Behind the Scenes on our TV Advert

In January 2025, Spring Harvest aired its first-ever TV advert on Sky.

This 30-second piece was filmed and produced by the team from Fruitmedia, with the aim of reaching out to those who may have attended Spring Harvest in the past and needed a reminder that we are still going strong! It won't surprise you that church goers also watch the TV - so to reach people who may have fallen away from regular church going was the reason we took this step of faith. The concept, “It’s Church, but not as you know it,” was designed to challenge perceptions and trigger curiosity in Jesus.

The work was carefully storyboarded by Thom Popejoy, our Head of Marketing and Digital Transformation at Essential Christian (the charity overseeing Spring Harvest), along with Anthony Jones from Fruitmedia who directed the advert. Plans were made, and permissions were obtained from Butlin’s to incorporate drone footage of their new play area. We also identified a family to feature in the advert who did a wonderful job!. Fruitmedia’s own drone captured stunning shots of the Minehead site too and after several drafts and edits, the final advert was ready for broadcast.

Getting the advert onto TV required submission to a compliance company to ensure it adhered to broadcasting regulations, particularly those related to religious organisations. One key discovery during this process was that faith-based adverts are not always permitted to appear near children’s programming. Similarly the content has to be within the regulations too. Additionally, the compliance team raised various questions about our beliefs and practices, reflecting the mainstream world’s current level of skepticism toward faith-based organisations. However, our team graciously navigated these challenges working with the Evangelical Alliance too who helped in providing clear responses and together addressing any perceived concerns.

The advert aired across Sky channels in January 2025, with 184 slots ensuring a potential reach of hundreds of thousands of viewers. Comments on social media showed that the advert resonated with people, encouraging and exciting us as we saw its impact.

This same advert was also used on social platforms Instagram, Facebook and X - to increase awareness about Spring Harvest. Alongside this, you might have seen it on TBNUK too, a Christian TV channel. So this was well worth the effort it took, where one piece of content, was able to be used over many different platforms and audiences to reach thousands of people. By carefully selecting the month we picked to air it, which worked for us, we were also able to make it more affordable and reach an exponentially higher number of people.

This project showcased the strength of our long-standing relationship with Fruitmedia, who took our vision and worked collaboratively with the Spring Harvest team to deliver something exceptional. It’s all part of our strategy to position Spring Harvest as more than just an annual event—it’s a 365-day-a-year ministry that equips and inspires the church.

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