Lesson 1: Protect Your Intellectual Property

"Defend the Faith"

This is where I got the original idea. On Easter Sunday, I was watching Visions of Mary on The History Channel. There was a piece about how the Vatican would investigate and approve all Marian sightings. Once the sightings were review and approved, then they could be advertised as true miracles and a shrine could be erected. That led me to understand that the church was protecting its intellectual property. It did not want "false miracles" to dilute the power of the Catholic Brand.

After giving this some thought, it occured to me that there are many branding lessons that can be derived from the Catholic Church. Protecting intellectual property is just the first.