It is evident to me that Sun City has embarked on an aggressive advertising and promotional strategy to promote its virtues, which are many. Examples include the visitors center, promotional brochures, website, recent tour bus, and the March General Manager's Report which discusses TV commercials. I find such promotional activities consistent with developers promoting new, unsold communities, but have never seen this approach with fully developed, fully sold communities. I'm curious as to the strategic objectives behind this aggressive promotional campaign as it has caught my fancy for its unique nature.
Great questions R, you're way ahead of most folks getting their head around what we are attempting to do. We are in fact taking a serious look at how the original Sun City was marketed and sold under John Meeker from 1965 through 1978 when they averaged 2000 home sales per year. The beauty is we can incorporate today's technologies to reach people rather than relying on print ads that DEVCO used almost exclusively. I probably feel more strongly about what we are doing than some other board members; mostly because I've had some experience with Reis and Trout and that whole first in strategy. While most developer's have Play and Stay packages, I feel we should buy several units for short term rentals. We know of no built out communities that are doing that. There are several reasons to market Sun City. There was a brief period where too many people looked at us as a "cheap" place to live. It caused some problems as people found themselves upside down and angry they had to pay rec fees. We're moving past that, in the last year we had 2500 properties change hands. The largest percentage of those people are excited to be living here and all it offers. Our target market is boomers and we are in the process of trying to understand exactly what that means to us long term. Hopefully this fall we will be holding a strategic planning session with approximately 100 stakeholders in the community to discuss the future. I'm a huge fan of aggressively laying open potential problems to insure we manage them rather than the problems managing us. The board is onboard with this plan; the details need be worked out. Sun City is perfectly positioned for years to come. We have no debt, we never will and our Preservation and Improvement Fund (PIF) brings in 5 to 8 million dollars per year (to be used on projects of more than 15 years and $300,000.) By marketing we can do things at an even faster pace and bring people to the community who want to live this remarkable lifestyle. One of the most unique characteristics of Sun City is we are self governed. By showcasing that aspect of the community we hope to attract people who see that as a plus; who want more than playing golf or laying by the pool. We want to attract buyers who want to give back to maintain the values that were built into Sun City over the years. Hope that helps.
Excellent explanation. I will be watching to see the effects. Four (4) houses on my street sold this year. One (1) to relatives which is a real plus+.
Interesting point E and one I would amplify on: When Paul Herrmann (Visitor Center director) and pushed for the formation of the Next Gen club and one of our goals was to create a mentor type relationship for potential boomer buyers. The good news was a bunch of the earliest members to the club stepped up to build it and both Paul and I got out of the way. It went in a totally different direction with it becoming more of a social gathering club for younger residents, which is how clubs should work. I am an advocate of long range planning (looking forward to the next 20 years) and have suggested we (the RCSC) do big picture Sun City strategic plans. In my world we would invite stakeholders and those with a vision to consider where we would like to see Sun City go. The board is considering such an event, but it isn't typically how the community has been run for years. Curious how folks would see that kind of a get together?
