Personalised, green caskets humanise the grieving process
It’s a fact of life that we - and the ones we love - will eventually pass on, but that doesn’t mean we can’t find new ways to celebrate our legacies and the unique qualities that made them so special.
There are so many avenues to take, but the common casket or coffin has always remained a frustratingly sterile vessel to hold the dearly departed. So the team and I at LifeArt (www.lifeart.com) decided to challenge this age-old tradition, offering coffins that could be personalised to reflect the uniqueness of its occupant while using environmentally efficient materials.
Our goal is to change perceptions for both customers and the industry itself. The market is transforming, and consumers want more control over how they and their loved ones leave this world, as well as the opportunity to know their resting place won’t leave a harmful impact as a result. The look, design and construction of a casket is no longer a purely B2B commodity, but a fitting place for emotional expression.
Overcoming misconceptions and hesitation
In reality, regular coffins are overpriced, both to manufacture and to purchase, and they’re underforming as a result. By embracing more efficient construction methods, we’ve optimised the entire process in a way that benefits everyone involved. And we’re not just saving our customers money, but we’re providing them with the confidence that their casket won’t adversely affect the planet in their absence. Our clientele are more aware of environmental issues than ever, and they trust in our decade of experience to empower them with the most benign materials.
Designing a proper, personal, green exit strategy.
And we understand why the rest of the industry is hesitant. Death is, after all, a very sensitive subject, but that doesn’t mean we should be ignoring the needs of our customers. 75% of the 20% that purchases a casket in preparation want a form of true personalisation and it’s time we start listening and meeting that need head-on.
Expression through remembrance
This kind of signage isn’t just a means of expression - it’s both a meaningful conversation starter and a way for a customer to create another connection with their loved one. A change has occurred in our collective mindset and many of us want to use vessels such as coffins as a way to pool a lifetime of memories in a place that immortalises the cherished one in a way a run-of-the-mill casket never could. Expression and remembrance, converged as one.
For us here at LifeArt, the key is embracing a true sense of hyper-personalisation. Customers are more connected than ever, so why not offer a service that caters to the digital age? The baby boom generation is an individualist collective, and it wants the power to customise the nature of their own farewell, regardless of cost - and the millennial generation is set to take this even further.
Not an easy task with family members and a funeral home owner looking to you to make a decision. Most customers would prefer some alone time to decide which coffin or casket to take. We figured they would prefer to reminisce with photobooks rather than flip through an impersonal coffin catalogue. And then I thought, what if we could combine one with the other?
I stumbled upon CHILI publisher, the Universal Graphics Engine, and realized that its unique templatisation process was the tool I needed. It was the missing link for clients to personalise a casket online that truly symbolises its owner and offers funeral homes a way to connect online with users that want to take their environmentally friendly designs forward to a practical stage. The online availability allows people to take their time, not rush into it and fully tailor it to their liking. It helps them deal with the grieving process and leaves them with a sense of proper goodbye. The funeral home can next supply an environmentally friendly product in combination with additional personal service.
Matters of life and death are never easy but compartmentalising this part of the grieving process client-side is considered a major benefit by our funeral home customers. The templatising of our existing designs and expanding our range with even more online designs options, will offer customers all the digital privacy and creative freedom they need for a proper and personal goodbye.
Our service with CHILI publish launches in April 2019, and we can’t wait to give our customers a truly personalised and green manner to express their love, grief and memories the best way possible.
Caption – LifeArt wants customers to celebrate loved ones with a more personal goodbye. Online design offers the digital privacy they need in the mourning process.
Mike Grehan - Executive Chairman & CEO, LifeArt
