Death isn’t a subject often associated with levity, but a Perth business is benefiting from taking a lighter approach to the end of life.
Death isn’t a subject often associated with levity, but a Perth business is benefiting from taking a lighter approach to the end of life.
Seasons Funeral Group handled more than 1,000 funerals in the 2012-13 financial year – a 10 per cent increase on the previous 12 months.
However it wasn’t just a simple numbers issue, as might be expected. Despite the state’s growing population, the state’s death rate has been on a slow decline for a decade, with the standardised death rate falling from 6.9 deaths per 1,000 people to 5.6 since the early 2000s, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures.
Instead, Seasons’ general manager Erin Erceg told Business News, the growth was proof the company’s unique approach of using humour to sell funerals and being more innovative in the services it delivers was being well received.
The company began using humour in an advertising campaign for its Just Cremations subsidiary last year, and has continued to reinforce its market position as a less-than-traditional funeral provider.
That’s included delivering funerals catered to the specific individual whose life is being celebrated – such as a Star Wars themed service for a die-hard fan.
“Everybody knows that death comes to us all and humour is a way of making it easier to talk about,” Ms Erceg said.
“I think people want something different from funeral directors; they want us to reach out to them and have a real conversation about what a funeral service means to them and how it can be personalised … they don’t want a cookie cutter approach.”
The business’s positive outlook has it in a position where it needs more staff, and it has launched a recruitment campaign in similar humorous vein – with advertisements taking a decidedly tongue-in-cheek approach to attracting staff.
Ms Erceg said while the ads were intended to appeal to people who may not have considered a career in the funeral industry, it was a hard sell nevertheless, especially because of the salary disparity with other sectors.
“(The campaign) shows that we are real people; we’re not behind a screen and dark and gloomy. We’re real people and we can connect on a real level,” Ms Erceg said.
Ms Erceg’s father, Steve, founded Seasons in 1990; the business has since grown to capture about one third of the Perth metropolitan market. It now has about 50 staff and is hoping to add a further five to 10 with the current recruitment campaign.
Ms Erceg starting out in the industry on a casual basis.
Now, three of Mr Erceg’s four daughters work at Seasons.
Ms Erceg said it was that strong family basis that gave Seasons its identity and could help attract new staff.
