Three minute read
Jo Juber, Poppy’s Head of Marketing, introduces our new video, which opens up the way we work to a wider audience.
Bringing Poppy’s to everyone
At Poppy’s, being open is fundamental to who we are. From our regular community open days, to our hands-on training visits for professionals, to the welcome we offer every day to family and friends who come to wash, dress, or visit their people in our care.
Often, when people visit us, they come away surprised. We are not what they expect a funeral director to be like.
The images in the public eye of funeral directors — sombre, black-hatted Victorian throwbacks or large-scale, anonymous, online providers — don’t reflect the reality of Poppy’s.
But not everyone is able to visit Poppy’s. So, how can we bring Poppy’s to everyone?
We talk about having a fresh approach to funerals — but what does that look, sound, and feel like? We are excited to launch our new introductory video this week, which we hope helps answer that question.
However, filming a video about funeral care is not easy.
How we filmed the Poppy’s video
First, we needed to find a director who really ‘got’ Poppy’s — someone who could bring what we do to life without it feeling corporate, confusing, or dull.
Fortunately, the brilliant Jas Pitt got on board. She’s a director and documentary maker with lots of experience exploring complex and sensitive matter, simply and elegantly.
We knew we wanted to show the Poppy’s experience from beginning to end, including how we care for someone and get them ready for their funeral.
We wanted not only to show how we work at Poppy’s, but also inform and reassure people about the process, especially if they have never organised a funeral before.
However, in truth, this was a big ask to make of grieving families.
Instead, we’re grateful that two of our former clients Gilly Best and Kish Modasia stepped forward to take part. They were both comfortable to talk openly and beautifully about their experiences with Poppy’s and the details that mattered most to them.
"Speaking to anyone at Poppy’s you get a real sense of warm, caring and empathy."
Finally, there was one very practical challenge to address — we had to work around a busy funeral schedule to ensure that filming didn’t get in the way of any collections, family visits or funerals! To say it was a bit like diary Tetris is putting it mildly.
Hats off to Edel our Operations Lead and Neil and Aaron from our mortuary team for their skill in navigating this, making sure that the same high-quality care for our clients continued, as the filming went ahead.
