Selling Death Can Be Tricky

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My brother’s whole family are funeral directors, morticians.  They asked me for some advice on how to spend their advertising budget. You can guess what I blurted out of my mouth, “Billboard Advertising!” an “annual program all the better.”

Look, no one likes to be reminded they are going to die. 

Ha!  What did they think I was going to say, I sell billboard ads.  I did go on to explain, “If you do it right, you’ll get tons of impressions, but the creative you do for your funeral home must also make a favorable impression.”  It is not just that thousands of people who drive by the billboard each day.  The Oxford dictionary’s definition of an Impression is: “An idea, feeling or opinion about something or someone, specially formed without conscious thought.”  What you want are thousands of people who have gotten a good vibe when seeing your billboard creative.

Look, no one likes to be reminded they are going to die.  

We thought about humanizing their funeral homes.  The idea was simple, during the difficult time of death, one should know who was there with you. Instead of having the same creative up all year round that might get a bit tired and boring, we decided to add a slight tweak by using an old billboard trick. The SNIPE ! We attached seasonal headgear every few months with some lighthearted attention.  It worked!  The billboard remained a focus and locals even began to talk about it.  What’s next, they wanted to know.

In a land of ice fishing huts, snowmobiles, white-tailed deer, and 10,000 lakes, wearing fishing and hunting hats are common sights as are many other sporting and local hats that speak volumes of the community my brother’s family are a part of.

The photos of the billboard and the seasonal changes have a life of their own too.  They have been shared and sent out throughout their community.  I believe your clients want the same success.   So look, creativity is not a one-and-done process.  Being creative is about telling a story with a few words and a lot of charm.  It’s about communicating your vision to your customer so they buy in and it’s your responsibility to help them share their success with others.  It will serve you well in life!  We at FotoFetch love helping you succeed in astounding ways.

by Steve Lind, Chief Evangelist
Steve@FotoFetch.com
425-749-4434  ext. 104
206-409-2647 Cell
FotoFetch.com