“Retirement villages run the risk of becoming irrelevant within five years”
This was my opening statement on the podium at this year’s LEADERS SUMMIT. (Strangely nobody challenged me).
Last Sunday however, I experienced an event that tells me villages may become irrelevant within three years, not five.
I was visiting my daughter, a mother of two under the age of 20 months, and she had just installed a Google Home. They were talking to each other.
Request: “OK Google, play some jazz”.
Google Home “I have assembled a collection of Miles Davis. Is that OK”.
Request: “OK Google, how long will it take to drive to Balmain if I leave now”.
Google Home: “Allow 40 minutes over the Spit Bridge and Mosman”. (Correct answer to the minute)!
Why am I telling you this?
Based on close to $1M worth of research we have conducted over nine years, we know that customers buy into retirement villages because they have experienced one of three events: a physical, financial or an emotional event.
The value proposition of villages is that by taking action to satisfy the discomfort of these event brings ‘contentment’.
“I had a problem; I took action; I now have a plan in place for the rest of my days”. Contentment.
Villages deliver with a safe environment, a lower housing entry cost and a built-in community, overseen by a steadying influence, being the village manager.
My hypothesis is that a standard apartment will be able to deliver the same proposition, or even better.
And the cornerstone is technology – with Google Home (and Amazon Echo) now accelerating this support and connectivity, at a price of just $159.