. The church is an active an ever evolving
organism and its identity will always [be] in the making andnever fully made (Balmer,
2008). The modernization of the Catholic church and its need to create a consistent brand can be
exemplified by the comparisons of the brand identities of Pope Clement VII and Pope Francis.
The church will benefit from this move towards a modern way of thinking by having a better
connection to its audience, which will lead to an increased attendance and revitalization of
churchgoers loyalty to the church. Although the core concepts of the religion itself have not
changed, its brand has, which will keep the Catholic church relevant in todays society.

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