Marketing

Every so often, however, a news cycle occurs that puts funeral directors in the spotlight for the right reasons. Over the past few months, we noticed an increase in thought-provoking and balanced articles that study the important qualities one must possess in order to work in funeral service or examine how death care is evolving.

Rick Carrillo recently spoke with Marilyn Jones Gould, president of MKJ Marketing, to share his experiences as a first-generation funeral director and why serving his community has always been his dream.

With over 40 years of consolidation, many independent funeral businesses find themselves with a collection of brand names. Certainly, when making an acquisition, the inclination is to keep the acquired firm’s name — after all they were a successful business, and you paid a lot for it, so why make a change that could undermine the firm’s reputation in the community?

The introduction and growing popularity of e-commerce cremation arrangements have raised the question and discussion of cannibalization within the funeral profession. Many are wondering: “Will families that would have paid the funeral home’s traditional pricing for cremation opt instead for their online offering?”

The series, published on both Facebook and YouTube, highlights funeral homes across the country whose owners take interesting or innovative approaches to their businesses.

By Glenn Gould, CEO of MKJ Marketing Before we start, let’s get into a little history. 

Throughout his years in the industry, Paul St. Pierre has become well versed in the art of managing multiple brands. Here's a look at the lessons he has learned along the way.

Television is one of the most powerful branding tools, especially when it’s used in conjunction with an overall marketing strategy. But there’s a new element to TV advertising you might not understand or know about yet — and it’s more efficient and less costly.

Advertisers often use shock value and humor as their chosen methods of captivating an audience. However, there are some areas of life where humor and shock value are not as readily accepted, including funeral services and funeral advertising.

Based upon research studies conducted by MKJ Marketing over four decades, 80% of consumers consider all funeral homes to be the same. Why? How can 15,000 independent and corporate funeral facilities be so similar that 80% of consumers cannot differentiate one from the other?