WHY WE MUST KEEP IN TOUCH WITH TECH: Part I
New electronic “transformation” for NRB
Earlier this year the U.S. Census Bureau released its new statistical abstract. In the study it was revealed that the average adult or teen, out of the entire year of 2007, will spend his or her time as follows: 65 days watching television; 41 days listening to radio; over a week on the Internet; and one week reading newspapers. That means that close to one-third of this entire year Americans will be spending their time exposed to electronic media. Nielson Media Research reports that the average American watched four hours and 35 minutes of television each day; U.S. households (as a whole) experienced nearly 8.25 hours a day. Why must we keep up with tech? Among many other reasons, we must because all of us who are involved in Christian broadcasting (even those of us who groan and wring our hands at every new piece of computer software we have to learn to use) are competing with the secular media giants, who are vying for the attention of the American public. We have the most important message known to mankind: the saving power of Jesus Christ as revealed in the written Word of God. We simply cannot afford to stand still while the tsunami of media innovation sweeps over us.
Can we keep up with all of it? Probably not, but, like so many other life avenues and endeavors, the answer lies in knowing where to focus our attention and how to isolate those issues that are truly important as opposed to those that merely purport to be “urgent” and cry the loudest for our attention. Jack Myers, an Internet & media think tank type, recently opined that, on average, about 10% of folks in the media industry are actively engaged in “innovation,” while about 90% of the rest spend almost all of their time protecting the operational and audience territories that we have been able to gain. There is a kind of intuitive truth to those kinds of numbers and it reflects a ground-zero reality: to be good stewards of the ministries the Lord has given us requires both constant vigilance and good management. As a result, technical innovation often becomes a luxury. But, how about allocating just 10% of our development and research time each year to keeping up with the rapidly changing technology landscape?
There are a few trends in particular that we all ought to be thinking about in our ministries, praying over, and planning for. Take one of the popular examples that quite a number of media pundits are talking about: “User generated content” (UGC). Simply stated, it means a website that allows for and receives content generated by the viewer/user and is then posted on the site. The YouTube example (where two young web-video entrepreneurs became billionaires by selling their user generated content website to Google) is important because it combines UGC with the new emphasis on video as a form of “information” (or, in the case of YouTube, more like mindless entertainment). Do we, as Christian broadcasters, want to rethink how we are (or should be) encouraging UGC? And in some ways, aren’t we already doing that in radio talk shows with a call-in component, on our websites if we have blogs, etc.? But if we do television, do we want to start taking calls from folks with web-cams to increase the amount of audience interaction?
These are the kinds of issues we will have to face and conquer. NRB is proud to stand by you and encourage your investment in “innovation.” At this year’s NRB Convention & Exposition in Orlando we presented more tech-oriented labs and seminars than ever before. In our February/March (Convention) issue of NRB magazine, Joe Dysart had a great article on creating web video, and there were other articles that, hopefully, helped you to imagine how your media ministry can be more creative for the cause of Christ. The future is rushing to us. Strategic planning can help us to face this daunting technology tide and put us on top of the wave rather than under it.
WHY WE MUST KEEP IN TOUCH WITH TECH: Part 2
New electronic “transformation” for NRB
Some trends are nothing more than temporary blips on the social landscape, or anomalies that looked wonderful at conception only to be proven later as fatally flawed in the long term. But, the trend toward imparting more and more forms of information digitally, at least from a pragmatic standpoint, is not likely be one of them. The print media has been experiencing this reality. Most major newspapers and magazines have developed online versions of their publications. Numerous ones are now entirely electronic. Some time ago our Executive Committee endorsed an electronic shift for our monthly magazine. President and CEO Dr. Frank Wright has heartily pursued this new direction, seeing the potential for the future of NRB communications as resting in the vast flexibility, speed, and pervasive reach of the electronic format. Except for the pre-convention and convention issues of the print version, NRB magazine will be delivered, in its entirety, electronically.
This transition is already underway and in the fourth quarter of 2007 we expect to launch our new website and unveil our new electronic monthly magazine shortly thereafter - launching it from the website platform. The reasons for this change not only bode well for NRB’s publications, but we believe that it will also give advertisers increased advertising impact, readers more selection and quality, and NRB more exposure. Also, we see some added advantage in the synergy that will exist between the website and the magazine.
Apparently, marketing executives are noticing this electronic trend. While the largest national recipient of ad dollars (some 40%) has been print advertising, it is predicted that print ads will continue to decline while the online share for advertising dollars will grow to 20%, with a 5.8% growth in 2007 alone. But a simple “marketing” approach to what we do strategically, and why we do it, is not enough and there are at least two reasons for that. First, the digital revolution in technology commands respect, and this will transform old marketing strategies. Fred Vogelstein, contributing editor of Wired magazine, notes that Google has surpassed Yahoo because the leadership of Google was technology-based, while Yahoo’s management followed an older, marketing-based strategy. But second, our message – salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ – requires more than clever salesmanship or even technological savvy for that matter. It requires an openness to whole new strategies to creatively and effectively impact the world for Christ. As always, the Word of God says it best: “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do this for the sake of the Gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” (I Corinthians 9:22b – 23)
