Author: Varsity Team

Which celebrity recently helped prepare meals and deliver them to seniors? A good egg who’s very tired of bacon jokes. His name is Kevin Bacon, and recently he did his part to fight hunger by volunteering at a NYC Meals on Wheels.

Since we work in an industry that serves seniors, it’s important to be aware that 6.4 million of them suffer from hunger. What better time to call attention to this life-threatening issue than World Hunger Month, going on now.

You can be six degrees away from Kevin Bacon and help your favorite hunger charity win $5,000 by taking the good egg challenge and spoofing his funny Web film and shorts.

If you put a preschool inside a retirement community, what would happen?

Something very unexpected: Both the children and the seniors underwent an amazing transformation.

At Providence Mount St. Vincent, a senior living community in the Seattle area, a preschool is actually housed inside the community’s campus. On a daily basis, the children sing, dance, draw and visit with residents. The interactions bring laughter, companionship, learning and understanding to all of their lives.

Around 500 communities in the U.S. offer similar programs, and filmmaker Evan Briggs would like to see this model implemented on a larger scale.

Briggs is making a documentary about the preschool to raise publicity about the benefits of intergenerational interactions. This video is a trailer she made to raise funds on Kickstarter to finish her documentary. If you’d like to support her efforts, you can do so here.

Undoubtedly you’ve heard about Google’s “Mobilegeddon” – we’ve been working with our clients to stay ahead of this curve. Well, we wanted to break it down and help you be mobile-savvy.So, what is “Mobilegeddon” all about? Google has changed its algorithm related to mobile search and smartphones — desktop and tablets will be unaffected by the new algorithm, for now. 

Moving forward, when searches are conducted on mobile devices, Google will flag the mobile-friendly sites and give them higher priority in the organic search listings. Higher organic search rankings equates to a much higher likelihood of click-throughs (awareness) and leads (purchase intent) and vice versa for non-mobile-friendly sites. Considering how the top #1 and #2 organic search spots attract an average of 20-30 percent of the first search results page’s clicks, this only amplifies the importance for your company to ensure your site is mobile optimized.

​Depending on your industry, smartphone users can make up a significant portion of search volume. In fact, mobile constitutes roughly half of all Google searches. Furthermore, on the consumer side, over half of Boomers now own smartphones, while overall penetration in the U.S. has grown to 77 percent. The tides of device preference and usage are certainly changing, and your brand will ultimately benefit by rolling along with the tides.

A nice bright spot in this is that, with all things digital, this can be addressed in real time. When you’re ready to roll out your mobile-friendly site, Google will begin to recognize the change and incorporate it in higher into the search results. Also, the tweaks to the algorithm began on April 21 and will be rolled out over the next few weeks. So a dramatic change might not appear right away. But, at the same time, this doesn’t mean you should wait to react. Proactive planning is a must in today’s ever-changing online world.Time will tell regarding the true impact of this shift on search results for each website, but this would be the ideal time to refresh your website as it relates to mobile responsiveness. But with Google accounting for nearly three-fourths of the total search engine market, this algorithm change is not something to be ignored.

How can you tell if your website passes the mobile-friendliness test? Just click here and enter your website address. In a matter of seconds you’ll know if you get the message “Awesome! This page is mobile-friendly!” or “Not mobile-friendly“.Don’t wait to see what impact this has on your site. We’ve already analyzed this and discussed the rise of mobile device website visits with a number of clients, now whom are highly interested in moving forward with this strategic investment. Give us a call to discuss how Varsity could help you ensure that this Google algorithm change isn’t going to hurt your business and give your competitors an unfair advantage — our interactive team is ready and has the chops to help you be even stronger in the all important search and mobile worlds.

“Once upon a time…” The phrase takes many of us back to our childhoods. It brings back memories of snuggling under the covers as a parent told us a bedtime story, or sitting cross-legged on the classroom floor as the teacher read out loud. We listened raptly, wondering where the story would take us next. Even as adults, we love stories and the journeys they take us on. It’s stories that grab our attention and keep it.

Consumers love stories, too. They enjoy learning about the history of a company and where it is going next. In college, I learned about the marketing concept “what’s in it for me?” and how important it was to answer that question through storytelling. That was close to 25 years ago, and the idea remains as strong now as it was then.

Our culture has been handed down for centuries through the oral tradition of storytelling. It’s in our nature to tell stories. People love to relate an anecdote when friends ask them about a purchase they’ve made. So, if you share a story about your own product with your customers, you’ll reap the benefits of having it passed on to others. This process is how a good story can grow and develop a life of its own.

Creating a story about your brand is a great way to let your customers know who you are and what you stand for. It’s through this narrative that you gain their interest and, more importantly, their trust. It doesn’t need to be some huge tome, telling them every little thing about your brand. It just needs to be enough to give them a taste, make them want more and, most importantly, help them remember you and your product.

In addition to my career in advertising and marketing, I’ve spent the last 15 years making and selling my own artwork. My customers love to hear the story behind each of my pieces. Even if they don’t buy anything, I tell them the story about my studio name. I can’t tell you how many people come back and say, “I remember you and that interesting story of how your studio got to be called ‘Kerensamere.’”

In this digital age, one might think that storytelling is dead, but that is simply not the case. If anything, storytelling is prevalent in our society now more than ever. Online videos are a great example of storytelling. It’s amazing how one well-crafted video can tell so much in such a brief time. Make it a good one, and it goes viral. Next thing you know, everyone is telling your story for you.

Not everyone is a good storyteller. Back in the Middle Ages, communities relied on bards to come to town and recite stories. Not just anyone could be a bard; it took a certain skill. It’s kind of like the difference between a person who’s good at telling jokes, and one who isn’t. If it’s not told right, the joke falls flat. You don’t want this to happen with your own brand story. That’s where hiring the right team can make all the difference in how well your story is told and retold.

Crafting and presenting your story is a skill that comes with practice and insight. You need to understand your own brand as well as your audience. What is it that you want people to know? How do you get them to care about your story? This is where hiring a team like Varsity comes into play. We pride ourselves in our ability to create brand narratives that tell your story to the people you want to hear it and get them to repeat it for you.

That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

Grown Up Advertising is authored by our creative director and industry veteran Stephen Gordet, and covers the do’s and don’ts of talking to the mature market.

One of the most difficult aspects of retirement community marketing is that no one wants your product. Have you ever heard anyone say, “I can’t wait until I’m old enough and infirm enough to move into a retirement community!”? Probably not.

Most seniors begin to consider a senior living community after a medical event such as a fall or serious illness, or a life-changing situation like the death of a spouse or a sudden inability to maintain a home.

Every sale involves an attitude change. Prospects need to be convinced that the move to a retirement community will allow them to not just be safe, but to experience a fulfilling and rewarding life. We need prospects to come out to the community on multiple occasions, experience the social opportunities, enjoy the meals, and envision for themselves the possibilities of a fulfilling life there.

This can only happen over time, which is why our on-staff sales consultant, Maura Richards, tells us that it takes an average of 20 “intimate touches” to actually close a sale. So when we develop advertising, we incorporate not only branding, but also event marketing to get prospects out to the community as frequently as possible, along with special offers to create a sense of urgency.

Please take a look at the ad above that we created for Covenant Village of Florida. Our strategy is reflected in the branding. Based on our research, we knew that strongly faith-oriented individuals would be most attracted to this community. We wanted to target them, but not to the exclusion of others. The “covenant” language and concept that we developed did just that.

Then we added tactics: We promoted frequent on-site events that were of particular interest to seniors, getting them out to this beautiful community. Finally, we developed urgency through strong calls to action emphasizing the limited number of apartments and special move-in offers.

We implemented our plan through print, direct mail, paid search, specialized Web landing pages, and strong public relations and earned media components.

The result: We met and exceeded occupancy goals. Our success proves that, as in football, a correctly focused strategy and perfectly executed tactics give you a winning game. Contact us if you’re interested in receiving a full case study for more detail.

MARKETING INSIGHT: A perfectly crafted strategy isn’t enough. Carefully consider what is tactically necessary to close the sale.

It looks like Boomers and a growing number of seniors are becoming fully entrenched in online media. Although they still trail their younger cohorts, this year alone, 71% of those aged 50-64 and 59% over 65 have used at least one social networking site (Facebook still rules) compared with 26% in 2010 and 1% in 2008. They also love online video sites (Winner: YouTube), and 77% are using their mobile device simultaneously with “second screens.”

But as we discovered through our most recent research, those stats are only part of the story. Check out the infographic below to see what media types they’re using, and how much time they’re actually spending there.

MARKETING INSIGHT: We’re seeing a ton of content around the mature market and their relationship with the shifting technology and media landscape – from the downright informative to the just plain condescending. But as more Americans shift their media consumption habits, brands must also retool their content marketing strategies to satisfy prospects’ needs. On the technology side, device manufacturers need to keep access and usage top-of-mind, while on the marketing side, content producers should be cognizant of practicality and relevance.

*Source: Google & Ipsos MediaCT, “Reaching Today’s Boomers and Seniors Online,” May 1, 2013

Regards,

The Varsity Team

We’re not referring to retirement communities, but rather the actual towns, cities and suburbs that are facing an aging tidal wave, and are still woefully unprepared to meet the needs of the growing senior population. A large number of older adults and around half of adults under the age of 60 still believe the areas where they currently reside have few to no preparations in place for the future, according to a new survey released by the National Council on Aging (NCOA).

The new survey, produced by NCOA, UnitedHealthcare and USA Today, showed that seniors have maintained a positive outlook in terms of their future and the aging process in general. When it comes to their health, most express little concern about their current health status, and not surprisingly, many report not investing in activities that are important to help manage their health for the long-term.

On the financial front, most seniors surveyed expressed a comfort level with their current financial situation, but are somewhat concerned about the financial impact of living longer. More than half of respondents (53%) said they are concerned about whether their savings and income will last the rest of their lives, while 33% were not concerned.

Both retirees and those retiring in the near future intend to rely on Social Security as their main source of income, shown in the survey as 43% and 41% respectively. Nearly 19% reported difficulty in affording living expenses, based on their current income and savings.

Community support was another issue altogether. Most seniors (71%) agree their community is “responsive to the needs of seniors.” But only around 30% of people aged 60 and older don’t believe the community is prepared to meet the future needs of an aging population, and a full 45% of those 18-49 don’t believe communities will be prepared to meet those needs at all.

Friends and family remain constants: seniors also say that staying connected with family and friends is important to maintaining a high quality of life.

You can read the executive summary report from The United States of Aging Survey here.

MARKETING INSIGHT: As far back as 2005, aging population studies were showing that while many communities have some programs to address the needs of an aging population, very few have a comprehensive assessment of what it would take to make their community “elder friendly.”

That’s also reflected in the retirement living industry, where there’s currently a major gap between family expectations and changing resident needs, and an industry completely unprepared for the “next generations.”

There needs to be a better way to educate the public on planning for the future, about their living accommodations and unexpected illnesses that are sure to increase as the population ages. Likewise, smart communities and the retirement living industry will need to find ways to inform their current residents – of all ages – on what products and services are available to help them, and how to access them. Click here for a “community checklist,” courtesy of About.com.

Regards,

The Varsity Team

If you’re a grandparent, you can still play a role in you adult grandchildren’s lives, and as a new study shows, they can help improve your life as well. Researchers have concluded that a strong relationship between grandparents and their adult grandchildren has real, measurable effect on one another’s psychological well-being.

Top-level findings indicated that a close emotional relationship between the generations was associated with fewer symptoms of depression for both. Also, giving tangible support to, or receiving it from grandchildren affected the psychological well-being of grandparents but not their grandchildren. That support, also called “functional solidarity” or “instrumental support,” includes good deeds: rides to the doctor, monetary assistance, help around the house, or simple advice.

The study also supports conventional folk wisdom that if a grandparent gets help but can’t give it, he or she feels badly.

“Grandparents expect to be able to help their grandchildren, even when they are grown, and it’s frustrating and depressing for them to instead be dependent on their grandchildren,” said study co-author Sara M. Moorman, Ph.D.

Methodology included data from the Longitudinal Study of Generations, a survey of 3- and 4-generartion U.S. families that had been collected between 1985 and 2004. Subjects included 376 grandparents with an average age of 77, and 340 grandchildren with an average age of 31.

Moorman also believes the research suggests that extended family members serve important functions in each other’s daily lives throughout adulthood, and that efforts to strengthen families shouldn’t simply focus on families with young children. It also indicates that helping older people remain functionally independent may aid their physical and psychological well-being.

“All people benefit from feeling needed, worthwhile, and independent,” she said. “In other words, leg Granddad write you a check on your birthday, even if he’s on Social Security and you’ve had a job for years.”

Source: American Sociological Association

MARKETING INSIGHT: It’s an interesting study, and it supports the important role of grandchildren as being influencers in their grandparents’ lives – from technology to care options. In many cases, this could be due to the rise in multigenerational households, or simply the grandparents’ desire to stay connected and ahead of the proverbial curve. For grandchildren, it’s a primer to stay in contact, whether the grandparent lives in a CCRC or on their own – in person or via Skype. In any case, marketers need to keep the grandkids in the loop when trying to reach the older contingent.

Regards,

The Varsity Team

You’ve probably heard someone refer to forgetting a name, date or person’s face as having a “senior moment.” But does testing whether someone recognizes Elvis or George Bush help diagnose rare forms of dementia?

A recent study asked people to name and recognize images of famous faces of the 20th Century, including Albert Einstein, Oprah Winfrey, Pope John Paul II and Barbra Streisand, to name a few. All the famous people selected were considered “cultural icons” and easily recognizable.

The test was given to 27 healthy adults and 30 people with a rare neurological condition called primary progressive aphasia (PPA), which causes problems with communication, especially spoken language, but does not affect other brain functions. PPA is one of the rarest types of dementia, and often attacks between age 40 and 65 – hitting the Boomer population.

The study was completed by researchers from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago using their proprietary NUFFACE Test, and funded by the National Institute on Aging and National Center for Research Resources, among others. Results were published in the August 13 issue of Neurology. Although similar tests exist, researchers note that most are outdated and not appropriate to use with younger people affected by rare and specific forms of dementia.

Not surprisingly, those with PPA had significantly more difficulty naming and recognizing the famous faces. Researchers then tested whether the findings from the test were associated with changes to the brain structure using MRI. Again, those with PPA showed more atrophy in areas of the brain involved with both visual perception and language.

For a more in-depth look at the study, click here.

MARKETING INSIGHT: Despite the positive findings, this was a small study that only looked at the performance of people already diagnosed with one rare type of early dementia. It’s not clear whether this test would be accurate in diagnosing more common forms of dementia such as Alzheimer’s disease.

It seems as though more forms of early-onset memory issues have become prevalent in the Boomer demographic, pushing what had been previously viewed as “senility” up a few generations. As we saw in Project Looking Glass II and The Great Disconnect, memory support is top-of-mind for the “next generations,” and senior service providers must be ready – be that through preventative programs, wellness initiatives or even physical exams. We encourage more research, education and awareness on memory issues, and again, for nationally standardized methods of diagnosing and treating them.

Regards,

The Varsity Team

Labor Day is a yearly national tribute to the contributions American workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. On this Labor Day, we’d like to thank those who are making a difference in the senior care industry, namely in the area of memory care.

We write about memory care a lot, and rightfully so. This issue is projected to become an even bigger tsunami than the actual aging of America, and will affect every aspect of the senior services industry, from CCRC occupancy to home- and community-based services. It’s expected that up to 16 million Americans will have Alzheimer’s disease by 2050, and that there will be only four caregivers available for every person 80 years old and above by 2030.

We know that cognitive and memory impairments can change how a person thinks, acts and feels – and those changes bring challenges for families and caregivers alike. For the caregivers, you’re on the forefront of something that has yet to be standardized, yet holds a lot of hope and opportunity. Despite the number of studies, observations, advancements and resources, in many cases, you’re learning as you go – whether you’re providing meaningful activities or medical care. You truly live in the moment.

Never forget: You can truly feel good about the service you provide. Rest in the fact that you’re helping families, helping to define an industry, and making people’s lives a little bit easier. For that, we salute you.

Regards,

The Varsity Team