Urquhart's mission: streamline marketing

Drug Store News, Jan 18, 1993 by James Frederick

CINCINNATI - Marvaret Urquhart, newly named as SupeRx's first corporate vp of marketing has embarked on a major effort to unify and streamline marketing and merchandising for Hook-SupeRx Inc.

Urquhart, the former Wellby Super Drug Stores president who joined HSI late last year, has been charged with a key facet of HSI's growing consolidation efforts: to find ways to blend the company's disparate, far-flung efforts in advertising, merchandising and buying, into a more efficient, coordinated effort under centralized management.

"That's her primary mission . . . for the next few months," said Chris Beseler, vp of advertising. "She brings a fresh set of eyes and a valuable new perspective to the company. Right now, there's a lot of duplication of efforts in marketing and merchandising, and there'll probably be some changes as a result of her investigation."

Currently, HSI employs buying and advertising staffs at all three of its regional chain operations: at SupeRx headquarters in Cincinnati; at Hook Drug in Indianapolis; and at Brooks Drug in Pawtucket, R.I.

Urquhart's appointment as vp of marketing marks the first time those staffs have all reported to a central coordinator and manager.

HSI has already begun streamlining some aspects of its operations and support services as it looks for ways to cut costs.

The chain's TV spots for Hook and SupeRx are now produced in common by J. Walter Thompson & Assoc., and feature unified imagery and themes but separate tag-lines and localized tie-ins.

More important, HSI over the past year has moved accounting functions for all three of its chain divisions under a unified corporate umbrella in Pawtucket.

"That's the biggest change so far," said Beseler. "We had a very intensive review by Coopers & Lybrand of our [financial] management and budgeting process. We're still developing the systems, the consolidation of ledger sheets and other aspects of it."

The Brooks office was chosen as the centralized site, he said, because of its superior computer capabilities.

Just how far HSI will be able to take its streamlining and consolidation of operations and marketing remains to be seen.

The chain is pushing hard to eliminate inefficiencies and make full use of its growing corporate clout, but is understandably loath to jeopardize the market strength and name recognition of its individual chain components. Hook, for instance, has been serving Indiana consumers for 92 years, and SupeRx is nearing 40th year.

"One of our advantages is that we bought some pretty strong consumer franchises, and there's a lot of strength in those nameplates," said Beseler.