Masonicare at Mystic

Case Study

Developing a brand for new senior living community to attract residents prior to construction.

Many people dream of living on the shore, especially in retirement. But, owning property on the coast can be expensive. Masonicare capitalized on an opportunity to build a brand new senior rental and care community in the charming town of Mystic, Connecticut.

Having recently completed focus groups for Masonicare, we had a great understanding of who the Masonicare at Mystic brand would be ideal for. We tapped into our target audience’s desire of living on the shoreline and leaned into the ‘romance’ of this type of living as a basis for the brand.

Brand Identity

Logo Design

Inspired by beautiful sunrises and seagulls, the brand identity captures the ‘romance’ of shoreline living while keeping within Masonicare’s existing brand guidelines. The circular shape mimics the sun, while two pillars (representing independent and assisted living) are connected by a seagull for form the letter M (symbolizing Masonicare and Mystic). The identity serves as the brand face for Masonicare at Mystic’s marketing efforts and continues to embody the spirit of this premier shoreline senior living community.

Brand Photography

Volunteer Models

Using volunteers from Masonicare’s existing communities as models (everyone signed a model release) we photographed their entire day exploring the area attractions, including the shops on Main Street, Mystic Seaport, Mystic Aquarium, and the model apartment in the sales office. The photography was used as the main visuals for the website and marketing materials.

Valuable insights were gained from each volunteer about their experience and what they loved about the area – many were interested in living here! Their insights provided a first hand view of our target audience’s thoughts and behaviors. These helped drive content for sales and marketing communications.

Website Design

Customer Friendly Design

Keeping the website consumer friendly was a top priority. Visitors will always be one click away from the information they are seeking. To accomplish this, a vertical bar contains the navigation, call to action, and up coming events – all of which were fixed (always present) no matter where a visitor was on the website.

A key feature built into the website allows each visitor to increase or decrease the type size on the website, depending on their preference. Readability is important for visitors with visual impairments.

Brand Communication Design

Sales Folder Design

The sales folder serves two purposes. First, to provide visitors to the sales office (which included a full-scale apartment model) with information to remind them of the visit. Second, to mail prospective residents the information when requested from the website. The folder contained frequently asked questions, apartment plans, fee schedule, and an overview brochure of the area.

Advertising

Awareness campaign focused on attracting Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New York residents to visit the website to learn more information about this exciting new community.