From blending into a formulaic category
To addressing aging’s growing loneliness epidemic.
CHALLENGE
More than ever, seniors are choosing to stay at home longer, often at the expense of their physical, mental, and emotional well-being. But moving into senior living is an emotional, high-stakes decision for seniors and families, and the category has historically made that choice feel clinical, cold, or premature. Benchmark needed a modern brand and campaign that could inspire action earlier and reframe senior living as a pathway to a better life, not the end of one.
STRATEGY
Loneliness is one of the biggest health threats to aging and, quite frankly, the most overlooked. Our strategy was to position Benchmark as the antidote: a place where human connection isn’t a perk, it’s the point. By shifting the conversation away from amenities and into emotional truth, we made “community” the real product, showing that at Benchmark, care happens through relationships, daily interactions, and the dignity of being truly known.
CREATIVE SOLUTION
We reinvented Benchmark with a brand system and campaign designed to feel like a possibility. Moving away from category clichés, we embraced the real textures of aging and celebrated the quiet, everyday moments where connection restores life.
With a platform we called “Welcome Home”, we brought this to life through warm, cinematic storytelling and simple, human lines showing residents’ days threaded with trust, compassion, and continuous care.
Across brand film, social, OOH, digital and a revitalized visual identity, we made Benchmark feel modern, welcoming, and emotionally unmistakable — confronting the risks of isolation and positioning Benchmark as the remedy of community.
RETURN ON CREATIVE
- +13.5% YoY increase in digital and non-digital leads
- +13.4% increase in tours
- +28.3% increase in move-ins
- +3.7% increase in community occupancy
- Highest occupancy since pre-pandemic; Q3/Q4 occupancy up 2.8 pts with 6% more move-ins vs. prior year
- Non-digital leads +15.4% YoY; lead-to-move-in conversion up (including +9.3% from new digital strategy)
