With so many similar products on the market, village and aged care providers need their brand to work harder if they are going to edge out their competitors.

Queensland village and aged care provider TriCare’s research identified that ad spend in the aged care and retirement sectors increased year on year by 28%.

They have just overhauled their brand in partnership with 50+ specialist advertising and marketing agency Evergreen.

The campaign – 12 months in development – takes a two-pronged approach – ‘TriCare Aged Care, Relax, you’re in good hands’ and ‘TriCare Retirement Living Relax, you’ll feel at home’.

TriCare’s Marketing Specialist Jessie Janson tells us all of the work was written and designed from a consumer perspective based on their journey.

For example, the new website features an improved interactive RAD & DAP calculator designed for families feeling stressed out understanding the finances of funding aged care.

The campaign is now being rolled out across all their marketing communications including website, brochures, advertising, signage and internal communications.

“We deliberately still use a combination of the tradition and digital channels – it’s about what resonates with our customers not what we as marketer’s watch,” she said.

So will it work? What do you think of it?

As radio commentator Ray Hadley pointed out at our recent LEADERS SUMMIT, aged care, in particular, is a “hard sell” – especially when all customers see and hear are the negatives highlighted by the media.

Check out the video of Ray Hadley's presentation here. 

“Perception is everything. Your customers have a perception of you (not good) and … that has to change,” he said.

He advises operators to build trust with their customers with “a long-term conversation” – educating them about who you are, what you offer and where the value is.

Investing in your brand does take money and time – a “considerable” amount according to TriCare.

But can you really put a value on earning your customers’ trust?

Lauren