Co-creating new communities for luxurious later living
They say “an Englishman’s home is his castle” and if anything old age seems to reinforce this mindset. Unlike the US and Australia where Retirement Living communities are commonplace, there has long been a cultural resistance in the UK.
Setting out to win people’s hearts and change their attitudes, are Gavin Stein and the team at Elysian Residences. Backed by US investors and senior living operators OneEighty, Elysian are bringing something truly unique to the UK market.
When Elysian approached Pollitt & Partners it was not with a straightforward marketing brief, but a genuine passion and open mind about how to develop their core product, communities and the lifestyle on offer.
We set about planning three co-creation workshops, each including up to 20 older people – some couples and some individuals. In these workshops we had the incredible opportunity to explore what ‘the good life’ meant for this generation: both in how they’d lived so far, and how they hoped to live in the years ahead.
Rather than feel like we were selling them, we switched positions and asked them to pitch their perfect retirement community back to us. The privacy and solitude of your own front door was critical, but once this was in place the people we spoke to became increasingly enthusiastic about living in a safe, stimulating environment – just as long as they were allowed to pop to the shops whenever they fancied.
These workshops were not only hugely humbling and insightful for me as an individual, they really helped Elysian to forge a way forward, and make small but critical changes to their vision, product design, marketing and operating philosophy.
Elysian has weathered the storm of Covid remarkably well, adapting to provide extra support not only for their early residents, but also the network of individuals they’ve connected with over the years.
To find out more about Elysian you can visit their website here: www.elysianresidences.com
Long list of services:
These projects were delivered during my time as a Partner and Strategist at the employee-owned creative agency Pollitt & Partners.
- Brand strategy
- Market research
- Co-creation
- Customer closeness
- Communication strategy
- Website development
- Events and activation