Thoughts

Five steps to pharmacy marketing

With the launch of our first book, the Pharmacy Marketing Formulary (PMF) we have taken a long hard look at how best to market your pharmacy. We’ve compiled, analysed and collated best practice in marketing based on decades of research and evidence. Then was then you might say, and now is now. The world has changed so you need to know what works now not the thoughts of some academics.

Don’t worry. Not an issue.

The world has changed. In fact we’ve changed the world with our endless obsession with communication so it may seem that the marketing theories that applied in the 1970s may not be relevant now.

However that is not the case and this is why. Marketing is not technology. The marketing theories developed over the past decades are based on human behaviour not technology. Influencing human behaviour is an end goal for marketing and the technology used to achieve that has, is and will change/d over time. For a deeper explanation see page 19 of the Pharmacy Marketing Formulary.

In the Pharmacy Marketing Formulary we have created a unique marketing model that captures the most important steps in the marketing process. Simplifying complex ideas is one of our talents. More than that however we have tailored that process specifically to the needs of a pharmacy. Many good marketing books are a little too abstract to be of practical use especially to who are as busy as pharmacists.

We’ve split the marketing process into five steps for you:

Diagnostic
Prescriptive
Objective
Product design
Product delivey

The five steps cover off developing your marketing strategy and then executing it with confidence (and a little style). All the way through we’ve provided pharmacy specific references placing key concepts in terms that you will be familiar and comfortable with. There are short lists of actions and spaces for you to write down your thoughts as you go. We want the PMF to be a working document you come back to time and time again when you are working on new products.

No one wants to spend hours grappling with complex concepts and impenetrable terminology. With that in mind the PMF is split into short, one or two page sections that each cover an important aspect of marketing your pharmacy and where we’ve provided a glossary for any marketing specific words.

Buy your copy of the PMF today

£20.00

Postage and packaging | Delivery details | £2.50 UK | £10.00 Overseas

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If you’d like to stay in touch and receive the odd update you can subscribe here. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Future Pharmacist writing competiton

The Pharmaceutical Journal’s Future Pharmacist writing competition 2018 saw over 30 entries striving to describe what the future may have in store for the pharmacy profession, the people who work in and alongside it and the people who receive pharmaceutical care.

Writing is important. It is one of the primary ways in which we communicate and hopefully it will stay that way for a long time to come. It is literally astounding how our languages have developed to enable us to share the most nuanced of our thoughts and ideas with each other. In the hands of talented writers words can break down the physical barriers between minds and connect us. With this kind of power it is important to try and do justice to words themselves and use them to share important ideas and describe important events.

Enter stage left the Future Pharmacist writing competition 2018.

Suffice to say that I had to attempt to write a vision of the future myself and I’m proud to say that the piece received a special mention and is on the Pharmaceutical Journal website. Note that I used the phrase ‘a vision’ rather than ‘the vision’. When looking into the far distance and forecasting the future it is wise accept that at best your particular view will be limited. I am pretty sure of one thing however, unless we take some action, beginning as soon as possible, to define, demonstrate and communicate the value of the pharmacy profession more effectively any one of the dystopian entries into this writing competition may well come true! Needless to say the entry I wrote is deliberatley closer to a utopian future for the profession and imagines that we’ve got our act together and done what needs to be done. Perhaps in my vision we’ve all read the Pharmacy Marketing Formulary and put our shoulders behind a co-ordinated approach to marketing the whole profession. Just a thought.

Here is our entry. Click on the title to take a trip over to the Pharmaceutical Journal.

A Pharmacist Calls | Gavin Birchall

All of the pieces showcased on the PJ website are really good and interesting in their own right. Here are the top three.

2039: Pharmacy after the fall | Mark Borthwick

Pouring a stiff drink for the last pharmacist | Stuart Anderson

Medicines at the touch of a button | Parastou Donyai and James Hall

If you want to be a future pharmacist and you are a budding writer take a look at our submissions page see if you have a book in you. If you’d like to stay in touch and receive the odd update you can subscribe here. Looking forward to hearing from you.

DOSE Publishing is launched

After two years in the planning and a lot of hard work climbing a steep learning curve DOSE Publishing is launched!

A sister company to DOSE Design, DOSE Publishing is an independent publishing house based in Preston, Lancashire. We produce educational and inspirational print books about pharmacy in the UK but people further afield may enjoy them too. Although we start small we have big plans and a pipeline of books ready to publish as soon as we can get them ready for you. They will cover a range of topics but all focus around that core idea of developing who we are, what we do, why we do it and how we communicate that to society as a whole. If you have a burning passion along these lines and have a book in you get in touch via our submissions page!

We are passionate about helping pharmacists and the pharmacy profession secure a bright future so our books are about ways in which we can all do that. We believe that there is an opportunity for the pharmacy profession to harness the strategic and branding techniques used by countless other organisations, businesses, individuals and even countries to achieve their goals.

Having spent five years thinking about it we are more convinced that ever that we have to do this. We started with a Masters in Graphic Design at the University Of Lancashire. During our literature review we learnt that this was the first research anyone had ever done into the brand of pharmacy, ever, anywhere. Surprised and invigorated we completed the research (it’s never really complete!) and learnt a great deal about the journey pharmacy has been on.

It was then that DOSE Design was established in 2015. DOSE Design works with brands to develop robust marketing strategy and brand identity. The majority of our clients are in the pharmacy space but other people found us and we’ve worked with a select group outside the profession too and plan to work with a wider group of healthcare professionals. This feels like a very direct way to help individual pharmacy organisations understand marketing and branding so that they can prosper. We’ve worked with over 40 brands in the last three years and we are looking forward to working with many more. Get involved!

A year later DOSE Publishing was established as much to plant a seed in our own minds as well as being an actual vehicle for communicating on a wider scale. Not everyone in the pharmacy profession has the time, resources or inclination to work on their business by investing in external help with their marketing and branding. We wanted to reach those people and give them the knowledge they need to do it themselves.

Our first book, the Pharmacy Marketing Formulary, or PMF, introduces a simple model with five steps, 64 easy to understand ideas, practical actions and an illuminating case study to help you boost sales, secure long term viability and build business resilience. No small objective but we are proud of what we have produced and think it can really help.

We’ve designed some posters to go along with the book and help you pull the ideas out into the real world by putting them on the wall in your dispensary, office, kitchen, garage, wherever you like really.

If you are involved in running a pharmacy, whether you are a pharmacy contractor, aspiring pharmacy contractor, pharmacy manager, field manager or senior manager the PMF will help you run it better.

We’ve shared pre-launch copies of the PMF with a few people we admire in the industry to get their opinion. You can read what they had to say somewhere here.

We’re really excited about the future of DOSE Publishing and look forward to producing content that educates and inspires. If you’d like to stay in touch and receive the odd update you can subscribe here. Looking forward to hearing from you.