The most persistent part of your marketing strategy is your name.  I’d also argue that this is the least expensive marketing choice and the most important.  “What You Call Yourself” is also what your community calls you.  And what your community will have to remember to find you and recommend you to others.

 THE “INSERT NAME HERE” APPROACH:  “Smith Funeral Home” is effective in that it gets the point across.  But it does little more than convey ownership information.  When choosing a funeral home, I would need more information about the Smith who owns the place, to decide if it’s right for me.  Now, if John Smith is well-known in the community and created the “John Smith” brand by his actions in the community, it’ll work.  But he’s done two potentially damaging things by building a personal brand rather than a funeral home brand. 

First, he’s ensured that the sale (or inheritance) of Smith Funeral Home at some point in the future will require him to stay on, since the brand is about him.  Secondly, he’s linked the brand closely with his personal life, which means changes in that life (getting divorced, being arrested, punching the local priest, etc.) will have a direct impact on the business because the business brand is built solely on his personal brand.

DISCOUNT:  Want to convey that you’re the lowest price in town?  Follow the lead of Discount Auto Parts or Discount Tire.  Maybe you’ll stop short of using the word “Discount”, but you can find others that convey the same idea.  Words like:

Affordable
Budget
Alternative
Value

HIGH-END NAME:  Companies like Williams-Sonoma, Sherwin-Williams and Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse can charge more for their products (do you really think it costs $35 just to cook a steak?  By the way, salad and potato are sold separately) because their names and other branding create the idea that they have more value.

If you choose to name your funeral home this way, don’t immediately pick names from two of your owners.  Zingebot-Finklestein Funeral Home is a pretty descriptive name, but it doesn’t convey “high-end” so much as “hard to spell!”  Plus, you’re trying to build a brand separate from living people who make mistakes and tick off people in town.

In a related story, I once worked for SCI at a central embalming and after-hours phone answering center.  One of the funeral homes we answered for was named “Hamlin-Hilbish-Rhebaum-Harden Funeral Home.”  They’ve since closed the location.  Three guesses why they couldn’t market that name.

A special note about making up a “prestige” name:  Pick at least one name that’s easy to spell and let the other be something more exotic.  Goodman is easy for most people to spell.  Bergdorf - not so much, but it’s interesting.

NO-NO:  Avoid choosing a name close to an already-established brand from another field.  McDonald’s Funeral Home will make people think “cheap.”  You’ll also make them hungry.