Title	DISRUPTING THE FUNERAL INDUSTRY
Brand	FONUS AS
Product/Service	FUNERAL AGENCY
Category	A09. Launch or re-launch
PR Agency	GEELMUYDEN KIESE Oslo, NORWAY
Production Company	FANTEFILM Oslo, NORWAY
Entrant Company	GEELMUYDEN KIESE Oslo, NORWAY

Name	Company	Position
Christopher Mortensen	Geelmuyden Kiese	Account Director
Eva Sannum	Geelmuyden Kiese	Creative Director
Rune Schanke Eikum	Geelmuyden Kiese	Project Manager
Hansine Korslien	Geelmuyden Kiese	PR Manager
Elle-Beth Skifjeld Lønnestad	Geelmuyden Kiese	Project Co-ordinator
Vidar Singh	Geelmuyden Kiese	Creative Director
Cathleen Røddig Rønning	Geelmuyden Kiese	Art Director
Arne Husøy	Geelmuyden Kiese	Senior advisor strategy
Hanne Hjelmungen Lorvik	Geelmuyden Kiese	PR Co-ordinator
Julie Nord	Geelmuyden Kiese	Art Director
Per Øyvind Weum	Geelmuyden Kiese	Creator
Hugo Hagemann Føsker	Fantefilm	Producer
Andreas Lisberg	Fantefilm	Director

The Campaign

In organizing a funeral, you have to make 50-70 different choices in one single meeting with a stranger – the funeral agent – who is both an advisor, and a seller of expensive services. The traditional funeral agencies resist changes to the current situation as it hugely benefits them. Fonus wanted to position themselves as a clear alternative. We decided upon a bold disruption strategy, launching Norway’s first online funeral webshop - and sparking off an important public debate about the industry practice. We did this by posting a provocative obituary-ad in the biggest online news site in Norway. The ad linked directly to the webshop, and a film that explained the rationale behind the campaign. Intense PR work about the launch followed, and stories that promoted the necessary changes to the funeral industry. As expected, our competitors were silent. But the trade association was furious – and gave us exactly the publicity we wanted, by reporting our campaign to the Ethical Committee of the funeral industry. The complaint, which made national news twice, increased the attention on how Fonus challenged the closed practices of the industry. The intense PR debate put Fonus top of the agenda, and increased traffic to Fonus.no by 465%. Fonus’ online sales percentage surpassed the national online retail average in just two months. Through dedicated communication efforts, we positioned Fonus as the advocate for an open and transparent industry. The agency that promotes freedom of choice, and fights for the rights of the clients.

The Brief

What the customers needed was more transparency, and freedom to choose without the pressure from a funeral agent. By choosing a strategy of transparency, we wanted to win public trust and gain new market shares by disrupting the marketplace. Our main goals for the campaign was: - Reposition Fonus and differentiate clearly from competitors - Increase traffic to Fonus.no and online sales - Establish a strategic platform for future campaigns that promotes freedom to choose.

Execution

Our solution was to kick-start a national debate with a provocative obituary-ad in several big online news sites in Norway, saying “A closed and complex funeral industry passed away on May 4th”. The ad linked to the webshop, and a film that explained the rationale behind the campaign. Following this was intense PR work about the launch - stories and surveys that stated low public confidence in the industry - to explain the need for change. We aimed for the trade association to get furious and jump into the public debate. The association gave us exactly the publicity we wanted, by reporting our campaign to the Ethical Committee of the funeral industry. This caused media to ask us for a “defence speech” which we gladly served: an opportunity to tell our story. Print and online-ads were used the first three weeks of the campaign. The PR-work lasted approximately three months.

Both our targeted material (obituary-ad and print ad) and the PR planned around it increased the interest around fonus.no, and hence the visits to our website. The campaign positioned Fonus as an actor that promotes transparency and freedom of choice. Media: -34 articles in key national media: May - Sept, with a reach of 4,845,144, vs. 0 articles in the same period in 2014. (Norway has 5. mill citizens) -Media reach of 4,845,144, (Norway has only 5 mill citizens) -Strong position in several national as well as the most important regional and local media for Fonus. Fonus.no -Increase in traffic of 465% to Fonus.no in the core campaign period (May) compared with the corresponding period in 2014. -10,969 views of the film on fonus.no May – Sept. -The online sales percentage at Fonus is now 6,6%, and thus surpassed the national average online-retail sales percentage 6%.

The Strategy

Only 1% of the population is in a situation where they need services from a funeral agency. Hence, we needed to create awareness among people in general about the industry. The controversy in launching one of Europe's first webshops for funerals was the key to our PR-story. It materialized what transparency is, and created a possibility to get a high profile public debate. To succeed, we needed to get the traditionalists into the public light. We targeted selected journalists, and directed our media statements against the industry in whole – Fonus included. This way we could get the attention of the trade association, other funeral operators and, most importantly; national media and the public. By getting attention on our main proof for transparency; the webshop, our position as the challenger in the industry would be established, and Fonus positioned alongside the customer – fighting for their freedom to choose.