With all marketing activities slashed during the pandemic, Bridge Senior Living needed to convince and educate its 5,000 residents in 24 U.S. markets on how to stay safe, give them and their families peace of mind about care and safety during the shelter-in-place order, and keep the brand away from rampant negative "nursing home" news coverage to protect the long-term health of the Bridge brand. This PR campaign positively impacted our audiences' health (literally), while doing more to differentiate the brand than any previous marketing or PR initiative, generating over $6 million in earned media with zero budget.

Isolation is always a problem for seniors in assisted living facilities, leading to increased risk of dementia and serious decline in health. Then suddenly with COVID-19, seniors weren’t able to leave their rooms, talk to each other, or even see their families.

Our brief was to give Bridge Senior Living a way to help their residents battle isolation, while staying safe. We knew that having staff or a corporate message just telling seniors to stay apart wouldn’t work – we needed to find a way for it to come from the seniors themselves.

Our objectives:

1. Give residents a way to stay connected while encouraging them to keep apart.

2. Reassure residents and their families/caregivers that Bridge is leading the way on pandemic care.

3. Avoid negative “nursing home” news coverage that could harm the brand by proactively creating positive news coverage about Bridge’s efforts.

“A pirate radio station run by real Resident DJs at retirement communities across the country, so they can stay connected while they're confined to their rooms.”

Weeks after the pandemic broke, we launched Radio Recliner, the digital radio station designed to turn dedication radio into a new social media for seniors. We worked with Bridge Lifestyle Directors across the country to identify seniors to host their own radio shows. These Resident DJs share stories and songs from the comfort of their recliners, recording their shows by phone. They give shoutouts to friends, family, and staff. They give tips for getting through the pandemic. It’s also very interactive - any retiree, and their families who are missing them, can participate by calling 855-863-0050 to tell a story and dedicate a song.

By tapping into the power of music and a natural behavior from the residents’ past, Radio Recliner helped them cope.

INSIGHT: If we could proactively help residents fight isolation, we could keep them happy, healthy, and connected.

KEY MESSAGE: These seniors are running their own pirate radio station to stay connected while keeping apart.

AUDIENCES: Internal – Bridge residents, families, staff. External – national media.

CREATION: DJs were given a list of questions (including what songs to play and a memory associated with each). They picked a DJ name, then we interviewed them by phone, recording their stories and tips for surviving quarantine, and turned the audio into hour-long programs.

The station and website launched in April 2020, supported by a social messaging and email campaign (to encourage family participation) and in-facility signage about signing up as a DJ. Flyers in all Bridge communities explained how to participate and tune in. Lifestyle directors at the communities used Radio Recliner as a tool to keep residents engaged while activities were suspended.

We built a digital asset library that included station logos, DJ materials (photographs, videos of them recording their shows, segment audio), and a video of our station director describing the concept. This limited the media’s need to call us to package a story.

We started in local markets, planning to use the resulting clips to entice national networks, who were relying heavily on local affiliates for stories in April and May 2020.

In the first week we secured stories in Atlanta, Savannah, Birmingham, Huntsville, and Nashville, plus AdAge and Adweek. We leveraged those results to pitch & secure interest from the Associated Press.

We then used the resulting Associated Press print story & APTV story to reach out to national news desks, resulting in stories with CBS This Morning, Live! With Kelly and Ryan, Scripps News Service, NPR, Washington Post, New York Post and more.

MEDIA OUTPUTS:

• 256 unique stories • 53.3 million impressions • $6 million earned media/ad value • 3.9 million social impressions • 24 straight days of positive coverage

-The AP story was picked up in 85 markets plus New York Times, USA Today, Yahoo! News

-AP television segment aired in 38 markets

-CBS This Morning aired two stories: a minute-long piece and a four-minute feature with four DJ interviews

-Site visits jumped 46% immediately following a story featuring Radio Recliner's station director on “Live! With Kelly and Ryan”

-A 2-minute TV segment secured with Scripps News Service aired in 26 markets

-Stories with DJ interviews aired on NPR’s “All Things Considered” and “Weekend Edition” plus iHeartRadio’s “The Michael Berry Show”

-Washington Post story (and subsequent podcast) and New York Post feature led to a full-page story in the San Diego Tribune

-Dolly Parton saw the coverage, and recorded a personal thank you to the DJs

TARGET OUTCOMES:

-100+ residents participated as DJs.

-1,000s of family dedications and calls came in from all 50 states, plus the United Kingdom, Russia, France, Ecuador, South Korea, and many more.

-Less than 1% of residents contracted coronavirus

-Bridge wasn’t mentioned in a single negative story

BUSINESS OUTCOMES:

-Bridge was a lone bright spot in news coverage about the senior housing industry

-Created a unique point of difference in a category with little innovation

-Generated 4,144 unique and qualified emails

-Bridge committed to fund the program 24/7 indefinitely, with new DJs broadcasting all the time

With 5,000 residents in 25 U.S. communities, Bridge Senior Living is a leader in senior care. Bridge stands out in the marketplace by constantly proving their brand purpose, "Full of Life."

When the pandemic hit, all residents were suddenly forced to isolate in their rooms, unable to see each other or even their families. We knew that isolation leads to dementia and serious decline in health among seniors, so we tapped into the brand purpose to help them stay connected and happy, while encouraging them to stay safe.

Since they grew up with dedication radio, we used it to create a new social media for seniors that helped them cope through the pandemic.

The story went way beyond Bridge Senior Living’s facilities, with participation, listeners, and call-ins from all 50 states and all over the world. It’s generated $6MM in earned media, including national TV, radio, and newspapers.