“Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.” (Matthew 10:26-27)
A few years ago, I heard an ad broadcast several times over Boston’s WTKK 96.9 FM during their highest ratings hours. It was from “Grace Church of Dover”. The ad was short, but “sweet”. It was very professionally done. I can still hear the announcer proclaiming that the church featured, “married priests and ordained women”. It was pretty obvious this was a “split off” of the Roman Catholic Church. It was probably a group that got tired of waiting for married priests and ordained women to happen in the Catholic Church, so they started their own church. And, whatever you may or may not think of that, it was an impressive and memorable ad. The fact that the church is located in Dover also suggested there must be some “money people” in it. I mean, a week’s worth of radio ads on a station like WTKK cannot be cheap!
I don’t think a church running radio ads on a secular station at prime time is a bad idea at all. In fact, I think it’s a good idea. One time when I was driving through the Springfield, Massachusetts area, I also heard a very professional ad on WHYN promoting a local western Massachusetts Baptist church. I think it ran during the Howie Carr Show. Again, I’m not sure how they afforded it, but I salute them for putting the ad on the air. For sure, radio advertising on a major secular station has GOT to cost a fortune. It’s far more than most churches could even THINK about, unless there was some very generous benefactor who’d pay for a week of advertising or something like that.
Several years ago, I began to dream and think about what kind of ad I’d put on a major Boston station if by some miracle money was no object. I haven’t thought about that for a long time, but my brain works in strange ways. Last night I was preparing homemade macaroni and cheese, making up the rue and macaroni on the stovetop before I combined all the ingredients into a large bowl and put them in the oven. I DIDN’T have the radio on but for some reason I began thinking about that fantasy radio ad of mine from years ago.
If I COULD make such an ad, I’d get several people to help me record it. I’d probably record it at my friend D.K.’s studio in Bellingham. (He used to record and produce all of our church radio programs when we were on a Christian radio station in the 1990s.) I’d try to have several men and several women speaking on the ad. I’d like to have the voice of a professional sounding male announcer, also, and if such a person were not available, perhaps I’d do that part.
The ad would feature a group of people- men and women, boys and girls, and the announcer voice at certain key places. The group of people would be heard from individually, and each would sound hopeful and excited. It could go something like this:
MAN: Where is the 5000 seat auditorium?
GIRL: Where’s the PLAYGROUND?
WOMAN: Where’s the bookstore and the doughnut shop?
ANNOUNCER: First Assembly of God of Framingham- a small group of real Christian people who love Jesus, and want to grow deeper in their faith.
MAN: Where’s the 27 adult electives?
BOY: Where are the parking lot attendants?
WOMAN: Where’s the health spa?
ANNOUNCER: First Assembly of God of Framingham- a small group of real Christian people who love Jesus, and want to grow deeper in their faith.
MAN: Where’s the power point?
DIFFERENT (“character”) WOMAN: Where are the electronic back scratchers?
ANNOUNCER: First Assembly of God of Framingham- a small group of real Christian people who love Jesus, and want to grow deeper in their faith.
PASTOR BOB BARIL: This is Pastor Bob Baril. Maybe our church doesn’t have all the bells and whistles,but we hope you’ll come and visit us at First Assembly of God of Framingham, anyway! Please log on to www.agframingham.org
(AGAIN!) (“character”) WOMAN: Where are the electronic back scratchers?
If I could get her, I’d absolutely have my good friend Sue F. do the “Where are the electronic back scratchers?” part. She’s got the PERFECT voice and inflections for it! You can’t quite tell if she is serious or “tongue in cheek”. She can often sound strong and yet curious and a little silly.
Well, it would take a TON of dough to make that ad!
But if I had a ton of dough and several friends willing to cut the ad at D.K.’s studio, we’d make it!
What do you think of my proposed church radio commercial?
Would it make you want to visit First Assembly of God of Framingham?
EMMYS 1970: My World...and Welcome To It
1 year ago
3 comments:
Hello, Pastor Baril -
As a Christian and a radio advertising specialist, I read your post with keen interest. Since you've asked for observations, I'll volunteer mine:
Your script idea certainly has possibilities, purely from a production standpoint. But simply reading the printed words of your proposed script without knowing anything about your church, one is left to draw his own inferences.
Reading between the lines, I'd guess that your intent is to communicate that your church is not preoccupied with fun and games and social amenities, but rather with "growing deeper in [the] faith." But I am reading into the script, not simply exegeting it.
As the writer, you have an advantage over your readers: you've already "heard" the words as you intend them to be spoken, to get your meaning across. A stranger, working only with the printed page, might arrive at a vastly different understanding of your meaning. For this reason, you might want to tweak the script a little to make your meaning obvious from the start. In any case, you'll want to coach/direct your talent to ensure they're interpreting correctly and conveying the meaning you intend.
Even skilled voice actors need to be coached to get their best performance. This also can be done with non-professionals, but it does take more time, patience, and perseverance to get it right. The results are worth the time and effort invested. (As a long-time proponent of using clients as spokespeople in their own commercials, I've successfully coached many "amateurs" over the years. I know whereof I speak.)
If you do get this ad completed, I'd love to hear it. In fact, if you want to run it by me before you put it on the air, I'd be happy to provide an objective analysis. (As Roy Williams famously put it, "It's hard to read the label when you're inside the bottle.")
I do a little radio work now and again for a church in Nebraska, and my company, Grace Broadcast Sales, produces syndicated radio features that are used by many Christian stations and/or sold to Christian sponsors. If you're interested in hearing some of our work, you're more than welcome to poke around our website (http://gracebroadcast.com), or my blog (http://rodspots.blogspot.com), or just email me directly: rod@gracebroadcast.com.
Best wishes on your project!
Cordially,
Rod Schwartz
Rod,
Wow! What a surprise it was to get your lengthy and thoughtful comment on my blog piece. Thank you so much for your helpful input!
Everyone non-Catholic is a split off the Catholic Church, by the way.
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