I didn’t think I’d find another Christmas video from a church this year that I would fall in love with. But I think this one’s so good on so many levels. If you missed last year’s Christmas video from the team at Discovery Church here in Melbourne you can watch it here.
St Thomas Church from Norwich, England have created a beautiful Christmas video on a shoestring budget. It is a parody on John Lewis Christmas TV advert (large store from the United Kingdom). Ian Dyble said “We use social media quite a lot so we use Facebook and Twitter for all sorts of things to get the message out, we find it really effective. The younger generation are engaging in that way and we’re really keen to pass that great message we have on. I think we have the greatest message in the world and if we can do that through social media all the better”.
It proves to me that a good story trumps technique all day long, even if they can’t match John Lewis million dollar budget. Here are some of the reasons I love it:
1. It’s Real
Lovely casting and feels very British yet not over stylised. It also points to the reason for the season without feeling like being hit over the head with a bible.
2. Budget friendly
It was obviously done on a shoestring budget even using the props from their Sunday school. Using the existing music bed from the John Lewis advert gives it strong link to the original ad, yet despite not having the same budget as John Lewis the production crew have done a solid job of having a good at giving it a similar feel (minus the CGI).
3. It’s Social
Yes the video even has a hashtag, #TommyTheTiger. Well played.
4. Increased public profile
It is for this reason I give it my vote. The big winner for this video is the fact that it has made it into the national mainstream news in England which is fantastic free publicity for a small church in a regional city. Ian if you ever read this blog, I’d love to know the story on how it got there!
Your Turn
What Christmas videos have you seen that you would use? Drop a link or a comment below and share the love around this Christmas season.
