Reach out and touch faith
A love letter (in the form of a creative brief) to the lyrics of Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode
CREATIVE BRIEFING FORM
THIS IS OUR AGENCY’S CREATIVE BRIEF TEMPLATE.
PLEASE USE IT WHEN BRIEFING A CREATIVE TEAM ON A PROJECT. PLEASE FILL IN ALL SECTIONS.
AT THIS AGENCY WE PRIZE NEW IDEAS. THIS DOCUMENT IS THE BEST CHANCE WE HAVE OF MAKING THEM.
SO BE THOROUGH. BE SUCCINCT. BE BOLD.
WE INVITE YOU TO THINK THE UNTHINKABLE.
WHO IS THIS BRIEF FOR? (Please use information for our records)
CLIENT: INTEGRATED EVANGELISTS OF AMERICA
PROJECT NAME: Operation Direct Access (code name from the client)
BRIEF CATEGORY: Creative/Open — client says they want radical ideas
START DATE: ASAP
Why are we communicating at all?
[Provide a succinct description of the client’s current business situation and the problems that communication needs to overcome.]
Christianity is in decline.
Or, to put it another way, America isn’t God-fearing any more.
Time was in this country everybody knew their pastor and everyone knew their place and it was all just as God intended it. The world was handed down to us righteous souls just like God handed down the Ten Commandments to Moses and the Founding Fathers handed down their vision for this great country. Together they made us a people safe from persecution. A nation guided in its way of life by the Bible and by the Constitution and by the promise of everything that comes with being an American citizen.
But things are different now. The old ways are disappearing. According to Pew, in 2019, 65% of Americans identifed as Christians. Ten years before that it was 77%. We’ve gone from three quarters market share to two thirds in a decade.
Footfall’s down as well. We’re at a crossroads. In 2007, 54% of adults said they attended religious services monthly or more often; now it’s 45%. Those who only attend a few times a year has gone in the opposite direction, from 45% to 54%.
God is receding from view. Change has come to America and it doesn’t look good. You can see it in every Sunday’s headcount.
And why?
Because liberals hate the things we love. They undermine our culture at every turn. They disgrace our preachers, the very people we look up to and who in turn guide us on our path. Make up all kinds of scandals. Discredit them too. As if our leaders would keep for themselves the money God-fearing folk send so they can spread the word.
Those people don’t understand our traditional values, they don’t understand what it means to spread the word and they don’t understand that a church should be worthy of God. Worship requires splendour.
And besides, why shouldn’t followers affirm their faith the best way they know how? Why shouldn’t they signal, to their Lord and the community they care for, just how much they love Jesus Christ? You spend money on clothes, cars, food — none of which these people — this country — really needs to survive. They’re luxuries compared to loving gaze of our savior. Why on earth should someone curtail their right to free speech, in America of all places — America — and deny the belief they hold most strongly and which sustains them most of all? The power which they hold to be self-evident. The power and the glory of their Lord God Jesus Christ.
We are communicating to arrest this decline and to remind people of their right to that particularly devout form of free speech.
What is the communication trying to achieve?
[Here define the objectives, but only those that communications can affect.]
We need a larger share of a dwindling market. The collection plate won’t cut it anymore and anyway it doesn’t scale. We need new revenue streams befitting a modern church. Traditional values doesn’t have to equal traditional forms of generating value. In this connected, always-on world we can’t afford to get left behind.
And we know the money’s out there — attendance may be down, but fervour isn’t. You only have to look at some of our competitors to know that those with faith are still prepared to show it in the only way that really counts.
But we know we can’t compete with those guys. We don’t have the TV reach or the clout to sign a celebrity pastor. And besides, we’re not sure that would be the right approach. The liberals have tainted them now. We need a new way to be relevant.
If we want transactions, we need an emotional connection.
Because, really, when people go to church, what is it they want? They want to commune, not with the pastor, but God Himself. Our consumers want that direct connection. It’s the idea the Protestant church is founded on and it’s an idea the faithful should still feel entitled to today.
We want people to feel closer to God, through us. We want people to feel they have the Lord on speed dial. Wherever they are in life, we want people to feel hope. That there is salvation the other side of a phone call. That the end of the line isn’t the end of the line.
Consumers should:
Think: Sure, I’ll TAKE SECOND BEST.
Feel: A BELIEVER
Do: PUT US TO THE TEST and LIFT UP THE RECEIVER
Who are we talking to?
[Provide focus, if not inspiration. Define as precisely as possible the group that needs to be addressed by the communication.]
Anybody across this great country who wants to talk to God.
People who can’t wait till Sunday. People who can’t get to see their pastor. People who are sad. People who are alone. People who fear the world is changing around them and need something to cling to. People who make mistakes like everyone does but have through years of schooling and sermons and righteous news channels been made to call it sin. People carrying guilt.
People to whom we can say, you have THINGS ON YOUR CHEST YOU NEED TO CONFESS.
What do we know about them?
[Provide an understanding of the target’s lives and minds, of what makes these people tick. Help the creatives relate to them.]
They are everywhere.
As in, widely distributed, and in every place you might care to look. They’re Main St not Wall St, as if that needed saying. Every town, every county, pretty much every state. Think of them as a congregation that can’t see each other. But we see them, and they want to see us.
They are lonely.
In fact, the more remote the better. Their kids are grown up and gone, off to college and at Christmas there’s the distinct sense they’re being looked down on. Their grandkids live in Brooklyn and SF and Austin and don’t come home that much. When they were young parents they’d coo Carole King doesn’t anybody live in one place anymore and it’s only got worse since then. It’s scary how much the world has moved on and on bad days it seems everything they knew is in danger of disappearing.
They are desperate to believe.
They contort themselves. They’re American idealogues who reject identity politics. Their faith in the constitution is matched only by their faith in God and their ability to forget separation of Church and State. They forgive murderers in the name of free speech, sexual violence in the name of celebrity, death in the name of life, fascism in the name of balance. They are creationism and war on Christmas and good ole days and both sides and all lives matter and drain the swamp and coastal elites and socialism and opioids and fear and regret and FEELING UNKNOWN AND YOU’RE ALL ALONE and FLESH AND BONE BY THE TELEPHONE and all they want is validation and to know that it’s OK and someone who cares and SOMEONE WHO’S THERE and SOMEONE TO HEAR YOU’RE PRAYERS.
They want to belong.
What’s the main idea we need to communicate?
[Should encapsulate everything in the brief. Focus not on what to say but the message that people should take away. In a single sentence if possible.]
That we can save them. That we are the wish that comes true. That the wait is over. That the hereafter is in the here and now. That we are faith made manifest. That all their hopes and dreams and fears and guilt and regret and leftover love can all be pointed at one place. Invested in one man. Purchased with one simple transaction. That their eyes will open and it will be as if they can talk directly with God. That they hear Him say I WILL DELIVER. That they hear Him say I’M A FORGIVER. That they can…
REACH OUT AND TOUCH FAITH!
What is the best way of planting that idea?
[The how to build on the what. Give suggestions to the creative team on how it could come to life.]
YOUR OWN. PERSONAL. JESUS.
A premium rate helpline that lost souls can call any hour of the day.
- If you’re worried, call.
- If you need forgiveness, call.
- If you just want someone to talk to because the world isn’t yours anymore or even safe and though it’s just a feeling you’re convinced dark forces are at work and the feeling is enough that it threatens life as you know it and you need to feel justified in all this, call.
This mood film might help bring it to life.
How do we know we’re right?
[If there is evidence, refer to it here.]
We know that religion, despite being personal, is neither private nor fixed. 42% of Americans have switched religions and 1 in 5 Americans share their faith online.
We know faith is a vote-winner. Christians make up 92% of members of Congress, and while 23% of Americans are religiously unaffiliated, only one member of Congress is. And if you worship regularly, you’re more likely to vote Republican. Representing conservative values for an audience of lost souls is a succesful strategy.
And the thing we know above all else is, America loves a demagogue. From talk radio to televangelists to the White House, this nation puts its trust, faith and money in any red right hand that happens to be passing. In a world of prosperity-gospel and commercialised values, asking for money to validate an audience lost souls isn’t just permissible, it’s expected. Like Barnum said, “the best kind of charity is to help those who are willing to help themselves.” We help ourvelves by helping others.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? (For the account team to fill in)
TIME AVAILABLE FOR CREATIVES TO RESPOND: 1 week
DATE OF CLIENT PRESENTATION: 3 weeks
OTHER DEPARTMENTS NEEDED: Tech, CRM, Media. We’ll need Legal involved — worth flagging this is coming.
ANY OTHER COMMENTS: Lots of people looking at this. High-powered individuals too. The stakes are pretty high for the client so let’s give this our best shot.
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