Client

The Cascades at Verdae is an upscale, continuing care retirement community with 321 residences in Greenville, S.C., and the flagship property of Banyan Senior Living. Walker Marketing has provided strategic marketing and communications services to the community for three years.

Challenge

Our challenge was to create awareness and establish a unique marketplace position as well as generate interest in a property still in the conceptual stage. The pre-sales objectives were particularly aggressive, and marketing was asked to achieve 50 percent pre-sales in the first year.

At the time of the launch in 2007, The Cascades faced direct competition from a community with a similar model and timeframe. Plus, The Cascades was introducing a higher price point to the Greenville market. Walker Marketing determined speed to market was critical.

Strategy

Walker Marketing partnered with Banyan Senior Living through all phases of the marketing and sales process beginning with a PR campaign that created widespread awareness of The Cascades and established initial credibility and momentum and sales velocity for the community.

An integrated marketing communications campaign successfully introduced the community and hundreds of qualified leads using targeted direct mail and a media blitz with a compelling, teaser ad campaign. Lead generation efforts were followed by an extensive lead conversion program comprised of collateral materials, interactive sales tools such as an animated DVD and website, and special events such as a charity golf tournament and ground breaking which served to nurture active leads and strengthen relationships with future residents and the city of Greenville at large.

To convey the active and luxurious lifestyle, the creative featured elegant, originally commissioned artwork portraying sophisticated, active lifestyle imagery and messaging that communicated a love for active living and resonated with seniors. All marketing featured this value proposition and invited prospects to attend luncheons to support direct sales efforts and facilitate interaction between sales staff, depositors and prospects.

Results

Walker Marketing provided database management services to the community which allowed reliable reporting of lead source and performance metrics. At the end of year one, marketing generated more than 1,000 qualified leads and more than 150 priority depositors. In total, advertising and direct mail accounted for approximately 60 percent of all leads generated and ranked second only to the website and PR on a cost-per-lead basis. Overall, the integrated approach ensured high awareness levels, impact and reach among key prospects of The Cascades. In fact, nearly 10 percent of the leads generated in the first year were converted to an initial deposit, and as a result, the community exceeded its goals and broke ground ahead of schedule in 2008. In addition, The Cascades was recognized as the nation’s best proposed active adult retirement community by the National Active Retirement Association (NARA).