St. Gabriel Radio car bumper magnets are one of the most recognized bumper magnets in Columbus. For central Ohio drivers, it is not uncommon to see an AM 820 magnet at a stop light, while cruising on the freeway or in a parking lot.
And while the bumper magnet is turning heads, it is also changing hearts.
Since St. Gabriel Radio acquired the wide-reaching AM 820 station in 2011, it has printed more than 80,000 bumper magnets that have attracted new listeners and inspired countless stories of faith.
The AM 820 signal reaches more than 4 million souls in Ohio. While mainly broadcasting in central Ohio, the signal extends to the northern and western edges of the state and south to Chillicothe.
The station boasts many reasons for placing an AM 820 bumper magnet on a car: “Because you believe that where there is a wheel there is a way,” “because you don’t want anyone’s karma running over your dogma,” “because you couldn’t afford those cool neon lights and the flashing, spinning hub caps.”
Other humorous reasons include: “It lets tailgaters back off or risk the wrath of God” and “to prove that you are the brightest bead on the rosary.”
Humor aside, St. Gabriel Radio said “the number one reason to display an AM 820 bumper magnet on your car is because most first-time listeners found out about St. Gabriel Radio by seeing a bumper magnet on the car in front of them.”
For Heather MacKinnon, a parishioner at Columbus Immaculate Conception Church, that was the case.
“I’m in love with the Lord and the Catholic faith. It’s all because one day I listened to St. Gabriel Radio on my commute to work,” she said.
MacKinnon began listening to the station about five years ago.
“Every time I pulled into the parish parking lot, I saw cars with the AM 820 bumper magnet,” she recalled. Her parish’s pastor, Father Matt Hoover, challenged the congregation to listen to the Catholic radio station.
The results proved colossal: MacKinnon developed a deep prayer life, a relationship with Jesus, an understanding of the power of Eucharistic Adoration and the “why” behind her profession of the Catholic faith. Listening on her morning commute led to nightly devotions with her son.
St. Gabriel Radio is an affiliate of Eternal World Television Network (EWTN). EWTN Catholic Radio platforms include worldwide shortwave radio, direct broadcast satellite, programming transmitted through SIRIUS/XM, iHeart Radio and 500 domestic and international radio affiliates.
EWTN affiliates are lay-owned and grassroots movements that buy radio stations. They provide EWTN programs with added local news, information and content. Affiliates developed an idea for bumper magnets to create awareness in local communities.
St. Gabriel Radio learned about the marketing approach and printed a handful of magnets with its first station, AM 1270, based in Marysville, which began broadcasting in 2005.
In 2008 the station acquired AM 1580 and the next year relocated to its current office in Columbus. St. Gabriel printed and distributed a multitude of bumper magnets.
“Since most people listen to the radio in their cars, why not advertise where people are most likely to tune in?” explained Bill Messerly, executive director of St. Gabriel Radio.
In 2011, the station acquired AM 820. St. Gabriel intensified its focus on distributing bumper magnets.
The station now offers magnets and bumper and window stickers. The station also has magnets for its two FM satellite stations: FM 88.3 in Portsmouth and FM 106.7 in Athens.
Marketing of the magnets and stickers has also evolved.
With its first station, 1270 AM in Marysville, magnets consisted of a white background with “Catholic Radio 1270 AM” in large red letters. The 1580 AM magnet similarly included a white background and “Catholic Radio 1580 AM” but with blue lettering.
With the AM 820 station, St. Gabriel Radio created a new design for an “AM 820 Catholic Radio” bumper magnet. The magnet has had three variations: squared corners, rounded corners, and most recently, a more ovular shaped magnet.
The first two variations of the AM 820 magnet featured “STGABRIELRADIO.COM” in the bottom right corner. The newest design replaces the website with its geographical location, “Central Ohio,” in the bottom center of the magnet. Each magnet includes the station’s logo.
The logo was designed by Matt Pasternak. It was implemented in 2011 when St. Gabriel Radio launched its flagship station, AM 820.
The design includes three segments and strokes in gold signifying the Trinity. A water drop symbolizes baptism in Christ. A tongue of fire represents the Holy Spirit, present in the Sacrament of Confirmation, and the world on fire.
An outline of a fish is included in the center blank space. The fish represents the faithful’s call to be fishers of men.
The station features an on-air campaign encouraging listeners to place an AM 820 magnet on their car.
Like MacKinnon, Father PJ Brandimarti, pastor at Johnstown Church of the Ascension, started listening because of the magnet.
Prior to being ordained a priest, he worked in retail and consumer electronics with Sony and Motorola. As manager of an Ohio territory, he spent at least four hours a day driving to Cambridge, Dayton, Chillicothe, Mansfield and cities in between.
“I kept seeing those bumper magnets on cars,” he said. “The St. Gabriel Radio signal constantly popped up on my car radio.”
Father Brandimarti began listening during his drives. He planned his day around certain programs that were broadcast from the station. “St. Gabriel Radio became the only channel I listened to,” he said.
Angel Fox also noticed the bumper magnet while driving.
“Some years ago, AM 820 bumper magnets started jumping out at me as I drove around town,” she recalled.
Fox said her reaction was along the lines of, “Oh, it’s that radio,” when she realized it was the Catholic radio. Tuning in led to her involvement in the Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference and Westerville St. Paul the Apostle Church.
She and her husband, John, became more involved in their parish: serving on a parish advisory council, coordinating parish events and attending Adoration at nearby Sunbury St. John Neumann Church.
It could be considered surprising that a small magnet has power to bring hearts closer to Christ. It might demonstrate the impact of evangelizing through a bumper magnet, and God can do a lot with a little.
As the radio station likes to say, “where there is a wheel, there is a way.”