WiFi Radio

If you've read any of my past posts on the subject then you know I have a keen excitement about the growth of broadband access, especially in the car. For program producers, this emerging medium will make it easier to reach an audience. However, many broadcasting insiders predict that broadcast broadband's rise will be at the cost of traditional radio. A recent article from the broadcasting industry's "voice" sees it differently.

Read all about it here.

They're Sirius. . . I mean Serious. . .

. . . about allowing XM and Sirius to become "one."

Frankly, I didn't think the merger had a prayer with the Justice Department. Shows you what I know.

One piece of good news out of the deal for Christian consumers who find the satellite radio option appealing but don't cotton to the idea of subsidizing the likes of Howard Stern (Sirius), Opie & Anthony (XM) or the numerous "explicit" comedy and music channels offered by both services—the new entity has agreed to offer a family-friendly version of the service at a lower price.

Sign me up.

Mobile Marketing - an oxymoron?

While browsing the fare at Advertising Age Online, I came across another interesting tidbit: a primer on mobile marketing.

We've been in a number of meetings with industry colleagues and ministry communicators where this emerging media was the focus of discussion. I was the skeptic and would usually follow the proverbs of scripture and stay silent.

I'm coming out of it now due, in large measure, to the mobile changes the iPhone has caused. At this point in time, we see mobile marketing as a great way to deliver viewable/listenable product (such as your radio or TV program). It's not our choice for awareness raising... yet.

Automaker Banking on Internet

General Motors is shifting millions of its advertising dollars to online media. In a nutshell, GM plans to raise awareness through traditional media (specifically radio and TV) and then plunb the depths of its audience online. Take a look at this article at adage.com.

It's a hearty (albeit tardy) validation of a strategy we've employed for nearly four years with the organizations we serve. Of course, raising awareness is really the easy part. Helping your audience overcome online obstacles that can hinder meaningful interaction is a bit more difficult.

We'll share more on that later.

More TV Coming to Your Desktop

Hulu.com's new deal with NBC Universal and News Corp (owner of Fox) means many more television programs are about the be available for viewing online.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Hulu.com, a joint venture between News Corp. and NBC Universal, plans to open its vast online library of ad-supported TV shows and movies to the public on Wednesday, the company announced.
Users of the service will be able to view more than 250 full-length episodes of shows such as "The Simpsons" and "The Office," as well as some 100 movies, including "The Big Lebowski" and "Ice Age."

The entertainment companies behind the service have been feuding with popular online video sites such as YouTube, where unauthorized clips from shows often appear.

The Hulu.com programming comes from 50 TV networks, movie studios and Web-based producers of content.

Viewers of some movies and TV shows are given a choice of advertisements to watch.

Book Review: "Branding Faith" by Phil Cooke

Full disclosure. Phil Cooke is a friend and occasional colleague. We have frequently found ourselves at the same conference table working for the same media ministry client. I like Phil and find him a smart, funny and unfailingly stimulating guy to talk to. But our friendship doesn’t mean I can’t review his upcoming book with a fair measure of objectivity.

Phil’s latest, Branding Faith: Why Some Churches and Non-Profits Impact the Culture and Others Don’t, is newly released and I was privileged to receive an advance copy. I looked forward to seeing what Phil had to say about the way ministries can and should present themselves for greater impact in this media-saturated, YouTubed, MySpaced, mobile-messaged environment.

A big reason for my expectancy was the fact that I know Phil Cooke to be genuinely passionate about the subject. A lot more than I am, to be honest. Even though I’m in ”the business,” when I see crappy Christian media I just want to walk away shaking my head. Phil wants to run forward and fix it.

You don’t have to be around him very long to discover that Phil is genuinely, deeply bothered—grieved may be a better word—by the shoddy, backward and ineffective ways many ministries go about presenting themselves to a world they claim they want to engage and influence.

I also know that Phil has taken more than a little flak from religious folks over the years for his efforts to challenge ministry leaders to raise their standards (and therefore their production budgets). A sampling of some of the cranky-grams the editors of Charisma magazine receive in reaction to Phil’s regular column there testify to that fact.

The truth is, there are powerful segments of American Christendom that recoil when guys like Phil use the terms marketing, branding and packaging in a conversation about ministry effectiveness. They are offended by the very idea of applying “worldly wisdom” to the sacred business of carrying out the Great Commission.

For some in ministry, it just doesn’t matter that what they present looks bad, sounds bad, communicates poorly, and feels utterly irrelevant to the intended target. To them, all that matters is that the presenters love Jesus and that they mean well. They don’t feel the need to be effective. Only sincere.

But there are others in ministry leadership who know their organizations need to change. They desire to be a more positive reflection on the Savior they serve and hunger to increase their ability to engage the culture for the Gospel. They’re just not sure how. And they’ve heard enough from the old-school religious nay-sayers to have doubts about whether their desires are fully biblical.

It is for these folks that Branding Faith is a God-send.

In it, Phil Cooke exposes the tension I just described as a false dilemma. He makes a compelling case that we don’t have to choose between being effective marketers and fully biblical Christians—that, in fact, the former is a natural extension of the latter.

One of the great values of this book is the way it de-mystifies a lot of the branding and marketing jargon that so permeates these discussions. For example, throughout the book Phil—correctly, in my opinion—encourages us to think of effective branding, design and marketing as simply excellence in “story telling.” This is a key insight.

Of all people, a preacher viscerally understands the power of being an effective storyteller. These are guys who work tirelessly on their live presentations. They deploy a variety of oratorical techniques to make sure they hold the congregation’s attention; make their points memorable, touch the emotions and well as the intellect, and pretty much do whatever is necessary to get that listener to act—whether that desired action be receiving salvation, repenting, committing more deeply, tithing or simply reading their Bible’s more.

And yet some of these same guys will look at you like you’re advocating child sacrifice if you suggest revamping the logo, re-formatting the broadcast, or putting some underlining in their letters—all to accomplish the very same thing. That is, telling the story in a clearer, more compelling way.

In the rapidly emerging world of 500 television channels; hundreds of radio micro-formats,; downloadable, portable media; and ubiquitous wireless connectivity—just how are 21st Century ministries and churches supposed to breakthrough the clutter so they can do their thing?

In Branding Faith, Phil Cooke offers us some timely answers.

[Order online here]

Heartache in Ukraine

We learn from our dear client and friends, the Messianic Jewish Bible Institute, of a horrific tragedy. Former students of the MJBI's school in the Ukraine were murdered by a disturbed man their messianic fellowship had tried to help.

The MJBI's Bonnie Wilks has details of the tragedy here. And an update about the arrest of the perpetrator here.

Pray for comfort, strength and healing among the members of the fellowship there.

The MJBI is a wonderful organization doing amazing work around the world. Find out more about that here.