Keeping 2023 Senior Living Trends in Your Line of (Fore)Sight
And so we’ve made it to November; the autumn leaves have fallen, the days are shrinking, and the winds of change are blowing for employers, businesses, industries and innovators across America. This is, in many ways, an urgent time of year. In the words of hit TV show of the twenty-tens Game of Thrones, “Winter Is Coming.” So it’s high time to pack away the scary decor and strategies of yesteryear, compost your jack-o’-lanterns and old campaigns, and face the marketing shifts and industry changes blowing in from 2023: We’re talking TRENDS, gang.
How To Scout, Track and Define a New Marketing Trend
A trend is broadly defined as a change or development in a general direction, a time-specific fashion or style, or even just a popular topic of chatter that we, as readers and consumers, can expect to see in abundance. With regard to marketing, think of trends as tendencies within certain markets or industries that can be analyzed and tracked by companies to better inform their future business practices.
As in: “The latest trends in senior living” or “a rising trend of older adults requiring assisted living but unable to afford the skyrocketing prices of limited supply,” “#SilverTsunami is trending on Twitter” or “empathy is the new trend and requirement for successful sales during a growth recession.” Are you starting to see how trends and consumer insights predict and inspire opportunity within their respective industries?
In order to succeed in 2023, you will need to watch, listen, follow, track and think deeply about occurring trends – and you will also need to act, direct and create movements yourself. After all, fortune favors its tellers, and trends provide opportunities to read time and communicate with a zeitgeist. In many ways, they offer a sophisticated but accessible means of seeing into the future by way of listening to the present. Haven’t we all, at one point or another, wished we had a key or at least a keyhole through which we could take a peek at the future? The truth is you do – you can! More importantly, you should.
If you miss the insight, you fail.
If you see the insight, you dominate.
Market leaders who failed because they slightly missed the consumer insight:
Smartphone: Blackberry vs. Apple
Laptop: Smith Corona vs. HP
Streaming: Blockbuster vs. Netflix
PC: Xerox vs. Microsoft
Encyclopedia: Encarta vs. Wikipedia
Electric Car: GM vs. Tesla
Digital Camera: Kodak vs. Canon
Marketing Prophecy 101: 4 Frameworks For Predicting the Future
Launched in 2005 by “chaos and innovation expert” Jeremy Gutsche, TrendHunter is a popular trend community that uses AI and research to identify and curate top insights and trends for brands and businesses all over the world. TrendHunter uses a long-term approach designed to predict patterns, prospects, themes and megatrends anywhere from five to ten years out; they not only provide unique and lasting opportunities and insights but customize them to specific industries and brands.
The 2023 TrendHunter report indicates that the future will be more … chaotic. To better understand and explain our current reality and the many possible realities of the coming years, four theories can be used to divine different shapes, angles, and directions the future might take.
Our Post-Pandemic Chaos Framework
By studying past pandemics – from the Bubonic Plague to the Spanish Flu – we know that post-pandemic, we never retreat from the past, but we also don’t jump to the new normal either. Instead, we enter an era of incremental chaos – in our case, “The New Roaring 20s” – where people make up for lost time and competitors reveal new products. This theory predicts chaos from 2022 to 2032.
Generational Theory and The Saeculums
Modern society tends to think of the world in a linear way; in doing so, we often miss out on all the recurring patterns. But it wasn’t always this way! Many ancients studied generational trends, which led to a deep understanding of how the timing of your life, compared to major wars or chaos, results in a series of patterns that impact each generation that follows. Applied to today, this theory predicts chaos from 2008 to 2028.
The Changing World Order
Ray Dalio’s work in investment principles and theories shows us that nations always rise and fall, and if you analyze different factors you can see, understand and predict the advance and decline of empires over the span of a couple hundred years. To that end, our changing world order predicts increasing crisis and tension between the USA and China, as well as rising inflation, a debt tsunami, increased money supply, polarity, a challenge to the reserve currency and conflict. That’s a lot of future to contend with!
The Accelerating Pace of Change
Finally, in an already technologically advanced world that accelerates exponentially, we can expect artificial intelligence and the globalization of knowledge to make the future pace of human change not-so-human after all. That might sound scary, but this theory simply predicts that the next three to five years will have more innovation than the last ten.
Good Omens and Advice from The ADage Marketing Group's Crystal Ball
We’re gazing into our crystal ball now: 2023 will be hectic, but it will also be rife with opportunities and innovations, demanding huge shifts in both consumer desires and organizational structures. As the pandemic’s peak gets further and further behind us, as the baby boomers explore more and more retirement designs, and as our workforce is characterized by greater and greater dynamism and diligence, our topics of conversation, risk assessments, enhancements, next steps, disruptions and salutes – our T.R.E.N.D.S. – need to accept and eagerly change with the times.
As top-notch marketers and expert senior living clairvoyants, here are some pro-tips to guide your organization through the oncoming year.
(T)opics of Interest
The face of retirement living is changing: the youngest baby boomers are 58 as of this year, and the oldest will turn 76. The needs of this influential generation changes our whole approach to senior living lifestyles, and our conversation needs to change with it. Based on insights from the SeniorTrade 2022 Trend Report, here are ten topics to invest in for 2023:
Aging in the right place
Power of purpose
Senior living as a service
Delivery and refined dining options
Seamless healthcare integration
Group living options
Improved technological solutions and the acceleration of “age tech”
Solutions for the “forgotten middle”
Inclusivity in senior living and ageism
Economical and environmental changes and impacts
(R)isks Ahead
One of the major stressors for companies in 2022 and 2023 is the new geography of the workforce. Increasingly, employees are asking for more flexibility, safety and transparency in the workplace. The demand for remote or even hybrid work options are high, and the employee landscape is changing, too. Here are five new developments that companies should be prepared to meet in 2023.
Allowances and considerations for a new, multigenerational workforce
Increased accessibility and an end to traditional professional hierarchies
Utilization of new technologies to track and improve productivity
Flexible solutions so that employees have more freedom to do what they do best
Improved employee experience through perks, benefits and social connections
(E)nhancements and (N)ext-ups
We’re truly blessed to live in such a technologically advanced time that offers so many amazing and mind-blowing solutions to problems both old and new – and companies should embrace this brave new world with gusto! Especially in the last two years, senior living has seen many new and exciting innovations designed to help seniors with social isolation, dynamic engagement, lifelong learning and more. Consider these technologies and solutions to enhance your community in 2023.
Shared experiences and virtual reality from Rendever
Liftware, a life-changing smart handle
Emergency call software, telehealth options, digital management and other technological solutions
Mental health platforms for seniors in need of memory care like Rippl, or platforms like Givers, which helps family caregivers take advantage of tax credits, state programs, reimbursements and more
A smart cushion for wheelchairs to prevent pressure injuries
Cognishape, an online training program that keeps older adults sharp, creative and socially engaged
(D)isruption
Predicting “chaos,” seeing “disruption” on the horizon – perhaps these things sound nerve-wracking but really, from a marketing standpoint and from an innovative perspective, they’re not threats or dangers but opportunities to improve our products, offerings – and seniors’ lives. Another word for interruptions like this, which change the way we think and understand different problems and solutions in our industry, is “game changers.” Here are just a few games we’ve seen changed in 2022 and ideas we’re eager to hear more about and implement in 2023.
Affinity districts – a new neighborhood concept focused on behaviors over buildings and based on shared activities, mobility, foods and creativity
Post-pandemic trends and lessons about the Spanish Flu and the old and new roaring 20s
Social media branding in 2023 and how/why brands are built on social media
The internet of things and new, emerging technologies relate to it
(S)hout-outs
It’s not a celebration without some well-deserved shoutouts. Here are some of our favorite moments, tactics, methods, tips, accomplishments and more from the last year.
The Point of the Story: Romantic gondola rides (on land!) have got to be our new favorite parade
A Multigenerational Social Experiment: this first-of-its-kind senior living technology-enabled design showcase in a renovated World War I-era Columbus, OH, mansion was open to anyone interested in the future of aging in place
In Their FACE: Guerilla-style marketing is still a solid disruption and we can prove it
Benefits Say Whaaat?: One to five solid ways to attract the self-starters you need
VR Is Where It’s At: The future of VR in healthcare is so bright we gotta wear goggles
Shining Leadership: Women leading the way with partnership and powerful purpose
Seeing Into the Future with The ADage Marketing Group
For most, hindsight is 20/20; but in marketing, foresight needs to be just as clear – if not perfectly crystallized…yet! Access our 2023 TRENDS Survey to help us predict and design a bright future for all.