Case Study: "This Is Your Community, United" Brand Story
In 2017, Oxenfree Film & Motion had the opportunity to create a cinematic Brand Story for Community United Methodist Church in Fruitland Park, Florida. Here's the case study.
The pastors of the church had seen the Brand Story we created for Coronado Community UMC and wanted us to design a similar video for their church.
Now, while this was another community church, no two churches are the same.
Over the weeks of Pre-Production, we embedded ourselves into the church to better understand what makes its congregation unique.
What makes a church a community?
Community Church wanted to express the all-inclusive nature of their congregation.
They did not want their church community to feel separated from the greater
community of Fruitland Park as they believe that both communities are one in the same.
Every year, Community Church goes out of its way to give back to its community and have free programs such as pre-school, after school, and adult classes to invite the community into a loving environment outside of a church service.
Like the Coronado Brand Story, we wanted to emphasize that this congregation is made up of a diverse community of everyday people with a passion for missions and helping others.
For the story, we decided to focus on an elderly couple and a young family who, through participating in other activities such as pre-school, adult classes, and the pumpkin patch; are inspired to attend a church service.
This Brand Story was meant to be the pillar of the rebrand of their name, logo, and website and therefore, Oxenfree was tasked with coming up with the brand copy for the video’s voiceover.
We leaned on the mission statement of the church and the United Methodist website to provide our voiceover's structure.
From Community Church’s Website:
Our Mission is to fulfill what Jesus said in Matthew 28:19, “Go therefore and make disciples....” This will include Reaching out to all people, Calling them to a personal commitment to Christ and His Church, Nurturing them along their faith journey, Training them in discipleship, Sending them out in ministry within and beyond the local congregation.
“This is Community United Methodist Church of Fruitland Park.”
“This church is more than just a person in a pew.”
We start by introducing the empty sanctuary of the church, alluding that this congregation is more than an individual in a pew.
"We're a part of something bigger."
Introduce a large group of people as the traditional service congregation welcomes.
“Much bigger.”
Build on the size of group by introducing the Contemporary Service congregation welcoming the audience.
“We're a part of your community."
We pull out from the church to a wide drone shot of Fruitland Park to show the church is already embedded in its large community.
“And our calling reaches beyond these doors.”
The camera pulls out of the sanctuary (where we last saw the congregation) and the bell tolling acts as a visual calling, as does the exit sign "You Are Now Entering The Mission Field."
“We are individuals working to transform the world, starting in this community. They put faith and love into action; connecting all people, serving others, and growing together.”
We see the congregation out in the community, as everyday people, Highlighting them amongst the community. We focus on the helping hands and smiling faces.
Throughout the community montage, we start to see the young family and elderly couple experiencing the church though its outreach ministries.
"In this community, you are valued. You are important. You are loved."
We see the elderly couple and the young family visiting the church for the first time (couple at the traditional service, family at the contemporary service). They are welcomed by the congregation, illustrating the inclusive visitor experience for each service.
“Welcome to Community United Methodist Church of Fruitland Park."
We reveal the Narrator speaking on camera. The camera begin to circle around him until its straight in front of him. As camera moves, the Narrator is replaced with other church members continuing/completing the sentence, allowing us to hear the united congregation members welcoming the community.
The members rapidly switch as they say final line. We see people of many ages, races, and backgrounds unified to form one community. Logo Fades in.
"This is your Community, United."
The result was a Brand Story that struck at the heart and core of Community UMC's messaging, a single video perfectly captures their vast outreach and welcoming community spirit.
The 90-second Brand Story premiered at Community Church’s Rebrand Launch service on Sunday, November 12th, 2017.
The Brand Story continues to be used in services & various outreach efforts as an all-encompassing video of who they are & what they do.
CLIENT TESTIMONY
"Recently worked with Oxenfree to design a branding prvomo for our church. They were easy to work with from start to finish: listening to our vision and helping us to achieve it creatively and on budget in a short amount of time. Would highly recommend!"
-Debbie Allen, Co-Pastor
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