With the ethos of “positive ageing,” at the centre of its communication strategy, Columbia Pacific Communities has spread continuous awareness around issues related to senior citizens in India.
Bengaluru, October 5, 2021: Enthralling juries and people across categories with its concerted efforts in spreading awareness around positive ageing, Columbia Pacific Communities has emerged as one of the most awarded brands in Marketing in a short span of two years. Since 2019, Columbia Pacific Communities, India’s largest senior living community operator, has bagged 34 marketing awards for campaigns aimed at breaking ageist stereotypes and shining the spotlight on various challenges faced by the elderly.
In the stated period, the brand launched 11 primarily digital-led campaigns and initiatives viz. Unretire, Signs of Love, Community Beats Uncertainty, Love Beyond Age, Positive Ageing with Ruskin Bond, Seniors in Command, OK Boomer, a TVC, Love, Not Labels, Relearn, and south India’s first senior citizen’s flash mob. Each of these campaigns were based on a refreshing idea and strong customer insights and addressed specific challenges or shattered stereotypes associated with ageing and the elderly.
The key issues highlighted by the campaigns include impact of isolation on the elderly amidst the pandemic, ageist notions associated with seniors and the various negative labels that are given to senior citizens, awareness on mental health challenges and challenging the notion of retirement. There were initiatives that underlined seniors’ passion towards celebrating life and diving headlong into new and unique experiences such as learning sign language to perform to a speech and hearing impaired audience.
Being a niche brand in an unconventional category, Columbia Pacific Communities competes against campaigns from large brands in established categories with huge marketing budgets. Executed with shoe-string budgets, each of the digital campaigns was dependent on out-of-the-box ideas backed by strong customer insights. Cumulatively, the campaigns garnered a cumulative reach of 1.85 crore users on digital platforms
Sharing her thoughts on the recognitions received by the brand, Piali Dasgupta, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Columbia Pacific Communities, said “It gives us immense pleasure and satisfaction to see that positive ageing, something we genuinely believe in, has been so well received by the audience and juries alike. We are really proud to be doing our bit in steering social change and creating a better world for our seniors. We feel it is the strong public reception that is recognised by the juries. Our strength lies in our resolve, mission and the art of storytelling. We intend to continue crafting impactful communication around positive ageing across channels and continue to be a thought leader in this space”
Some of the key awards won by the brand include the following:
- ET Shark Awards 2021 – Small budget marketing campaign – Positive Ageing with Ruskin Bond
- mCube Awards 2021 – Best Content in an Influencer Marketing Campaign – Unretire
- Campaign India Media 30 Awards 2021 – Best Use of Experiential – #SignsOfLove
- Campaign India Media 30 Awards 2021 – Product Sector Categories Real Estate – The Virtuoso Club and Serviced Residences
- E4M Health & Marcom Awards 2021 – Best social media campaign – #SignsOfLove
- vIDEA Awards 2021 – Best Video Content in a Digital Campaign by/for a Real Estate Enterprise – Community Beats Uncertainty
- Rising Star Awards 2021 – Real Estate – LoveBeyondAge
- DOD Awards 2020 – Best Digital Strategy/Campaign by/for a Real Estate Enterprise – #SeniorsInCommand
- DOD Awards 2020 – Best Real Estate Blog/Website
- vIDEA Awards 2020 – Best Video Content in a Traditional Media Campaign by/for a Commercial Real Estate Enterprise – TVC
- vIDEA Awards 2020 – Best Video Content in a Digital Campaign by/for a Commercial Real Estate Enterprise – Love, Not labels
- mCube Awards 2020 – Best Experiential Marketing Campaign (Offline) – Flash Mob
- Campaign India Media 360 Awards 2020 – Flash Mob
- ICL Awards 2020 – Most Engaging Content in a Social Media Marketing Campaign #OkBoomer
- Inspirational Leaders of India by White Page International
- ICL 2019 – India Content Leadership Awards and Conference – Website
- Big Bang Awards 2019 by The Advertising Club Bangalore – Launch of The Virtuoso Club and Serviced Residences
- Ayaz Peerbhoy Award – Big Bang Awards 2019 by The Advertising Club Bangalore – RELEARN
- ET Now Real Estate Awards – Columbia Pacific Communities Website
Columbia Pacific Communities believes in being a content-first and a digital-first brand. The brand takes extra efforts in understanding its customer segment and their pain points with the intention of bringing about real change. Consequently, in 2021, the brand released India’s first ever report on attitudes around ageing, The Positive Ageing Report, which gave key insights on the changing aspirations, needs of senior citizens and their view of ageing in the 21st century. The brand uses an amalgamation of mediums such as digital, print and PR to amplify their campaigns and has managed to increase brand awareness in a brief period of time.
