Marketers honored for ground-breaking positive images of active aging

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Winners of first-ever ICAA Rebranding Aging awards announced at ICAA 2011.

VANCOUVER--Goodbye bingo; hello wellness programs, ice cream socials, drawing, painting, traveling, belly dancing and other life-enhancing activities. That’s the message from savvy marketers of organizations targeted to 50+ consumers. Those organizations are winners of the first-ever International Council on Active Aging (ICAA) Rebranding Aging awards, which honor marketing campaigns in three major categories that present “positive, realistic views of aging,” said ICAA Colin Milner. Milner announced the awards at the 10th annual International Council on Active Aging Conference here.

“Research shows that relatively few marketers focus on the older-adult demographic, and most of those who do get a failing grade. We need shining examples from people who ‘get’ this market so that others can look and learn from them,” says Milner. “By recognizing these trailblazers, we are providing tools to guide the efforts of other marketers going down this path. Our winners show it’s very possible to createjavascript:void(0); compelling marketing pieces without reinforcing stereotypes.”

The following organizations were honored for helping to rebrand aging by positioning this life stage in a realistic and positive light, rather than as a burden. The awards are part of ICAA’s Changing the Way We Age® Campaign (http://www.changingthewayweage.com), an ongoing movement to change society’s perceptions of aging and what it means to be an older adult in North America today.

Brochures

Gold award: Touchmark Communities for The {Full} Life
Silver award: Vivante for Enhanced Living on the Coast
Bronze award: Immanuel Communities for Every Community is Unique

Direct mail

Gold award: Shannondell at Valley Forge for Inspiring Stories
Silver award: Arbor Ridge for Arbor Ridge U
Bronze award: Wellness Institute for Active Aging Passport/Age Actively with Us

Advertising

Gold award: Groundzero Marketing
Silver award: Shannondell at Valley Forge
Bronze award: Atria Senior Living
Winners were highlighted in a PowerPoint presentation at ICAA 2011. Top winners were also promoted on conference display boards, and will be highlighted in ICAA’s Journal on Active Aging.

Criteria

ICAA received about 70 submissions from organizations throughout the United States and Canada. Awards were made by a panel of experts on the 50+ market. The criteria were as follows: Message and imagery resonates with the target audience and/or evokes positive image of aging (30%); call to action is clear and compelling (30%); ad layout and graphic standards are appealing and appropriate for the target market (20%); overall uniqueness and creativity (20%).

About the International Council on Active Aging (ICAA)
ICAA, the professional association that leads, connects and defines the active-aging industry, supports professionals who develop wellness facilities, programs and services for adults over 50. The association is focused on active aging-an approach to aging that helps older adults live as fully as possible within all dimensions of wellness-and provides its members with education, information, resources and tools. As an active-aging educator and advocate, ICAA has advised numerous organizations and governmental bodies, including the US Administration on Aging, the National Institute on Aging (one of the US National Institutes of Health), the US Department of Health and Human Services, Canada's Special Senate Committee on Aging, and the British Columbia ministries of Health, and Healthy Living and Sport. On October 1, 2011-the International Day of Older Persons-ICAA celebrated its 10th Anniversary and a decade of Changing the Way We Age®.

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For interviews please contact:

Contact: Colin Milner, CEO, ICAA
Toll-free: 1-866-335-9777 (North America)
Telephone: 604-734-4466; cell: 604-763-4595
colinmilner@icaa.cc

Contact: Marilynn Larkin
Communications Director, ICAA
212-315-3301
mlarkin@icaa.cc