Lloydspharmacy creates director of marketing role
Lloydspharmacy is creating the role of marketing chief to push the community-based pharmacy brand.
Marketing is currently the responsibility of commercial director Mark Green. Reporting to him, the director of marketing will be responsible for advertising, direct marketing and PR as well as developing the pharmacy chain’s in-store radio station, Lloydspharmacy Live. The marketing chief will also play a key role in the development and roll-out of new store concepts.
The business spends more than &£3.8m a year on advertising and uses Mustoes. The agency has in the past created a campaign focused around the role of pharmacists as the first port of call for expert advice on minor ailments. Media buying is handled by Starcom Group.
Lloyds has built up a positioning around “Championing people’s health” and offers services such as blood-pressure and diabetes testing. The chain has more than 1,400 stores and produced sales of more than &£1.4bn last year.
A couple of years ago Lloyds cleared its shelves of sunscreens below factor 15 in an “ethical” move designed to protect consumers against the risk of skin cancer.
Competition for the community pharmacy is getting fiercer as supermarkets increase their penetration of the health and beauty market. Supermarkets are also set to benefit from a change in the law that relaxes the terms under which licences are issued.
