Fanis Baboulas Funeral House: The Prince of viral content

Part 2 (Time to meet Mr. Incredible, Mr. Eythimios Savvakis)

(This article was written for “Introduction to Advertising and Public Relations” class, a creative lab led by Mrs. Betty Tsakarestou.)

After having searched for helpful information related to Fanis Baboulas and Son Funeral House, after having analysed deeply its unique and innovative campaigns and after having presented our project in front of our future colleagues, we decided to go on, to make a step forward. As far as Iam concerned, it wasn’t an easy process, a kind of work for amateurs but honestly it was a tough challenge that demanded our attention and our professional handling.

First of all, it is a common secret that we had to face up many different obstacles through our start-up journey. For example, because of the special legislation concerning enormous funeral houses like Fanis Baboulas and Son, we didn’t have the chance to ‘chase’ potential clients for an interview or to ask permission for sensitive personal data. At this point, I think that is more suitable than ever to point out that due to the expecting limitations, the interview which was taken from Eythimios Savvakis who is responsible for the marketing agenda of Fanis Baboulas and Son Funeral House, can only be translated as a miracle and definitely a huge astonishment by our side. Let me describe the productive meeting that we had with him at a luxurious hotel in the centre of Athens.

We met Mr. Savvakis early in the morning. After a short conversation, he started to analyse how the perspective about death and the inner feeling that more than often it brings up have changed since he began (officially) to manage not only the social media accounts of Fanis Baboulas and Son Funeral House but also to redefine its marketing strategy.

The first and primary outstanding change that he observed was about the numbers of followers, specifically about the unusual increase on the loyal followers of its official page. Although a typical page in this professional field gets approximately 400 to 500 likes and a normal post on Facebook is rewarded with 5 to 10 reactions, Fanis Baboulas and Son Funeral House became one of the most viral funeral houses among Europe with more than 7000 likes in its official Facebook page.

Furthermore, by using advertisements on a permanent basis, Mr. Savvakis succeeded to lift up the total number of likes that every post earns at an extraordinary level. For instance, some posts have earned more than 2000 likes.

Behind this spectacular achievement is hidden a transparent expalanation. Mr. Savvakis took a huge risk when he gambled on choices which can be described as ‘hot potatoes’, especially in Greece. The last two years, he has developed the idea of primordial content at funeral houses, he has hired high — skilled graphic designers and also he has created a special relationship between the firm and the clients.

It is undeniable that Mr. Savvakis and his innovative ideas have smashed the stereotypes in such a conservative field and have adopted a spectacular approachment to death. He replies with lovely greek songs to the messages that he receives and enforces the engagement with the audience by using attractive puns and promoting the actions of Xaroulis Baboulas, a beloved fiction hero of the funeral house.

To sum up, we need and we deserve more funeral houses like Fanis Baboulas and Son. It points out the importance of life by reminding death.

Written by Dimitrios Boutsikos

#teamfanisbaboulasandsonfuneralhouse

#addiscoveryandcreativitylab

Head of marketing class: Betty Tsakarestou Betty Tsakarestou

Team members: Ηλίας Αλεξανδρής Manon Fossemale Nick Noulas Loukia Tsiota