GEMLIFE HAS LAUNCHED A BRAND CAMPAIGN AIMED AT SHIFTING PERCEPTIONS ABOUT OVER-50S LIVING, GIVING A SNAPSHOT OF THE VIBRANT, HOLISTIC LIFESTYLE POSSIBILITIES ON OFFER WITHIN ITS RESORTS.
A television commercial campaign rolls out across Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria later this month, following the recent launch of digital and print campaigns. With the tagline ‘A whole new life’, the campaign focuses on freedom, choice and wellbeing, rebranding over-50s living for Australia’s freedom-loving boomer generation. It shows a range of vibrant lifestyles through a series of vignettes that subtly captures the intimate and personal as well as the adventurous and social.
GemLife Director of Sales & Marketing Andrew Coulter said the campaign was created in response to the diverse and changing lifestyle demands of over-50s and in recognition of lingering, out-of-date stereotypes about over-50s communities.
He said that when GemLife launched its first over-50s resort on Bribie Island in 2016, it set out to transform the ‘retirement’ living space with beautifully designed, low-maintenance homes together with high-end recreational facilities within dynamic, active communities.
“When home-buyers tour our properties, they’re blown away by what’s on offer,” he said. “The biggest challenge, however, is to overcome the tired, stereotypical views many hold about ‘retirement’ living and to communicate the quantum shift that’s taken place by showing the dynamic, holistic and diverse lifestyles typical at a GemLife resort.”
With increased life expectancy and improved health and wellbeing, Australia’s affluent baby boomers’ lifestyle choices are vastly different from the generation before them. With the first cohort of Generation X joining them, the push for more dynamic and innovative living options will intensify.
“People forget that the baby boomer generation was forged during a period of huge social change, such as protesting against the Vietnam War, fighting for women’s rights, experimenting with drugs and enjoying the music revolution of the 60s and 70s,” he said.
“They’re more active, fitter, healthier and more open to new experiences and adventures. Some are working full-time or part-time. They do not consider themselves old and don’t want to ‘retire’ in the traditional sense of the word.”
A testament to the group’s boosted health status, Private Healthcare Australia, the health insurance industry’s representative body, assessed the nation’s 2.7 million 55 to 75-yearolds ‘best risk’ for private health fund insurers.
Facilities at GemLife’s resorts cater to the over-50s desire for engagement, wellness and enjoyment by offering extensive sporting and leisure choices within luxurious country clubs and recreational precincts. Facilities typically include indoor and/or outdoor swimming pools, spas, saunas, tennis courts, gold-class style cinemas, cafes, bars and more.
“Those over-50s who are semi-retired or retired become more active, fitter and healthier than they were in their 30s and 40s,” Andrew said. “They’re enjoying their time, spending more of it with family and friends, travelling or taking up new
interests without the pressure of work,” he said.
“Increasingly, retirement isn’t about slowing down, it’s about changing tack or gearing up. It’s a time of possibility, a time to live life to the fullest, time for a whole new life”.