Seniors at Home provides in-home non-medical care services for seniors. As an emerging company established in 2004, they are still developing their marketing strategy and rely primarily on referrals for new business. The document analyzes Seniors at Home's marketing orientation, life cycle, SWOT analysis, branding, gaps, product mix, growth opportunities, supply chain, product, placement, positioning, promotion, price, process, people, and props to provide recommendations on how to strengthen their marketing approach and drive more growth. Key recommendations include developing a formal marketing plan, investing more in promotion and advertising, and addressing issues around their office location being difficult to find.

1. Marketing Assessment for
Seniors At Home
Prepared
By
Karina Sanchez
May 2008

2. Seniors at Home Marketing Assessment Karina Sanchez
1.1 Orientation
Product
Established in 2004, Seniors at Home is in the 10- Market
business of providing at-home non-medical
9-
senior care. This service is provided by highly
trained and certified care-providers who
8-
address the individual needs of every senior. Societal
The revenue for Seniors at Home is limited by 7-
the number of care- givers who can provide this Production
service. Seniors at Home current orientations is 6-
predominantly product and marketing. Sales
5-
2.1 Life Cycle
Seniors at Home is in the emerging state. They
are a fairly new company in the business with 4
years in the field. Most of the all of their
Emerging
business has been obtained through referrals.
Right now they are trying to achieve adoption.
To grow sales, Seniors at Home needs to invest
in marketing to create awareness and
branding. Also they need to offer a free trial of
the service catered information sessions.
2.2 SWOT / Differentiation Analysis
Seniors at Home is a non-medical care service business who provides companions and
homecare for seniors. Presently Seniors at Home provides service for 40 seniors. The
competitors for Seniors at Home outperform it with respect to their advertisement,
marketing network, wages and benefits. However, out of 5 competitors Seniors at Home is
one of the two service providers who are CAA certified. This certification helps them create a
differentiation, but is still very weak.
To grow, Seniors at Home needs to invest in marketing. Moreover, they also need to create a
marketing plan, which currently does not exist. Their goal should be to emphasize the existing
differentiation and create another that can help them strengthen against competitors.
Potential Leader
2.3 Brand Analysis / DREK
DR Hi, EK Lo DREK Hi
Page 2 of 11
New Eroding
DREK Lo EK Hi, DR Lo

3. Seniors at Home Marketing Assessment Karina Sanchez
Seniors at Home is weak in
Differentiation. They are very strong in
relevance because there is a growing
need for senior care. There is also a high
esteem for this service because it also
reflects an economic status. However,
they are very low in knowledge because
not many people know that they are
offering this service.
To grow, Seniors at Home needs to
strengthen its differentiation and invest
in promotion to create awareness.
2.4 Gap Analysis
Create
The biggest gap for Seniors at Home is that there is no Gap 1. No Traffic
traffic. All of their business has been on referrals so
Communicate
they need to start generating traffic on their own.
Gap 2. No sales or no satisfaction
To grow, Seniors at Home needs better
Deliver
communication. At-home senior care is a fast growing
industry with high demand and Seniors at Home can
satisfy that demand; however, it needs to find a way
to better communicate it to its target customers.
2.5 Product Mix
Service
10 People
Seniors at Home markets a Experience
9
service, an experience, and
8
people. The company has
invested in events and
7 Event
community development. The
6
company has not invested in
5
goods, places, properties,
organizations, information,
4 Good Place
and ideas.
3 Ideas
Org
Propert
To grow, Seniors at Home needs 2 develop a mix of products that can appeal to the values of
to Info
the target customer.
1
2.6 Growth Opportunities
Page 3 of 11

4. Seniors at Home Marketing Assessment Karina Sanchez
Seniors at Home has many opportunities
to grow revenue:
Line Extension Diversification
a. Increase the number of hours of Market New Products Create New Products for
service current customers receive. To Current Customers New Markets
b. Introduce medical senior care for Medical Senior Care At-Home care for
Disabled people
current customers.
c. Expend the area of service to Eastlake, Penetration Expansion
Chula Vista and Orange County. Market More Current Market Current
Product to Existing Products to New Market
d. Introduce at home care for disabled
Customers Eastlake, OC
patients.
2.7 Supply Chain
Seniors at Home has a single role in the
Raw
supply chain – they are a service provider. Materials
They are last in the supply chain. Seniors at
Home can expand its role by integrating Components
products with that service. For example, it
can create a line of foods for customers that
compliments the service given, or create a Products
book of care giving tips designed only for the
needs of the seniors.
Accessories
The demand for Seniors at Home is derived
on its caregivers. They are depended on
people in order to operate. They need to Consumables
maintain a strong company policy about rules
and regulations. It is also important that they
S
Service
establish a good program of benefits and
wages for their employees so they can avoid
turnover due to better offers from
competitors.
4.1 Product
Page 4 of 11

5. Seniors at Home Marketing Assessment Karina Sanchez
The product that Seniors at Home sells is
intangible. Seniors at Home provides a service, an
experience, and people for you must pay before
How to Reduce
you consume. The disadvantage of an intangible
Consumer Risk?
product is that you face higher Buyer’s Remorse
because you can’t experience it before buying it. Information
Sessions
What Seniors at Home can do to reduce this
Consumer Risk is to offer lots of information, host Free Trials
information sessions, to the public where they can
Special Offers
inform about how important it is to give proper
care to the elderly and how Seniors at Home is the
best option for that. Also they can offer the first
hour of care free, and incentives for special rates.
4.1a Product Line Management
The line of product that Seniors at Home offers is of Simple Structure. The same service is
provided independently of the amount of hours of service. Seniors at Home requires at least
12 hours of service per week. The live-in care rate is higher than the hourly service. However,
there is opportunity to up-sell the amount of hours, meaning increase the amount of hours
of service, and/or to cross sell into live-in care, which is when the care-givers lives at home
with the senior.
Seniors at Home
At-home non-medical senior care
Hourly Service Includes: Live-in service Includes:
• Safety Monitoring
• All of the services as the hourly
• Assistance w/ bathing oral care,
service plus,
grooming, and dressing
• 24-hr care.
• Planning and preparing meals
• Assistance w/ walking, light
exercise
• Medication reminder
• Light house keeping
• Running errands and
transportation
4.2 Placement
Seniors at Home conducts Business-to-Consumer transactions. They are a local company
located in Hillcrest, and they service customers in La Jolla, Downtown San Diego, Hillcrest,
Coronado, and Scripts Ranch. Seniors at Home provides a service for seniors, but the target
consumer is the adult in charge of taking care of the senior. As the Baby-Boomer generation
Page 5 of 11

6. Seniors at Home Marketing Assessment Karina Sanchez
is almost at retirement the need for senior care is growing. People have very active lives and
many times cannot dedicate the time needed to care for their elderly relatives. That is the
target segment for Seniors at Home. The company has found that in the majority of the
time it is a woman who is left with the duty to care for the elderly relative. The segment
they are marketing to are women with income of $70,000 or more who live busy lifestyles
and who seek professional services that offer quality and reliability, best described by
Cohorts Segmentation as an Elizabeth and a Virginia. These segments are in need for a
service that will provide a senior care at the higher standards of quality, safety, and
reliability.
4.3 Positioning / Mission
Seniors at Home holds as it mission “to ensure a better quality of life for our elderly clients
and their families, by providing dependable and affordable care.”
Seniors at Home uses a positioning strategy that relies on quality. Seniors at Home meets the
values of these segments because these are affluent women who have very active/busy
lifestyles and who value quality. Seniors at Home provides quality in service level, safety,
knowledge, and reliability. Seniors at Home delivers product through people, and these
people go through vigorous screening and background checks. Moreover, they are educated
and certified in senior care. The care-givers are constantly evaluated and trained to ensure
the best service is being provided. Furthermore, they offer reliability by providing a 24-hr
service and call number where it is guaranteed that an administrator will assist any concern.
4.4 Promotion
Seniors at Home has a weak promotion plan. Currently, they only have one ad and that is in
the New Lifestyles magazine. Besides that, they rely on door-to-door marketing. They have a
representative go to “relevant” doctor’s offices to leave brochures. Also they are currently
sponsoring two community events, one for mother’s day and one in June.
Page 6 of 11

7. Seniors at Home Marketing Assessment Karina Sanchez
Seniors at Home needs to create new ways to penetrate and promote it self in the
community. More ads need to be placed on magazines. Moreover, Seniors at Home can
achieve more promotion by seeking media coverage for those two events. Also, Seniors at
Home could offer classes of senior living at local senior centers that way they can brand
themselves and achieve community recognition.
Seniors at Home uses as a marketing/ advertisement shield a network called Senior’s Choice. The
company markets it self as the local senior care agency, however, this network is national so the
consumer gets confused because it is the same logo. They Seniors at Home is not a franchise but by
using the same logo as a national network it creates confusion. Also, the brochures used by the
company focus on Senior’s Choice so it is inconsistent with them trying to promote it self as a local
company when they are using a bigger national agency as a marketing bed.
“As a member of The Senior's Choice, a leading companion care
service provider for over 18 years, our mission is to ensure a
better quality of life for our elderly clients and their families, by
providing dependable and affordable care.”
Quote that appears on center on home page www.seniors-at-home.net
*Seniors at Home has only been in business since 2004
*Who are they advertising?
Seniors At Home
As a consumer it is hard to differentiate who is being promoted. If they choose to keep
using Senior’s Choice as a template they need to create a stronger differentiation so that
the consumer can tell them apart. Maybe they want to change logos, or not associate so
much with Senior’s Choice.
4.5 Price
Seniors at Home has the following rage of prices:
Hourly Rates:
-From $19-$24 p/hr, depending on the level of care and supervision required
Daily Live-in Rates:
Page 7 of 11

8. Seniors at Home Marketing Assessment Karina Sanchez
-$200-$320 p/day, depending on the level of supervision required
Short notice service:
-Service w/o 24hr notice = $50 service fee
Holidays
-Time-and-a-half is applied on major holidays
Mileage Rate (for transportation services)
-$.50 p/mile (caregiver’s car) *no charge to drive customer’s car
Their prices fairly low for the industry. As an emerging company they are concerned about
keeping the prices competitive in order to penetrate the industry.
4.6 Process
Seniors at Home does not have a “process” established. There is no marketing plan in
effect, therefore there is no way to measure what the ROMI. Moreover, Seniors at Home
has not developed a plan to generate traffic. They are making it up as they go. All of the
business has been generated through referrals. There is no marketing role established.
Not having a marketing plan means that there is no direction to take. Any king of promotion
done has a slim chance of being effective because there is no thought or research behind it.
There are four people who run the office, and one marketing intern who goes to do the
door-to-door marketing.
Seniors at Home needs to implement a marketing plan so that they can measure their
ROMI. Roles need to be established and a marketing position needs to be fulfilled for a full
time status.
4.7 People
Seniors at Home depends entirely on people.
Because they provide a service, it is through
people that they deliver their product. Seniors
at Home currently employs 43 care-givers.
These care-givers go rigorous background
S
Service=People
Page 8 of 11

9. Seniors at Home Marketing Assessment Karina Sanchez
checks and intense training. Moreover, its
owner and director is a Certified Senior Advisor.
Seniors at Home hires people based on
attitude. The care-givers deal with senior
customers; these can be very difficult at times.
That is why the company spends so much time
in employee education. They company
understands that they are completely liable for
their agents. In addition, Seniors at Home must
train their employees on how to handle
emergency situations because they cannot
perform any kind of medical procedure on the
customer; this includes healing, or any kind of
first aid response. Care-givers are constantly
motivated to perform at their best capacities.
They are empowered with autonomy because
they are working onsite; also they have
reliability that someone will always attend their
concerns.
Seniors at Home monitors very closely the dress attire of the care-givers to ensure the
proper image is being delivered. Moreover, a full revision on the care-givers driving record
is done for the safety of those customers who require transportation.
Seniors at Home takes all possible precautions to guarantee that the people working with
the senior customer are qualified at best and that their safety is guaranteed at all level. The
care-givers are what drives the business in the end, the more prepared the people are the
higher the level of satisfaction.
Seniors at home also relies on people for its marketing; they rely on people to communicate
and educate consumers about the product. The company relies on Network Marketing
(MLM).
4.8 Props
The props that Seniors at Home utilizes are mostly atmospheric. Seniors at Home focuses on
projecting an image of being home. The office building is actually a house located on
Hillcrest. They are marketing the image of being a friendly, cozy, and nice organization. The
inside of the building is just like a home. There is a poodle by the name of Sasha playing
around, fresh cookies are always baking, and there are many little decorations that make
the place inviting, comfortable, and with a home atmosphere.
Page 9 of 11

10. Seniors at Home Marketing Assessment Karina Sanchez
All of the decorations and paintings inside the house
are themed with hearts. This is to create harmony
with the company’s logo, which is a heart. It is a way
to stimulate branding. The furniture in the house is
very inviting.
One thing to note, however, is that because the office building is a house, it is hard to find.
It does have a sign, but it is relatively small. Also the sign gets lost with the green arch-way
that frames the entrance blocking it. When driving by, one will probably miss it the first or
second time. It is very important that this issue gets fix right away because it is decreasing
traffic as people can’t find the place, and as they can’t see the sign that lets them know
what kind of business is done in that place if any as one might think its just a house.
Other props used by the company are brochures, pens, folders, post-its, business cards, and
they now created a newsletter which will be delivered to existing customers and a hand-out
for doctors’ offices.
The brochures which are currently being used are extremely confusing. The context markets
Seniors Choice, which is the network that Seniors at Home uses as backbone. The only thing
on those brochures that even says Seniors at Home is a sticker on the back page, everything
else is about Seniors choice. New brochures are being created, but mean while that what
they are giving out.
Seniors At Home was founded to provide caring
assistance for the senior in need and help relieve
stress brought on family caregivers.
Our affiliation with The Senior's Choice, a national
leader in senior care, allows us to share resources
and continually improve our services.
*included in the website at the bottom, www.seniors-at-home.net
The website is very weak. First, the address is www.seniors-at-home-.net which is confusing
to the customer because of the dashes in between. Also when one googles up the company,
there is another company with the same name and mission statement that is located in San
Francisco. When one finally gets to the website, again it is confusing to understand is they
are a franchise or are they privately owned because the first thing one sees is “Seniors
Choice”. The website is also under new construction, but mean while that is what the
consumer sees.
Page 10 of 11

11. Seniors at Home Marketing Assessment Karina Sanchez
This is from website www.seniorsathome.org
In conclusion:
Seniors at Home is at an emerging phase and its main focus is to penetrate and achieve
adoption. The weakest part in this organization is the lack of a marketing plan. It is of vital
importance that steps toward creating one are taken immediately as this is a crucial point
for the company; it cannot try to penetrate an industry with out the proper planning and
research. It is also very important that a professional team of marketers is contacted or
consulted so they can get directed properly. As this is a fast growing industry, in order to
survive the company must stay on top in concerns to all aspects.
Page 11 of 11