March to June 2020 – Ingenia Lifestyle’s 2020 marketing strategy did not account for a global health crisis. With the retirement industry thrust into the melting pot of chaos sparked by the intense upheaval of COVID-19, Ingenia quickly adapted. The team recognised that while sales might drop, what mattered most was to send a message of hope and reassurance, acknowledging that things had changed for everyone and reminding prospects that Ingenia is available when they are ready to reimagine their future.
“Given that so many of the mainstays of our society were suddenly radically changed – from grocery shopping to public transport, recreation to socialising with friends and family – we felt that it was important to remind people that Ingenia remains available and reliable to help them find their best future.” Said Joel Fyfe, National Marketing Manager.
Ingenia briefed GBD Lifestyle Marketers on developing an inspiring, future-focused campaign to stay connected with customers in a relevant way and to remind their target audience of the certainty, continuity and positivity of a future with Ingenia. “GBD has worked closely with our gold class communities from the start culminating in Ingenia winning the Retirement Living Council’s marketing award for the last two years. It was a natural choice for us to invite GBD to be involved in this project,” said Joel Fyfe.
GBD’s recommendation was to run an overarching brand-building campaign to reassure all targeted groups, followed by a tactical message to provide more detail. They achieved this through first creating content for a long form advertisement – building a bridge between the target audience and the brand through adept storytelling. “An ad is most powerful when you first build rapport, establishing a reason for the target audience to take interest,” said Jeff McGarn, Managing Director, GBD Lifestyle Marketers. “We used the devices of powerful imagery and emotive storytelling to meet people where they are feeling right now,” he commented.
GBD staff writers and cinematographers used their in-house edit suite and recording studio to create the TVCs. The result is a 60 second brand ad, a high-end production that conveys the message of hope and reassurance. The ad features an appealing voiceover that uses a positive and comforting tone to convey confidence, reassurance and certainty. This is followed by a 15 second tactical ad that concludes the story with strong and simple messaging on the benefits of an Ingenia Lifestyle community.
“An effective campaign will take its audience on a journey. Through storytelling we can tap into feelings, aspirations, imagination and
those deeper human decision-making drivers that go beyond pragmatism. When a brand paints a picture that a target audience can identify
with, pinpoint key needs and then follow through with a practical solution, it helps people solve problems. That’s the mechanism behind the
‘reimagine’ campaign,” stated McGarn.