In the land of in-store marketing, audience reigns as king and in all my years working within the retail landscape this tenet has held true. While many things have changed in retail, the one aspect that remains unchanged is that a large audience can be found in the retail space. As marketers, ideally we want to place our media communications where we will reach our prospects when they are most receptive to our messages. The pharmacy environment offers this advantage, especially for pharma brands.
In a given day, it is estimated that any one person will see anywhere from 3,000 to 20,000 marketing messages, ranging from a full blown advertisements to something as simple as a logo. This bombardment of brand information means it is essential for marketers to break though. Meaningful messages delivered at the right place and time can help establish a differentiation. If you haven’t guessed by now, I’m going to suggest the retail space as this location.
Prospective patients are likely thinking about their health when they are looking for over the counter and other personal care products. So why not educate them about your brand. Traditional media outlets are nice and all, but if I’m casually reading a magazine or watching Monday Night Football, the very last thing on my mind is whether or not this blood pressure medication is right for me. In a pharmacy, however, my frame of mind is in the right place and that message is on the right channel, so to speak, for that message to resonate with me. Is it right for me? How does it relate to the OTC product I’m buying? These are questions I, or anyone else for that matter, would be more likely to be thinking in a pharmacy than at home or elsewhere.
And even in this age of online shopping growth, people still prefer to actually walk through the doors of a pharmacy. That could certainly be due to the presence of pharmacists and staff that are knowledgeable about product information, and can provide customized advice on over the counter medication and health enhancement products. Buying behavior reflects this as well—85% of prescription drugs are dispensed in brick and mortar pharmacy channels. The people, the audience, the king has spoken!
