Media and the Message
Beware Long Post Ahead
Jesus told his followers to "go and make disciples of all nations" (Matt 29:18-20) in what Christians call The Great Commission. These commands are the foundation for Christian evangelism. At this point in history we have the greatest oportunitiy both technologically and fiscally to make these words a reality. The greatest challenge however is not the money or the gear but the media itself. The desire is to broadcast the "unchanging message" Through all forms of media. The problem is that every form of media has an effect on the message.
Media is not a glass window through which we see the message but a lens through which aspects of the message are enhanced and others are distorted and weakened. This is something I'm relearning. It's a lesson I have been taught repeatedly throughout my career in graphic arts. A popup ad in a a browser window makes a different impression than a glossy ad in Time, or a badly copied and crooked ad in a zine run off on the library copier. These impressions effect the way the message is perceived and the importance that it receives by the viewer.
Cultural and generational issues also have an effect. In Shane Hipp's book The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture: How Media Shapes Faith, the Gospel, and Church he goes into great detail about how communication mediums effect the thought process. People who have grown up in a Print Centric world tend to be more linear and follow what we would call modernist philosophies. People that have grown up in Image Centric world powered by Photography, TV and the net, tend to be less linear and more postmodern in philosophy.
So how do we as followers of Jesus convey the "unchanging message" . I think we need to learn from marketers. We need to accept that not every program, meeting, church service or advertisement will satisfy everyone. Humanity is to diverse for that. We also need to learn from missionaries abroad and understand the culture into which we are stepping. Most importantly we need to learn from Jesus and be real. People especially younger generations pick up on fake with incredible speed. we were brought up in a world of visual bombardment and I believe it's a defensive mechanism.
Early on in my career I was printing out some color proofs of magazine ads for Johnson and Johnson. When the customer came in I asked which of the 20 or so extremely similar ads she thought they were going to use as the final piece. She said all of them. Seeing my confusion she took the time to show me that the minor differences weren't as minor as I thought. The photograph of the family in the ad changed based on the demographic of the magazine the ad was going into. The Ad for AARP had an older couple. The Ad for "Women's World" was very different. Some ads the family changed ethnicity and in others gender. The ad copy would change as needed with the pictures. The only consistent items through the ad were the J&J logo and the product name. The goal of the company was to take this broad spectrum media (Print) and this broad spectrum product and make each group feel that it was made just for them. to focus attention on just the aspects that mattered to the group (Or the aspects that marketing thought mattered to the group). This isn't a perfect science especially across different cultures and languages. Just ask Pepsi In Taiwan, the translation of the Pepsi slogan "Come alive with the Pepsi Generation" came out as "Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from dead". J&J learned to segment their audience. and they learned the culture. I am not an advocate for Church marketing but this lesson is significant. The church is God's chosen media to reach the world and we need to understand the culture in order to do his work.
Jesus told his followers to "go and make disciples of all nations" (Matt 29:18-20) in what Christians call The Great Commission. These commands are the foundation for Christian evangelism. At this point in history we have the greatest oportunitiy both technologically and fiscally to make these words a reality. The greatest challenge however is not the money or the gear but the media itself. The desire is to broadcast the "unchanging message" Through all forms of media. The problem is that every form of media has an effect on the message.
Media is not a glass window through which we see the message but a lens through which aspects of the message are enhanced and others are distorted and weakened. This is something I'm relearning. It's a lesson I have been taught repeatedly throughout my career in graphic arts. A popup ad in a a browser window makes a different impression than a glossy ad in Time, or a badly copied and crooked ad in a zine run off on the library copier. These impressions effect the way the message is perceived and the importance that it receives by the viewer.
Cultural and generational issues also have an effect. In Shane Hipp's book The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture: How Media Shapes Faith, the Gospel, and Church he goes into great detail about how communication mediums effect the thought process. People who have grown up in a Print Centric world tend to be more linear and follow what we would call modernist philosophies. People that have grown up in Image Centric world powered by Photography, TV and the net, tend to be less linear and more postmodern in philosophy.
So how do we as followers of Jesus convey the "unchanging message" . I think we need to learn from marketers. We need to accept that not every program, meeting, church service or advertisement will satisfy everyone. Humanity is to diverse for that. We also need to learn from missionaries abroad and understand the culture into which we are stepping. Most importantly we need to learn from Jesus and be real. People especially younger generations pick up on fake with incredible speed. we were brought up in a world of visual bombardment and I believe it's a defensive mechanism.
Early on in my career I was printing out some color proofs of magazine ads for Johnson and Johnson. When the customer came in I asked which of the 20 or so extremely similar ads she thought they were going to use as the final piece. She said all of them. Seeing my confusion she took the time to show me that the minor differences weren't as minor as I thought. The photograph of the family in the ad changed based on the demographic of the magazine the ad was going into. The Ad for AARP had an older couple. The Ad for "Women's World" was very different. Some ads the family changed ethnicity and in others gender. The ad copy would change as needed with the pictures. The only consistent items through the ad were the J&J logo and the product name. The goal of the company was to take this broad spectrum media (Print) and this broad spectrum product and make each group feel that it was made just for them. to focus attention on just the aspects that mattered to the group (Or the aspects that marketing thought mattered to the group). This isn't a perfect science especially across different cultures and languages. Just ask Pepsi In Taiwan, the translation of the Pepsi slogan "Come alive with the Pepsi Generation" came out as "Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from dead". J&J learned to segment their audience. and they learned the culture. I am not an advocate for Church marketing but this lesson is significant. The church is God's chosen media to reach the world and we need to understand the culture in order to do his work.
posted by Ray at 10:36 AM
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