From a business perspective, our Lodge is the brand/company and Freemasonry is our product.
Using terms such as brand, product, refreshing, reimagining, and re-branding in connection with Freemasonry will no doubt make many in our fraternity uncomfortable. It shouldn’t because we truly believe that we have one of the best products in the world.
We have no desire to change our product. Freemasonry’s tenets and rituals have survived for over 400 years and the foundation on which our fraternity was built is as solid as ever.
Refreshing involves getting back to the basic principles and consistently executing them at the highest possible level; charity to all mankind, providing light to our members, and actively engaging with our community to make it better.
Reimagining involves finding ways to accomplish the aforementioned while making Freemasonry relevant in today’s society and factoring in the demands of daily life.
Re-branding involves re-introducing our product to the world, building excitement, and growing not only our own participation, but the number of people we are engaged with throughout our community.
The possibilities which such an endeavor afford has us excited and invigorated!
To get a better idea what we are talking about, consider the story of Harley-Davidson in the early 1980’s…
Harley-Davidson made big, loud, and distinctive motorcycles. Unfortunately, over time they neglected the quality of their product and were not prepared for the future.
Motorcycle companies in Japan and Europe were making far superior bikes which cost less money. As imports continued to rise, Harley-Davidson sales plummeted and by 1981, they were on the verge of bankruptcy.
In response to the crisis, Harley-Davidson refreshed their product by ensuring the highest quality standards were upheld, reimagined how they could regain their market by focusing on their big, loud, and American-made bikes, and then blitzed the country with their newly re-branded product.
At last check, the company is going stronger than ever.