Case Study: "We Are Coronado" Brand Story

In December 2016, Oxenfree had the opportunity to create a cinematic Brand Story for the Coronado Community United Methodist Church in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Over the weeks of Pre-Production, we embedded ourselves into the church to better understand its congregation, outreach, and values.

What makes this church different than all others?

Short answer: Community.

This is a Community United Methodist Church. For the video concept, we focused on a congregation made up of every day people. No one is perfect. Everyone is welcome.

Their tagline "The Church Has Left The Building" gave our story structure as we focus on the church, its congregation, and the various ministries outside the church grounds. Each ministry is an extension of Coronado and their community as they reach out and welcome all people.

We start off by introducing the name and the church itself. The church is empty at first, really emphasizing the sanctuary without people.

Once we introduce community in the voiceover, we see people: individuals standing in environments that define them, showcasing that they are just everyday people just like the viewer.

Then we are back in the sanctuary, but this time it is filled with people worshiping. The camera pulls back out the open doors as they close behind us. Our ministry extends outside the doors of the church.

We then rapidly see images representing the many ministries of the church, emphasizing that these, too are “Coronado.” The ministry images build and build to the voiceover expressing that “The church has left the building.”

The doors of the church once again open, but this time, the congregation pours out, happy and ready to serve and share God’s love.

The church has left the building.

The result was a Brand Story that struck at the heart and core of Coronado UMC's messaging, a single video perfectly captures their community spirit.

A 40-second teaser of "We Are Coronado" premiered at CCUMC's Christmas Eve service in 2016, while the full 90-second edit premiered on Tithe Sunday in early 2017.

The Brand Story continues to be used in services & various outreach efforts.

CLIENT TESTIMONY

"Oxenfree produced our church video and I will admit, I was hesitant going in because we were starting at ground zero with little to no materials to supply. Ben and his team not only made the process easy, but they immediately captured the personality of the congregation and the message we wanted to portray. If you have the opportunity to work with them... don't hesitate."

-Amy Nowell, Communications Coordinator