A BRIEF HISTORY The 1990 Broadcasting Act made broadcast advertising on religious themes possible and provided the impetus to explore the role of advertising in the life of the church. This was followed by the Church of England report, Paying the Piper, which made the following points... > Advertising should be used as part of the churches' communication strategy. > The role of advertising as an appropriate means of communication in its own right was affirmed. > A strong recommendation was made that Christian advertising should be ecumenical. > The report encouraged the churches to engage in commercial advertising. The report stated: "We believe that advertising can be a creative, effective, appropriate, even amusing means of communication for the Church. We recommend that advertising be considered as part of the communication mix." In 1991, the Diocese of Oxford ran a Christmas advertising campaign with the slogan, "Wrap up the kids and bring them to church". Five other Anglican dioceses shared in aspects of this. The following year, the Oxford diocesan communications officer led the establishment of the Churches Advertising Network. Members of the network put up a sum of money to fund the creation of advertising, a professional advertising agency gave their services at cost in order to provide professional expertise to the network (which then had no previous experience of the medium), and a Christian advertising consultant offered his services. It was agreed that the aim was to communicate Christian faith rather than brand awareness for any particular denomination. STARTING OUT Initially the basis of the network's campaigns was the 48 sheet roadside hoarding poster, backed up by the bus stop size (4 sheet) poster with smaller posters for display on church noticeboards and in shop windows. Various other publicity items were also produced for local church use... > Leaflets (which could be overprinted with local church details) to push through letterboxes and to be given out. > Handbills with details of the Christian Enquiry Agency (a participant member of the network). > Leaflets suitable for use as order of service covers for local church services. > Christmas cards. > Car and envelope stickers. This remains the core approach for the network, with campaigns normally linked to Easter and Christmas in each year. One significant reason for keeping to this approach is that a major poster site company, Maiden Outdoor, has been prepared through its managing director (who is a member of the network) to donate a number of poster site for each campaign, although the printing and posting costs are still met. It is also possible to negotiate very favourable rates with other poster site operators, especially in the two weeks immediately prior to Christmas when commercial interest in Christmas is winding down. RADIO AND TV Quite early on in the development of the network, radio advertising was used, both in local radio stations and with Classic FM. Wherever possible, such radio campaigns have been linked to the poster/local church publicity campaigns. More recently television advertising has been attempted, especially by the Anglican Dioceses of Birmingham and Lichfield, and has received considerable financial support from the Jerusalem Trust. The network emphasises the fact that it exists in order to support and enhance the work of local churches. Consequently the national campaigns are intended to be owned by the denominations and congregations, who have the opportunity to buy into campaigns at appropriate levels. At no time is it the intention of the network to become a para-church or supra-professional organisation divorced from the worshipping life of Christians in their ordinary locations. > Click here for the story of Christians in Media.         © ChurchAds.Net A Registered Charity No. 1096868