By Sam Richards

Staff writer

 

Monday, September 16 (10:30 a.m.): The newly formed GRF Marketing Task Force has a simple enough basic task – to figure out how to effectively get the word out about what Rossmoor is and make it attractive to prospective new residents.

But “building a brand” for Rossmoor may well be less straightforward, given the community’s ongoing evolution, changing economics and sometimes murky identity. Determining what Rossmoor is, and wants to be, will play heavily into this task force’s work.

Ann Peterson, Rossmoor’s director of communications, noted that it’s real estate agents who currently do the bulk of Rossmoor’s marketing. At the task force’s first meeting on Aug. 30 – the first of a planned six monthly meetings — she said Rossmoor management needs to reclaim some of that work as their own.

“It would be much better if we had more control of that message,” said Peterson, the task force’s GRF staff liaison.

Five Rossmoor residents – Amy Bollinger, Kevin Dowling, Michael Kuller, Linda Register and Kathleen Schaub – joined GRF Board members Ted Bentley and Dwight Walker (the task force chairman) on the task force, with two selected student fellows from the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business’s MBA program assigned to the Task Force as their special project.  Those students, who will not be voting task force members, will join the group in time for its October meeting.

“I think we’ll get some interesting perspectives from them,” Walker said of the Haas fellows.

The seven task force members, all with marketing experience from their professional careers, figure to bring plenty of their own ideas to the table as well. Figuring out just what Rossmoor is will likely be one of the first orders of business.

“Rossmoor’s not standing still,” Bollinger said. “We seem to be evolving along with the needs of the residents. The fact is, is always feels fresh and new here.”

In some ways, Rossmoor has appealed to a diverse group of customers – its residents – with a wide variety of housing and myriad choices of sports, entertainment, clubs and other activities. While the cost of a two-bedroom condo or coop unit is often lower than for a similar unit on the “outside,” the monthly coupon payments means living in Rossmoor is a more expensive, if more enriching, experience. GRF General Manager Jeff Matheson said that Rossmoor may have to move away from its multiple personalities.

“Are we trying to be affordable or are we trying to be premium?”  Matheson said. “The higher prices get, the harder it is to do both.”

If Rossmoor eventually opts to “control its message” by marketing itself as more of an upscale community, it has many selling points – dozens of clubs, varied sports and entertainment options, a highly diverse population and ample scenic beauty (“It’s like you’re living in a park,” one person said) among them.

”It’s well-established, trustworthy and has a good reputation,” Schaub said.

But there are several Rossmoors and/or Leisure Worlds in the United States, including in southern California and in Maryland. Marketing “Rossmoor Walnut Creek” may help the Bay Area’s onetime Leisure World separate itself from the other similar communities. And while Peterson said the circular logo with an oak tree and green grass strips is unique to “Rossmoor Walnut Creek,” terms like “Golden Rain Foundation,” “Leisure World” and “Mutuals” can muddy the waters. Paring down such identities, she said, can only help the homebuying public home in on Rossmoor … in Walnut Creek.

And the perception of Rossmoor doesn’t necessarily square with experiencing Rossmoor first-hand. Dowling told the group that he had never been to Rossmoor until he played in a golf tournament here. That exposure, he said, led to him eventually moving here.

“It’s important to see it,” Dowling said.

Walker said the task force’s goal at the end of six months should be a fully formed marketing plan — not just guidance on how Rossmoor should advertise – which would include “assessing the competition.”

The discussion will continue at the task force’s next meeting, Tuesday, Oct. 8 at 11 a.m. in the Board Room at Gateway (and over Zoom).