It all started with building a 12-month strategy.

The creation of Green Hills Brand Standard. This is where the team dug deep. They analyzed competitors, estimated their traffic, and pulled data. They looked at the messaging and what they were saying to customers. They built personas, which are fictional, but a real account of the ideal customer. Tom and his team already had an idea of who their customer was, but once they walked through the persona exercise, they uncover what pressures the customer feels, their emotional state, and triggers that would move them to action. 

This led to the creation of a new logo. The new logo was a in line with his vision as a modern, premier brand. Of course, the logo is just a small part of the overall brand and digital footprint. 

Over time, the company had different people create social media accounts and landing pages. Much of it was redundant, and out of date, containing wrong information. The result left potential customers confused and didn’t give them the comfort level they needed to make a burial decision. 

Now it was time to clean up the website and social media channels. It started with clarifying their message targeting their ideal customer, their persona. Once messaging was nailed down, it was time to unify the message through all digital platforms. The website was revamped.  Old accounts were deleted and streamlined.  The team created a content calendar to regularly post on-brand messages and fed the website with topical content people were looking for. 

New tools were added to the website. Tools like the ability to take a 360-degree virtual tour, a pre-planning guide, and a video that communicates the new Green Hills experience. 

One of the details that was uncovered during the persona exercise was when people are searching for a funeral home, they are in a grieving state and may not want to talk on the phone. For that reason, Atlas Rose added the ability to schedule appointments completely online. It didn’t require a ton of work, but it made a big difference to our customers.

The next step was to work on the customer experience. We brought sophistication to their operations so they could deliver a consistent customer experience, every time. Processes and automations now deliver timely and sensitive communications. The last thing Tom wanted was to complicate things for customers while they were dealing with grief. 

Then COVID hit. The state of California declared that there would be no gatherings – including memorial services for loved ones. As deaths from COVID and other natural causes mounted, family members were denied traditional grieving. 

We knew we had to do something. Not being able to say goodbye one final time was a cruel reality and unhealthy for mental health. That’s when they had an idea: Even though family members couldn’t enter the grounds, they could walk outside along the fence. 

Sometimes marketing is more than just about business.  The Green Ribbon campaign was born out of the idea of helping families grieve. Family members were given green ribbons to tie along the fence signifying the loss of a loved one. It was a beautiful gesture that sparked a movement (#greenribbonmovement) across the entire country. It all started at Green Hills Memorial and it’s one of the marketing team’s proudest accomplishments. 

The Green Ribbon campaign was so successful, it opened up doors to create another healing resource … the H2O Hope Campaign. Noticing that suicides by young people were reaching unprecedented levels, Tom and Atlas Rose stepped up again creating the H2O Hope campaign. Its purpose is to introduce adolescents to the healing powers of water through sailing, paddleboarding, and surfing. Parents will be educated on how to spot a troubled youth and where to reach out for help. The campaign launchdc in the fall of 2021.

The Results