Levande’s skinny dip campaign sees 50 older Australians bare all via Adhesive

Leading retirement living operator Levande and AI-informed communications, influencer and social agency Adhesive have collaborated on a bold earned media campaign that challenges how people view retirement and the retirement living sector.

As the sun rose over Melbourne’s iconic Brighton Baths last week, more than 50 older Australians, including Levande’s own residents, dared to bare all and took the plunge in a sunrise skinny dip.

The swim was captured by former Olympic synchronised swimmer turned fine art photographer Francesca Owen, who produced a series of powerful images that serve as a reclamation of what ageing can truly look like.

Says Nik Scotcher, Chief Customer Officer, Levande: “When Adhesive came to us with the idea of hosting a mass skinny dip with older Australians, we knew that it was an idea many organisations, let alone organisations in our sector, would never pursue. However, we also knew it was the perfect way to capture the optimism, confidence and sense of possibility we see in our residents every day – and that’s exactly why we wanted to do it.”

Building on its ongoing partnership with Levande, Adhesive led on the ideation and execution of the campaign, which encompassed event production and management, talent management, research expert engagement, research commission, data analysis and large-scale publicity.

The campaign was underpinned by new Levande research revealing that, while 74 per cent of older Australians feel younger at heart than their biological age, 45 per cent believe society unfairly considers them too old for certain activities, and 54 per cent feel underestimated because of their age.

When asked which activities society might consider them too old to do, showing off their bodies and going skinny dipping ranked first and second respectively, providing a clear validation of the ‘why’ behind the campaign.

Says Mike Maurice, Managing Director and Founder, Adhesive: “Impactful communications should do more than generate headlines. It should shift consumer perceptions, create connection with audiences, deliver genuine commercial impact and, most importantly of all, share the stories that matter.

“We share Levande’s ambition that retirement living is a category with so much more to say than the traditional narratives allow. We see the conversation is too often shaped by what people assume ageing means, rather than what older Australians actually want from this stage of life. So we knew our job with this campaign was to continue to break through outdated assumptions and tropes with an idea that people genuinely wanted to engage with and share.

“It was bold, unexpected and grounded in a genuine experience. By giving people a reason to stop, look and think differently, we were able to turn a brand message into a national conversation.”

Levande’s sunrise skinny dip reinforced the value of pairing a clear audience insight with an attention-grabbing execution and a compelling story that can achieve results across national earned media, social and broader brand channels.

The activation is the latest large-scale earned media exploration of Levande’s ‘Everyday. Exceptional.’ brand platform via 303, which was recently awarded three Effie awards, including the coveted Gold Effie.

The campaign launched in the lead-up to Levande’s Spring Open Week events across the country, offering older Australians and their families a chance to visit Levande villages and see retirement living differently.

It also follows the success of last year’s ‘Seniors Take The Leap’ campaign, a collaboration between Adhesive and Levande which took home Gold for Best Infrastructure Campaign at the CPRA Awards.

Agency: Adhesive
Photographer: Francesca Owen

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