SAF Urges Funeral Directors to Omit "In Lieu of Flowers"
Funeral directors this spring, summer and fall will be urged to remove the "in lieu of flowers" phrase from obituaries. It's part of a targeted effort by SAF to make the funeral industry aware of the role of flowers in the bereavement process.
 Building on last year's public relations outreach to funeral trade publications, SAF is launching an advertising campaign in the National Funeral Directors Association's magazine, The Director. SAF's full-page color advertorial will run in the May, August and November 2008 issues of the magazine and reach potentially 13,500 funeral service professionals.
The ad features an open letter from the floral industry to funeral directors, citing the reasons why flowers should be a part of every funeral.
"As great as this ad is in creating top-of-mind awareness among funeral directors nationwide, success at the local level comes when florists supplement the ad with personal outreach," says Jennifer Sparks, SAF's vice president of marketing. "Send a copy of the ad with a letter to funeral directors who use the 'in lieu of' phrase."
Sparks says florists simply need to follow a few steps:
* Log into www.safnow.org/sympathy and click "Suggested letters to local funeral directors." Next, click "Letter to Complement SAF's Advertisement in The Director."
* Copy the suggested letter onto shop letterhead. Personalize bolded parts.
* Download and print in color "SAF Sympathy Flowers Trade Ad."
* Send the letter and ad to funeral directors in May, August or November 2008 (when the ad is running) with a floral arrangement to capture their attention, showcase your work, and demonstrate the emotional benefits of flowers.
* Follow up by scheduling a meeting.
* Tell SAF about your campaign. E-mail info@safnow.org.
For more advice on how to build sympathy business, visit www.safnow.org/sympathy.
SAF's trade campaign with The Director is a direct result of the SAF Fund for Nationwide Public Relations, an industry-wide voluntary promotion effort. Since its inception in 2001, SAF PR Fund programs have generated nearly 780 million consumer impressions. For more information and to support the PR Fund, visit www.safnow.org/prfund.
--Morgan Schimminger
mschimminger@safnow.org
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