The Audience

Disney had a $180 million film. But they understood something money couldn't buy.

An audience.

Not simply people who might purchase a ticket. People who already loved the story, understood its deeper meaning, and belonged to communities where that story was alive.

In 2005, I received an invitation from Paul Lauer of Motive Entertainment to work on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Our assignment was to help connect C. S. Lewis's extraordinary story with faith-based audiences.

I developed gathering resources for youth and young adults, including a kind of passport into Narnia, helping existing leaders bring the film's themes into conversations they were already having.

What impressed me wasn't merely the scale of the production.

It was the humility of the strategy.

Here was Disney, one of the world's most formidable entertainment companies, recognizing that even extraordinary creative resources couldn't substitute for something essential:

Relationships. Trust. Community.

We weren't trying to manufacture an audience.

We were seeking to understand and serve one that already existed.

The film ultimately earned approximately $745 million worldwide.

Of course, no single outreach initiative can claim that success. Extraordinary filmmaking, a beloved literary property, distribution, advertising, and countless contributors all played their parts.

But the experience crystallized something I've carried into nearly every mission and organization I've served since.

The best audience strategy doesn't begin by asking people to enter your world. It begins by understanding the world they're already in.

What do they care about?

Who do they trust?

Where do they already gather?

What are they trying to accomplish?

And how might what you're offering become a genuine gift to them?

I've seen organizations invest substantial resources building beautiful websites, producing compelling content, and launching ambitious campaigns, only to wonder why people aren't responding.

Sometimes the missing ingredient isn't a bigger budget or a louder message.

It's a deeper understanding of the people they're hoping to reach.

And a willingness to meet them where they are.

Because the most powerful communication doesn't merely capture attention.

It creates a meaningful connection between what you have to offer and what someone already values.

That's when promotion begins to become participation.

And an audience becomes something far more consequential than a collection of impressions.

A community.