Phil Cooke

Phil Cooke is a media consultant^[1] focused mainly on the Christian market, as well as a vocal critic of contemporary American and American-influenced Christian culture. Scott McClellan of Collide magazine wrote, "At times, Cooke may appear to be Christian media’s biggest critic but, as he is quick to point out, he criticizes because he loves."^[2]

He is a long-time producer of nationally known religious and inspirational programming, and has worked for such clients as Billy Graham, Oral Roberts, Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, and Robert Schuller. Cooke produced Billy Graham's most-seen program, Starting Over, which reached around 1.5 billion people in 200 countries in one day.^[3]

Cooke attributes his career path to a movie he made in high school, which he played for his fellow students at Oral Roberts University. When the response was positive, he left his music major behind and got his degree in Film and Television in 1976. He later earned a Master's in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma, and a Doctorate in Theology from Trinity College and Seminary.^[4]

Cooke, along with his wife Kathleen, founded Cooke Pictures in 1991. Cooke is also a partner in TWC Films, which produced two 2008 Super Bowl commercials.^[5]

Cooke is the son of a preacher. He lives in California.

Faith branding

Cooke is known in Christian circles as an advocate of faith branding, encouraging Christian organizations and leaders to change how churches communicate their message in a media-centric world. As Cooke has explained, "Most people have negative connotations when they hear the word 'branding.' They think commercialism, they think capitalism. But the fact is, branding is simply a compelling story around a product or a person or an organization."^[6]

Cooke wrote two books that attempt to explain this concept, Branding Faith: Why Some Churches and Non-Profits Impact Culture and Others Don't, and The Last TV Evangelist: Why the Next Generation Couldn't Care Less About Religious Media and Why It Matters. In The Last TV Evangelist, Cooke argued that scandals and a shift in media consumption has spelled the end for what has been known as "traditional" Christian media.^[7]

The Christian Broadcasting Network quotes him, regarding Christianity in the media, as saying: “We simply have to have a voice in the media. It’s time for the church to take ministry to the next level.”^[8] Cooke's message has been summed up as: "If churches want to be listened to, they need to respond adequately to the new situation, or risk not being heard."^[9] Cooke says that the world is in the greatest transition between two generations of media use, and he posits that the drive behind this shift is that "The Millennial generation wants to have a voice,"^[10] and that it has the technological backing to realize that desire.

One of Cooke's main criticisms of contemporary U.S. "Christian culture" is its lack of creativity. He is firmly against what he describes as the "bubble" that the Christian culture is in, as it is focused on developing its own music, books, and movies that do not engage the culture at large. Cooke explains: "Changing the culture is a gigantic task. It's like the weather....We can't change the weather, but we can rescue people from the storm....We need to connect with that great audience out there so real change can eventually happen."^[11]

In addition to his books, Cooke writes a daily blog, titled The Change Revolution, on the interaction of media and Christian culture, in which he gives criticism as often as praise to people and events in the Christian world.

Jolt! and One Big Thing

In April 2011, Cooke broke away from his focus on Christian media with his book Jolt!: Get the Jump on a World That's Constantly Changing, which deals with how leaders can adapt to the radical changes around them. In discussing the book, Cooke stated: "...change is coming whether we like it or not, and whether we're ready or not. The question that drove me to write Jolt! was - do you know how to see change coming and navigate that change in a positive way?" ^[12] In Jolt!, Cooke argues that having great ideas is not good enough; action must be taken to see creative ideas become successful projects. ^[13]

His upcoming book, One Big Thing: Discovering What You Were Born to Do, also deviates from his previous material on Christian media. The premise of the book is that truly successful people focus on being exceptionally good at one big thing. ^{[14] [15]}

References

Sources

• 700 Club, the; Episode dated June 5 2009
• Ireland, Michael; "Media expert with a theology degree helps Christians hone their message and tell their stories of faith"; Across Pacific Magazine
• Architects and Cooke Pictures partner to deliver the 'branded building'; Church Executive
• Scharia, Jenna; "New Cooke Book"; The Communique, Fall/Winter 2008
• Wegner, Rachel; "Faith, Culture, and Other Mysteries"; ORU Report, Fall 2008