Adpay’s Memoriams network is proving its vision

Adpay, Inc. announced 2015 year-end results that demonstrated Memoriams' consistently improved value to the newspaper industry.

Metrics reveal that for each local obituary submitted through Memoriams, at least one other out-of-area obituary was placed 54 percent of the time. This is up from 24 percent in 2014 due to the simplicity of adding additional notices and growing adoption from local newspapers. In addition, Memoriams continued to increase participating newspaper revenues by an average of 30 percent. Endorsed by the Local Media Consortium as the industry strategy for obituary submission, Adpay says Memoriams is the only platform that grows this category's revenue and volume through its exclusive network.

Memoriams' milestones in 2015 included the configuration of hundreds more newspapers available for placement in the U.S., as well as expansion to Canadian markets. With access to rates for over 2,800 daily and weekly newspapers, funeral directors can now streamline their obituary efforts through a single platform. Memoriams is unique in that it is the only service to enable efficient submission and payment for obituaries in local and out-of-market newspapers in a single order.

Satisfying funeral directors is also at the core of Memoriams' success. "I find that it is easier to submit to newspapers both locally and out-of-town. With Memoriams, you type the obituary once and can submit it to each newspaper, in their format, and know the cost upfront ... without having to wait on an e-mail or a call back. It makes more sense, and saves time, to use Memoriams," stated Josh Hite of Memorial Funeral Home in Corinth, Miss.

Schurz Communications almost doubled its local market revenues for its Northern Michigan properties after a summer implementation. In addition, network revenues increased by 43 percent for this vacation and second home destination. Michael Callahan, controller at The Herald-Mail in Hagerstown, Md., another Schurz property, also highlighted its local success. "Implementing Memoriams has been a very positive experience. Our revenue per order is up 45 percent and our process has been made so much simpler. Adpay is very easy to work with. This has saved us a lot of time and resources locally."

Scot Morrissey, publisher at The Athens (Ga.) Banner-Herald for Morris Publishing Group, had similar thoughts. "After many conversations with our local funeral homes, we recognized that we had an opportunity to improve our customer service, print format, and internal process. Memoriams was the right way to meet our needs and theirs. As important, our funeral home partners have thanked us for the clean new design and easy order entry. They appreciate having the power to complete obituaries 24/7, without waiting for our team. The setup was easy, our internal processes have become more efficient, and our relationship with our customers is better than ever."

Mike Heene, CEO of Adpay/Memoriams observed, "Our vision from the beginning was to protect and grow newspaper obituaries, while satisfying the challenges funeral homes experienced with the process. Our partners' success proves the strategy is working."