Industry
The Buch Family of Funeral Homes, Inc., includes three funeral homes in Lancaster County. They offer traditional to contemporary funerals, cremation and memorial services. With a solid reputation, this local business takes pride in serving the surrounding community.
Marketing Challenge
The traditional approach to marketing funeral homes typically featured somber photos of dark-suited funeral directors who promised “compassion and caring.” Buch Funeral Home wanted to move away from this dated approach to convey a different message — one that clearly establishes how the expertise of their licensed funeral directors, and their willingness to take the time to listen to the family’s needs, makes a difference.
Marketing Strategy
- BRAND RECOGNITION
- The AdAbility Marketing Communications creative team began with a thorough analysis to better understand the services Buch provided and how they impact client families. The process revealed a number of significant findings. The first was that providing helpful information about options and planning was critical to assisting families in their decision making. Secondly, that personal connections and memories shared at funeral services were vital to the grief process for survivors.
- Based on these findings, AdAbility created a multi-dimensional campaign that provided continuity and brand recognition of “The Buch Family of Funeral Homes.” The focus of the campaign is to encourage families to discuss pre-planning and to emphasize the importance of remembering a loved one in a meaningful way. The creative concept was applied to the funeral home’s collateral, billboards, print, broadcast and online advertising.
- In 2016, Buch added a new location to their family of funeral homes. The Buch Funeral Home and Cremation Services Inc. in Lititz, PA became the third location for Buch. The challenge for AdAbility was finding a way to bring the new location into the Buch Family despite the location’s established reputation as another funeral home in the area.
- ONLINE MARKETING
- Technology and changes in how consumers get their information has had a huge impact on funeral service. The decline of newspaper readership has eroded the reach of print-based obituaries. AdAbility developed a new website for Buch, along with an electronic newsletter and social media strategy that included a Facebook page where information and obituaries could be shared to better reach the families they serve.