A Rebranding Success Story

Messiah Village – a large and well respected continuing care retirement community – felt it needed to conduct a serious examination of its business model with an eye towards growing the scope of its rehabilitation, support and off-campus services, and modernizing its image to stay current with trends in seniors marketing. 

An all-day brand workshop served to initiate this process; the management team dug deep to identify what should stay the same, and what new opportunities should be pursued.  The session revealed significant agreement on core values, but several serious divides as to how Messiah Village could evolve as a business going forward.  One area of disagreement: to what extent would Messiah Village’s religious affiliation impede its ability to reach new secular prospects?

Research was conducted to test the assumptions generated during the brand workshop.  Many concerns were debunked.  For example, most prospects felt that, if the religious aspect were not ‘front and center,’ it would not have a negative impact.  In fact, the faith-based affiliation was viewed by some as a positive – being a non-profit made the community more desirable and reliable. 

Based on the research and supported by the core values identified in the brand workshop, a new business model, brand architecture and brand identity were developed.  Messiah Village transitioned to become MessiahLifeways.  The focus of its marketing strategy shifted from being print-heavy to one primarily driven online by a comprehensive website that integrated 4 business units under one single portal, the introduction of e-marketing, resident populated blogs, and other social media tactics.

What started with one brand workshop led to a new, contemporized and highly relevant brand. In only 18 months since its launch, MessiahLifeways has expanded from one market serving 925 people to three markets serving over 2000 with campus and community-based residential, support and enrichment services.  A success story indeed!