Observatory4Good

JOHN,

The first person to do something groundbreaking is remembered forever. The second is a footnote. The third, fourth, etc…no one knows. 

The same is true in business.

Nike was the first to market athletic shoes, and then clothes, to the everyday athlete in all of us. “Just do it.” (Their top end products are made for the pros, and then marketed to the rest of us through aspiration.) That market today is Nike…and then everybody else.

Apple was the first to market computers that were user-friendly, and even fun. “The computer for the rest of us.” And that led very naturally to the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad.  In that market today…of content, communication and connection…Apple really is in a class all their own. When Steve Jobs came back to the company in the 80s it was almost out of business. It is now the most valuable company in history. 

So what does this mean for you? We see assisted living, designed in a way that makes it be seen as seniors moving into a wonderful new place with nice apartments, great food, entertainment, and somewhere to keep having new experiences and making new friends as one of the incredible growth markets of the coming years. It’s not a place to go die…as seniors have traditionally seen it…it’s a place to go live.

So far, no one has figured out how to market that and make themselves the unquestioned leader. Brookdale seemed like they were going to try, and started doing advertising (by the way, they tried to copy one of our hospital campaigns). But they didn’t keep it up. Which means most of the money they spent was wasted. In fact, the only brand that has done something significant is A Place For Mom. And they’re not even a provider…just a referral service. But by creating a brand with unique language, a tone and relevant messaging they’ve staked a claim. But that’s because they created an image and then kept advertising it. If you asked 100 people, most would say they’ve heard of them. 

Which brings us to us. Our team at The Observatory has spent years building and rebuilding brands. We’ve worked on everything from Spam to Porsche. We’ve won every award in the book, from Clios to Cannes Film Festival Lions.

In recent years we have created and developed some of the first branding for hospitals. The advertising is unique and powerful.  It doesn’t look, smell, taste or sound like hospital advertising. That’s why it works. But what’s important for you is that hospital communication touches many of the same hot buttons assisted living needs to address. It’s about making your life better and longer. About making it possible to continue doing the things you love to do. It’s about quality of life.

That’s why we have included some of the hospital work we have done at the link you can click on below. We’ve also included some of our non-profit work, because like hospitals, there is a lot of similarity in the mission between non-profits and assisted living.

There is no assisted living work because, as we said, it hasn’t been done yet. We want to be the first to do it. And we’d love to make your advertising the first that people see.

That means you will own the category. You will be the one people remember.