New Eckerd ads feature Rx'ers to drive home professional image

Drug Store News, Feb 20, 1989

New Eckerd ads feature Rx'ers to drive home professional image

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Eckerd's new consumer ads use four of the chain's pharmacists to bring home the point that Eckerd pharmacists are involved professionals.

The pharmacists, selected from hundreds of Eckerd pharmacists from all the chain's stores, are shown in real settings dealing with their customers. The ads, according to Betsy O'Neill, director of advertising and sales promotion, position Eckerd pharmacists as caring professionals who are accessible to the public.

"We selected four stories which typify the attitudes our pharmacists have," said O'Neill.

One version shows pharmacist Manny Koutsourais, mayor of Dunedin, Fla., and begins with Koutsourais explaining "all my life I wanted to be involved." Another depicts Patti Carr, a pharmacist at a Dallas Eckerd who primarily deals with senior citizens.

Carr relates an anecdote in which a customer says "You're the pharmacist? I have neckties older than you." Carr adds that "as soon as they realized that I knew my business and that I cared about them, it wasn't long before they asked for me by name."

The third spot depicts Hilda Moctezuma, an Eckerd pharmacist who works one mile away from the Texas School for the Hearing Impaired, taking sign language classes. The other shows Roy Williams, who retired after 20 years with Eckerd, only to realize retirement was not for him. Now he is back, he explains in the commercial.

The commercials were introduced during the Superbowl in Tampa and Fort Lauderdale-Miami. They are now running regionally in 14 states, according to O'Neill. They have also been spotted on the Cable News Network (CNN), which gives Eckerd additional visibility in those markets that have not been targeted regionally.

O'Neil said that the ads were directed by Bob Giraldi, who directed Michael Jackson's "Beat It" video and the Pepsi and Miller Lite spots. The chain wanted to to achieve a documentary effect for the ads, said O'Neill.

O'Neill said that Eckerd is also reaching a radio audience with informational spots. The two-minute "radio magazines" are run once a week in selected markets and deal with health-related topics.

Cholesterol, the influence of oat bran and smoking issues have all been explored in the format. In addition, consumer questions are answered on the air and situations in which an Eckerd pharmacist has been helpful to consumers are explained.

PHOTO : Eckerd's new commercials feature real stories using four actual Eckerd pharmacists. The documentary-style ads show the pharmacists at work (Roy Williams of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., shown) and interacting with customers.