About 900 cremation niches line Presidents Circle. Many are still for sale. (Photos by Brandy Brubaker)
Some prime plots of city real estate are up for grabs and offering a rare amenity: They’re the only place in town where you can spend eternity next to two U.S. presidents.
Looking to promote its available space, the 167-year-old Hollywood Cemetery has hired a marketing agency to spread the word for its burial and cremation options, including cremation niches in “Presidents Circle.”
“So many people assume that, because the cemetery was established so long ago, that it must be full,” said David Gilliam, the cemetery’s general manager. “We want to get the word out that Hollywood is still a choice for people to consider.”
Addison Clark, a marketing agency on Monument Avenue, scored the account for the historic Oregon Hill burial ground on South Cherry Street.
This is its first cemetery client, but managing partner Jeff Allen said the firm would market it like it would other historic landmarks. It will revamp the cemetery’s website, improve its search engine marketing and give it a social media presence by playing up its historical significance.
Jefferson Davis’s gravesite at Hollywood Cemetery.
“The challenge they have is a lot of folks think of them as a historic landmark, almost an outdoor museum, but they are open for business,” Allen said.
The 135-acre garden cemetery was started in 1847. More than 60,000 people are buried there, including about 18,000 Confederate soldiers.
The cemetery handles about 200 burials a year. Gilliam estimated it has enough space for in-ground burials to last 20 to 25 years.
In addition to the recently completed 900-or-so cremation niches encircling the graves of former U.S. presidents James Monroe and John Tyler, Hollywood is also planning a new mausoleum.
The cemetery has not done much self-promotion in the past, Gilliam said. It has run a few print ads and done some radio spots on its own but has mostly relied on word-of-mouth.
Gilliam would not say how much they are spending on their new campaign but noted that their once meager advertising budget is now double what it used to be.
With Monroe and Tyler on site, Hollywood Cemetery is one of only three cemeteries in the country in which two presidents are buried, Gilliam said. John F. Kennedy and William Howard Taft are buried at Arlington National Cemetery, and John Adams and his son and fellow president John Quincy Adams are buried in a small cemetery in Massachusetts.
President of the Confederate States of America Jefferson Davis and two U.S. Supreme Court justices also are buried at Hollywood.
About 900 cremation niches line Presidents Circle. Many are still for sale. (Photos by Brandy Brubaker)
Some prime plots of city real estate are up for grabs and offering a rare amenity: They’re the only place in town where you can spend eternity next to two U.S. presidents.
Looking to promote its available space, the 167-year-old Hollywood Cemetery has hired a marketing agency to spread the word for its burial and cremation options, including cremation niches in “Presidents Circle.”
“So many people assume that, because the cemetery was established so long ago, that it must be full,” said David Gilliam, the cemetery’s general manager. “We want to get the word out that Hollywood is still a choice for people to consider.”
Addison Clark, a marketing agency on Monument Avenue, scored the account for the historic Oregon Hill burial ground on South Cherry Street.
This is its first cemetery client, but managing partner Jeff Allen said the firm would market it like it would other historic landmarks. It will revamp the cemetery’s website, improve its search engine marketing and give it a social media presence by playing up its historical significance.
Jefferson Davis’s gravesite at Hollywood Cemetery.
“The challenge they have is a lot of folks think of them as a historic landmark, almost an outdoor museum, but they are open for business,” Allen said.
The 135-acre garden cemetery was started in 1847. More than 60,000 people are buried there, including about 18,000 Confederate soldiers.
The cemetery handles about 200 burials a year. Gilliam estimated it has enough space for in-ground burials to last 20 to 25 years.
In addition to the recently completed 900-or-so cremation niches encircling the graves of former U.S. presidents James Monroe and John Tyler, Hollywood is also planning a new mausoleum.
The cemetery has not done much self-promotion in the past, Gilliam said. It has run a few print ads and done some radio spots on its own but has mostly relied on word-of-mouth.
Gilliam would not say how much they are spending on their new campaign but noted that their once meager advertising budget is now double what it used to be.
With Monroe and Tyler on site, Hollywood Cemetery is one of only three cemeteries in the country in which two presidents are buried, Gilliam said. John F. Kennedy and William Howard Taft are buried at Arlington National Cemetery, and John Adams and his son and fellow president John Quincy Adams are buried in a small cemetery in Massachusetts.
President of the Confederate States of America Jefferson Davis and two U.S. Supreme Court justices also are buried at Hollywood.
Great story. I visit Hollywood a few times a year and always find it odd to see a recent burial, but it is an active cemetery, not a museum.