| An Article I wrote with the provocative title "The | | | | OK for old people, perhaps OK for us later on "if we |
| End of Retirement Villages? Yes Please!" generated a | | | | absolutely must", but not yet. |
| few robust responses from Australian providers of | | | | Today's Australians in their 50's, 60's and 70's are still |
| community-style accommodation for the 55+'s - | | | | looking for growth and enrichment in all of life's |
| which they typically choose to market as | | | | aspects - mental, social, physical, spiritual, emotional |
| "Retirement Villages". | | | | and financial. They believe they have earned the |
| Those responses have confirmed I need to clarify | | | | freedom to do what they choose to do - a period in |
| the concerns I attempted to raise in that article - | | | | their life with less obligations, less rules and regulations |
| firstly the importance of selecting, and | | | | - not more. |
| communicating, the right name and market position | | | | Having stated my understanding of what |
| for your accommodation option's target, and | | | | accommodation and lifestyle Australians 55+ are |
| secondly, changing the reality of the lifestyle your | | | | looking for, I attempted to find an example to |
| accommodation option offers to prospective | | | | illustrate the market position I'm proposing. It is |
| residents. | | | | disappointing to have to provide a link to the US |
| My proposition involves much more than a name | | | | operator Praxeis (praxeis.com). They offer a range |
| change. | | | | of "Life Fulfilling Communities" which focus on |
| Perception and reality are of equal importance - and | | | | personal growth, enrichment and well-being programs |
| getting either one wrong will severely limit your | | | | that nourish the body, mind and human spirit. |
| market appeal to today's 55+ consumer. | | | | Praxeis formed a "Partnership Council of Advisors", |
| At the core of most poorly executed marketing, and | | | | not a Residents Committee, and that happens a year |
| poorly specified accommodation and lifestyle | | | | or two before the community becomes operational. |
| offerings, is a lack of understanding that today's | | | | And while the physical reality of their accommodation |
| 55+'s are not their parents - they don't think like their | | | | facilities is exceptionally attractive, it is their apparent |
| parents did, and have vastly different aspirations to | | | | understanding of the lifestage and aspirations of their |
| those of their parents at a similar chronological age. | | | | prospective residents that really sets them apart. |
| When assessing the marketing and web sites | | | | Hopefully, as a result of this article, I will be inundated |
| typically created by 30 somethings and targeted at | | | | with links to Australian communities with similar |
| the 55+ consumer, I'm often reminded of the saying:- | | | | communication of their market positioning and |
| "Old people know more about being young than | | | | physical reality. |
| young people know about being old." | | | | My other hope is to find examples of Australian 55+ |
| Today's Australians born in the 1940's and 50's see | | | | communities so confident in the reality of the lifestyle |
| themselves as having so much more to achieve, so | | | | and accommodation they offer, that they allow |
| much more life to live. | | | | prospective residents the opportunity to test their |
| The reason Australians 55+ are not attracted to the | | | | community's facilities for a few days, much as you |
| vast majority of what is offered as retirement | | | | would stay in any other resort accommodation, and |
| community living is the entrenched connotation that | | | | get to know your future neighbours and |
| "retirement community" means an institutional culture | | | | neighbourhood. |
| with rules, regulations and a restrictive environment - | | | | |