Learning #4: Make your advertising visually compelling
Everywhere you look in Vegas there is something clamoring for your attention – a place to gamble, a hot spot to eat, a golf course to play, or things too seedy for this blog. They are all there, 24/7 without fail – and they are all well done…at least photographically. They are eye-catching and compelling. They encourage you to look more, explore deeper, and eventually spend your hard-earned cash on them.
Each casino featured some big headlining entertainer – from Louie Anderson to Cirque de Soleil to Chris Angel (aka ‘Mind Freak’). Each casino went out of its way to make sure that their advertisement was the biggest, brightest, or catchiest. They used bright colors, intriguing graphics, and/or scantily clad women to get you to look at them…and re-look at them…and look at them some more…and then spend your money to see that show or entertainer.
This reality became clear to me as soon as we arrived at the Las Vegas Airport, because as I stood outside the women’s restroom waiting for Deb, my eyes glanced toward the baggage claim area to see the sheer volume of advertisements ‘plastered’ on the walls, suspended from the ceiling, or posted on a rotating kiosk display. They were everywhere (literally!) and I could not help but look at them and wonder how much it cost to see Carrot Top at the Luxor or Celine Dion at Caesar’s.
We did not see any of the shows advertised on those giant screens/posters/billboards, but we knew who was performing where and if we wanted to, we could get to a box office and purchase tickets with ease (part 3).
So what can the church learn from this? I think the issue comes back to the question of visual intentionality. Is the Church (and your church in particular) visually compelling in a positive way? What steps are you taking to make sure that when guests enter your building or browse your website they see something that would make them want to look again or visit again? I believe that many churches have lost the ability to see themselves from an outsider’s perspective and they then begin to allow clutter to pile up, posters to go out of date, and images in the church to become stale.
I am by no means an expert in this area, but I do know that in the 21st century, our “customers” have far too many choices in what to do on Sunday mornings to allow our churches to be relics, obsolete, or dated in any way. We must impress upon our church leadership to take the lead in being innovative, risk-taking, and compelling in every way possible. Without a compelling reason for people to spend their leisure time at our events/worship services/Bible studies, then they will sleep in, work a little more at the office, or go to a baseball game instead.
Grace&Peace
Read the other posts in this series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
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