NORTHRIDGE, CALIF. – Los Angeles advertising creative director Dan Katz started his first ad agency during the recession of the early '90s and built it into one of the top independents in Los Angeles. Eventually known as Potter, Katz, Postal & Ferguson, the company became well known in the funeral industry for its unique “Dare to be Different” approach to creative funeral advertising.
Katz left in 2004 to open up his own funeral service, "Airway to Heaven," an aerial cremation scattering business serving Southern California. However, the pull of the agency won out and now Katz has announced that he is relaunching his agency. The agency is called LA ads – A Marketing Agency.
For Katz, a dramatic change in the economy represents a great opportunity to reach clients and funeral providers in particular, who are ready to embrace change in their marketing programs. That is why he has labeled his new agency an “Agent of Change.”
“Being an 'Agent of Change' is more than a cool slogan,” Katz said. “It defines our agency’s mission, which is to disrupt marketing patterns that no longer work and our clients actively set a new direction for success. We take it very seriously. In fact, on every staff member’s business card, 'Agent of Change' is their official title regardless of their job.”
Between the first and second iterations of LA ads, funeral marketing has vastly changed, said Katz. He points out that it’s more than just how the Internet has affected communications, it’s about how much more empowered the consumer is to control what he or she listens to, when and where.
At the same time, said Katz, funeral advertisers have changed, in part because of the economy and in part because their audiences are more elusive than ever.
“Funeral providers are understandably frustrated,” Katz added. “They don’t know whether to run commercials, send out Tweets, put up a Facebook page or all or none of them. The rules are being re-written every day. But the fundamentals of marketing really haven’t changed. Customers still need a meaningful reason to take action that improves their future or their family’s future in some way. And that’s where we can bring some sanity to the conversation.”
Among the services LA ads offers its clients are Strategic Marketing Counsel, Advertising Creative & Production, Media Planning & Purchasing, New Media/Internet Marketing, Market Research, Direct Response Marketing, Promotions & Merchandising, Branding & Corporate Identity and Public Relations.
The agency’s clientele currently includes funeral homes and cemetery properties in Savannah, Kansas City, New Jersey and Toronto, along with other clients in the consumer electronics, health care and financial services industries.
For more information, call 800-991-0625 or visit www.laadsmarketing.com.
Posted Dec. 4