‘Care’ is now established as a buzzword in the retirement village sector.
Delivering care services into villages is now a major service to residents.
But is it a turn-on or a turn-off as a marketing tool to potential residents?
Research shows that people living in their own homes do not want ‘care’ delivered into their homes; they want ‘support’.
‘Care’ refers to services to people who really can’t look after themselves – they need care.
‘Support’ means I am okay, but I wouldn’t mind a bit of a hand occasionally.
Here in NSW, UnitingCare, one of our largest home care providers (and residential care providers) changed its name simply to Uniting two years ago because its customers said they found receiving support services from UnitingCare belittling.
Now online ‘care support’ disruptor Better Caring has picked up on this message, changing its name to Mable.
Peter Scutt, co-founder and CEO of Mable said feedback from the Better Caring community drove the decision to rebrand: “Since the beginnings of Better Caring, we’ve been hearing from those in our community who have said our previous name made us sound like a traditional care provider rather than a bold innovator. And many people in our community didn’t need care, rather they wanted support to live independently and be included”.
It makes sense and the name Mable sure is a lot more uplifting.
What do you think? And will you be marketing ‘care’ or ‘support’?