Rx EDGE Pharmacy Networks recently teamed up with Medical Marketing & Media to sponsor the EBook “What’s In Store for Pharmacy” focused on the pharmacy’s significance as a consumer marketing channel and the expanding role that it is playing in treatment norms. We’ve been talking about this very subject for a long time, so it was great to hear other industry experts echo our enthusiasm and share their own insights. For example, Chrissy Kopple, VP of media relations at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, cited some of the ways that pharmacy is helping to ensure access to affordable patient care, particularly among undeserved communities. The Affordable Care Act is ushering in many of these changes and introducing growth opportunities for pharmacies, most notably in the area of primary care delivery.
Why the “actual” brick and mortar retail pharmacies are so important even with the availability of social media and online resources
As consumers are living in a progressively fast-paced lifestyle, they are expecting easy access to products and information. They are also becoming ever-more health conscious and seek out information to improve their overall health and wellness. This kind of information is readily available at pharmacy locations across the country. Consumers trust pharmacists, due to their extensive knowledge and expertise. Pharmacists are able to help patients when they need to gain knowledge that may not otherwise have been provided during a visit to the physician or through other means. Increasingly, in store campaigns in pharmacies deliver on this need and augment pharmacist conversations with educational information in the aisles and throughout the pharmacy. This is something exclusively in the “actual” brick and mortar store, and does not organically take place in an online space. While digital resources and social media play an important role in pharma-focused communications, the pharmacy has the added advantage of being a healthcare setting that is conducive to delivery of health-related messages.
POC – beyond the doctor’s office
Point of care marketing spending has grown 10% annually since 2010, and is expected to exceed $500 million in the next few years. This was among the key findings in a recent study conducted by ZS Associates. According to ZS Associates’ principle Hensley Evans, brands are using the pharmacy channel to achieve a variety of strategic objectives. He also reminded pharma marketers that they need to leverage a variety of channels – including pharmacy –in order to be successful.
A media channel that helps consumers gain brand information
When a new pharma brand or product comes out, it is typically promoted through a variety of media channels. But with a more and more fragmented consumer audience, the traditional media vehicles are becoming less effective in terms of educating consumers. It is becoming fundamentally more important for pharma to look to new communication channels. When a consumer is on a healthcare mission and walking up and down the aisles of a pharmacy, they are on their terms. Meaning, they are educating themselves at their own time and pace, as well as acknowledging that they are ready to take in educational information.
Strong future ahead for pharmacy
Overall, the EBook provided an excellent overview of what’s “in store” for pharmacy from a variety of different viewpoints from across the industry. Here are the key takeaways from my own perspective:
•Educational information should be readily available to consumers given their increasingly fast-paced lifestyles.
•The pharmacy is a naturally-suited place for healthcare education – most prescriptions are dispensed here and retailers are taking steps in the “health company” direction.
•Consumers trust pharmacists, due to their extensive knowledge and expertise in health and wellness.
•Point of care is growing well beyond the doctor’s office.
•Educating consumers when they are shopping the aisles of the retail pharmacy is an important opportunity, because they are thinking about healthcare.
