Walgreens shows 'there's a way' with private-label offerings

NEW YORK — Walgreens is in the process of introducing a wide-scale national campaign that has its pharmacists recommending Walgreens store-brand products in favor of national brands, the New York Times reported Thursday.

The new ad campaign, an extension of Walgreens' “There’s a Way” campaign introduced last year, will mark the first time the company is promoting its private-label offerings beyond the Sunday circulars and in-store point-of-purchase material.

The reason behind the change in tactics is simple — store brand is in vogue. Out of more than 1,000 adults surveyed in January, 84% purchased a store-brand over-the-counter medicine, and 36% noted that they had increased their amount of private-label purchases in the past year, according to a survey conducted by Opinion Research on behalf of Walgreens, the Times reported.

Walgreens will be featuring the campaign as part of its partnership with ParentsAsk.com, which first was implemented last spring. ParentsAsk.com features a Walgreens-branded site with advice videos from Walgreens pharmacist Stacia Woodcock. Woodcock also will be recommending Walgreens’ store-brand products. Check out the videos here.

According to the Times report, Walgreens will place banner ads comparing Walgreens’ store brands with name brands on such websites as ABC.com and CBS.com. Walgreens also will partner with the women-centric blog publishing network BlogHer.