Introduced in 2010 to combat competition from other pharmacy chains and big-box retailers like Walmart, wellness+ provides participants 24/7 access to a pharmacist, discounts on merchandise and other benefits. The new “wellness65+” program — which Rite Aid announced in mid-June and began promoting June 30 through an advertising campaign by MARC USA of Pittsburgh — offers the same benefits, as well as a private consultation with a pharmacist and special discounts the first Wednesday of each month. Both programs have different membership tiers; members who purchase more become eligible for greater discounts and additional wellness benefits like a gym membership. There is no charge to become a member of either program.
Rite Aid operates more than 4,600 stores in 31 states, primarily on the east and west coasts, and in the District of Columbia.
Ken Martindale, president and chief operating officer of Rite Aid, said “attracting new senior customers represents a crucial growth opportunity for Rite Aid because seniors tend to be our best pharmacy patients.” Increasing the size of its senior patient base also lets Rite Aid provide services like immunization and medication therapy management “to a segment of the population that stands to benefit the most from the positive health outcomes these services provide,” Mr. Martindale added.
Tony Bucci, chairman of MARC USA, said television advertising for wellness65+ will focus on 21 major urban markets where Rite Aid would have “the greatest opportunity to enroll new seniors.” These markets range, in the eastern United States, from Boston, Hartford and New York to Washington, Louisville and Atlanta, and include western cities like Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, Sacramento and Portland, Ore. Based on the theme “How did I get here,” spots are running primarily on news programs and shows like “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy.”
One TV spot depicts a man in a bathing suit, standing by the edge of a pool, getting ready to dive in. The voice-over says, “Every now and then you gotta ask yourself, ‘How did I get here?’” The spot then shows the man having his blood pressure monitored by a Rite Aid pharmacist, and flashes the wellness65+ card, which the voiceover says helps members “feel and live your best.” As the spot concludes, the man dives into the pool and swims away; this is followed by the Rite Aid logo and tagline, “With us, it’s personal.”
“When you see the commercial, the people aren’t hip,” Mr. Bucci said. “They’re very personal, honest, sincere and caring. The idea is that people over 65 are fully enjoying life.”
Radio spots 60 seconds in length will run on news, talk, easy listening, jazz, classical and gospel radio stations in the same 21 markets where the TV ads run. In one radio spot, the announcer says, “You’ve had 60-some-odd years to prepare for this moment. Sixty-some-odd years that added up to a squishy, squashy backyard squirt gun battle. And it’s here that the question hits you. How did I get here? Is it just living in moderation? Or saving with gusto? Like getting 20 percent off your Rite Aid purchases every first Wednesday of the month with Rite Aid’s new wellness65+.” The spot concludes with the announcer calling the program “one more way Rite Aid is helping you stay here, now that you’ve actually gotten here. Here, soaking wet and slinking through your own rosebushes.”
A full-page ad running in AARP The Magazine depicts an older woman on an amusement park ride with a child. The headline says, “Here’s to suddenly remembering where laugh lines come from. Feeling and living your best. Rite Aid is committed to helping you realize it, with exclusive, new benefits for seniors.”
Last month Rite Aid also began a tour, which will run through March 2014, featuring a van decorated with wellness65+ and Rite Aid logos and photos of program participants. The van will visit more than 30 cities across the country. In each city, Rite Aid will partner with local organizations to host community wellness events for seniors and their families, like free health screenings, pharmacist consultations and seminars with local experts on subjects like fitness.
John Learish, senior vice president of marketing for Rite Aid, declined to quantify how much the company will spend to promote wellness65+. However, he said Rite Aid’s advertising expenditures in the second half of its current fiscal year would be “comparable” to what was spent in the same period in its last fiscal year, which ended March 2, 2013.
According to Kantar Media, Rite Aid spent a low of $40.1 million on advertising in calendar year 2009 and a high of $50.8 million in calendar year 2010. Its calendar year 2012 spending on all media was $13.5 million in the first quarter; $6.5 million in the second quarter; $10.3 million in the third quarter; and $17.4 million in the fourth quarter. Kantar Media also said the company spent $9.4 million on advertising in the first quarter of calendar year 2013.
According to Mr. Learish, wellness+ had more than 25 million active members — who had used their card at least twice in the previous six months–as of the end of the first quarter of Rite Aid’s current fiscal year. He also said program members generated 77 per cent of non-prescription sales and 70 percent of prescriptions filled in the first quarter of Rite Aid’s current fiscal year, both up over the same period last year; he declined to quantify these increases.
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/29/business/media/rite-aid-offers-extra-goodies-to-customers-65-and-up.html?partner=rss&emc=rss