Ad-o-Rama
Below is an advertisement which The Episcopal Church ran in a full page add in USA Today:
I posted a challenge on Facebook for ideas to do a quick and dirty mock up of another ad for The Episcopal Church. Two friends from seminary responded with ideas last night which I worked up into ads. On any of these, click the photo to see a larger version, which will be easier to read.
I like the ad above best of those shown on the web page. We can do better than the print-only ad in USA Today. A picture is worth.... You know the rest. View the other ads at the King of Peace Episcopal Church website, and voice your opinion.
Thanks to Ann for the link.
Mimi...That's ME and my church!!! Really...where did they get the photo???
ReplyDeleteamyj
Amy, which one are you?
ReplyDeleteDon't ask me. I don't know nuthin'. Ask them at Irenic Thoughts.
The one in the back holding the baby.
ReplyDeleteamyj
Amy, now I know what you look like. You look great. The picture at the church website blows up larger with a click. What a pretty baby - the baby, I mean.
ReplyDeleteThe Episcopal Church ran in a full page add in USA Today: (and it stinks)
ReplyDeleteIt´s about as interesting, compelling and spiritually stimulating as a trip to the dentists office...why in the World would someone at 815 think this is Evangelism (it reads more like a lukewarm damage control for rebranding)...fade out, literally. Horrible waste of money, marketing and another ¨prudent¨ display of missing the point...LIVING REAL LIVES is the point, and participating in life with CONVICTION (thanks for the second ad for a reminder that we still are made up of human beings that breath in and out)...and to think they ¨cut back¨ key staff at 815 and STILL ran this full page ad...talentless and boring and wasteful.
Len, What can I say? You're right. That ad will not bring the people in.
ReplyDelete"It´s about as interesting, compelling and spiritually stimulating as a trip to the dentists office."
ReplyDeleteIt's a little better than that. It has all the compelling drama and fascination of a morning seminar in actuarial accounting with no coffee served.
Apparently, our ecclesiastical bureaucrats know even less about good publicity than government bureaucrats.
The ad with Amy J in the picture is light-years superior on so many levels.
How many folks who read USA Today will read the ad? I'd think the percentage will be close to zero.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that I have not been impressed with the ad or other things that have recently come out of this office.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that I have not been impressed with the ad or other things that have recently come out of this office.¨ Caminante
ReplyDeleteFor GOODNESS SAKE, cancel the follow-ups, fire the publicity non-mayvins and send the money to El Salvador (or ¨donate¨ it Orombi and Akinola before any more LGBT Anglicans are harmed)!
They also left out Brazil, an Episcopal Province that has been very supportive of TEC, +Gene, and has welcomed Bishop KJS to boot. (www.ieab.org.br features a photo of her with their Primate, Bishop Mauricio Andrade.)
ReplyDeleteJust how badly did we scre*ed? Did they give us forward/first section and right side positioning (or did they bury us on a backpage leftside near Sports)? Any REAL ¨ad person¨ knows the difference and for a printad that size (in a struggling advertising market), well, we ought be treated VERY WELL...no matter, nobody saw/read it anyway...somebody is pulling some mischiefmaking in our ¨promotion¨ department (or simply has no common business sense, commercial artistic savvy or few bigtime advertising skills).
ReplyDeleteMary, that ain't right, leaving out our sister church, Brazil.
ReplyDeleteLen, you're a dog now! How many different personas do you have?
Maybe good things will come from 815 not having a lot of money. Folks at the local level seem to be more creative. In any case, the head office should not waste their reduced amount of funds on ads like the one at the head of the post.
One last HOWL!
ReplyDeleteGotta go to bed but I want you to know that the dogger is ¨Coban¨ discovered on a trip to the Alta Plano last January...he is about one year old and he often vists with us when his Mommies (twins) are abroad...Coban is keeping Izzy company online as she needs a good friend right now (one of her own kind is extra comforting).
Tell Coban to take good care of poor Izzie. I'm so sorry that she's not well, and she does need a friend of her own kind..
ReplyDeleteThe more I think about that ad that appeared in USA today, the more it bothers me. I was going to use the phrase "Failure of Imagination," but it's not that - more like "Failure of Creativity." And even then, that's not the issue - perhaps "Failure to Listen"? Think of the wealth of digital photos hanging out there on the web that show our communicants involved in mission, relief efforts, art, work with kids, work in the inner cities, and countless other things that could be shown, not told. Think of the many unemployed creative types, recent grads, entrepreneurs like Father Matthew - any of whom might get energized if 815 had held a contest. I wonder if the ad that ran was even checked out by a professional editor or typographer. So many vague statements, all set in italic...it's really an ad for dysthymia.
ReplyDeleteIf the Episcopal publicists were serious, then they should assume that everyone out there lives in Missouri; SHOW ME!
ReplyDeleteThere is this long discussion on Mark Harris' blog about making the ad differently verbose rather than less verbose.
People respond viscerally to imagery. Protestants and evangelicals found that out the hard way. Catholics and Eastern Orthodox have always known this.
If we believe that we have something valuable to offer people, then we should show it to them instead of telling them about it. They should see happy Episcopalians who look like them; not a desert of text drafted by church bureaucrats and seminary professors.
Failure of creativity - check
ReplyDeleteLack of imagery - check
All around failure - check
Back to the drawing board, PLEASE!
Amy,
ReplyDeleteOne downside to making what I think of is a quick and dirty mock up of an ad idea is that one needs to rely on "found art" which is lying around and then see if the concept works. In the sace of the photo you are in, I found it at http://www.ees1862.org/09-searchgrants/01-geography/North%20America.html and notified the ees of the use in a mock-up. You will se that I cleaned up the background. The downside is that you have people in an ad they know nothing of, which I don't like at all. Though, it is a mock-up and not an ad which would requite proper permissions. Nonetheless, for what it is, it worked well and you and child do look lovely in the mock up. I do hope no offense is taken. I always worry about these things, which is partly why I insist on only using Episcopal photos for an Episcopal ad mock up. Just like we only used Episcopalians in the EpiscoNinja video at http://www.ees1862.org/09-searchgrants/01-geography/North%20America.html
So, while I wish you had known in advance, I am glad that you found the photo in this use. No fun not knowing.
peace,
Frank+
The rev. Frank Logue, Vicar
King of Peace Episcopal Church
Kingsland, Georgia
www.kingofpeace.org
Oh my, the ad out of 815 sucks big time. Uninspiring is an understatement. Reading it, I felt like I was back in Confirmation class (that was over 50 years ago). The IamEpiscopalian campaign earlier this year is more like it. It's the people and their ministries that make the church!
ReplyDeleteI like the second ad that Grandmère Mimi chose.
I hope folks forward to 815 all their improvements. Seriously, don't hold back.
ReplyDelete