The value of ‘local’ in times of uncertainty

As with all sectors, the funeral director market has become increasingly price focused. With so many tools to quickly search for the lowest price, the value of the service that Dignity provides was becoming overlooked by customers who, more often than not, are in a distressed state when searching for a provider and looking for a quick resolution.

The challenge was to raise awareness of local Dignity funeral directors, and re-establish them as part of the community and the first choice for local people. This would position them in direct opposition to more ‘mercenary’ brands which focused purely on price: choosing Dignity would ensure loved ones would receive the send off they deserved at an affordable price.

However, we needed to make sure that this approach would work for all locations, creating a consistent (and easy to manage) format, but with comms which felt individually produced for a local audience.

As a test case, Dignity asked We Are Acuity to look at a campaign targeting three separate areas of Leicester: central Leicester (12 branches), Loughborough (three branches) and Hinckley with just one branch.

Research showed that ‘fit’ can often be a deciding factor when searching for funeral services, not just price. This insight justified our decision to champion ‘local’ fit rather than price, but we also were aware that there would still be people who would just be looking at costs.

To tackle this, and ensure that this potential group of customers didn’t exclude Dignity from their decision-making, we leveraged one of Dignity’s other brands, Simplicity Cremations. Where Dignity focuses on service, Simplicity is a more price-driven alternative that strips away the unnecessary flourishes to keep costs low, but retain a high level of sensitivity and care.

With buy-in from the client, we also included the Simplicity logo on this Dignity-focused campaign, something that had never been tried before. Our thinking was that if a prospective face-to-face customer was focused purely on cost, then the funeral director could switch seamlessly to the Simplicity services, retaining the halo effect of the Dignity level of attention, but with the benefit of cheaper prices. Alternatively, if the customer was researching on his or her own, the Simplicity logo acted as a signpost to cheaper prices, without losing the business to a competitor.