Nicholas Hall challenges OTC marketers to do better in latest conference
MORRISTOWN, N.J. — Nicholas Hall hosted its first regional North American OTC Conference here late last month, presenting a lineup that featured topical, on-point discussions and presentations around the business of over-the-counter medicines in the U.S.
"The [OTC] market is slightly underperforming the key metrics," stated Nicholas Hall, chairman and CEO, in his opening address. "Is the model broken?" he asked. "That's the challenge today," he continued. "Should we change the model? And the second question, if the answer to that is 'yes,' how do we change the model?"
Hall was followed by a gloves-off panel discussion hosted by Mike Tarino, principal Tiltas Solutions, on how the current political climate is shaping OTC opportunities. "The [Trump] administration is interested in moving control over the [healthcare] financial resources more toward consumers," Tarino commented. "They'll do that with tax credits [and] they'll do that by expanding the reach and absolute dollars that are in the health savings accounts."
Other panelists included Sandra Morris of Procter & Gamble, Mike Thompson from the National Alliance for Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions and Dennis Marco, formerly of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Drug Store News correspondent Ed Rowland, principal of the consultancy firm Rowland Global, provided an update on Boots UK and implications for the Walgreens Boots Alliance in the Americas. And Scott Emerson, CEO of the Emerson Group, shortly followed with a presentation on the import of innovation across the OTC platform. Also on the first day a pair of Johnson and Johnson executives, Geoff Betrus and Lynn Hall, shared a little of what they've been doing around consumer healthcare and retail partnerships. "There is a role for our industry in supporting patients," Betrus said. "How do we think about an ecosystem approach to healthcare? How do we start to enroll not only the manufacturer and the retailer, but how do we start to enroll the health systems and the payers?"
The first-day afternoon sessions began with Monica Wood, VP global consumer healthcare and member insights for Herbalife Nutrition, detailing key learnings for OTC companies in benchmarking the direct selling industry. Tine Hansen-Turton, executive director Convenient Care Association, discussed the value proposition of convenient care and how retail-based healthcare clinics can build a culture of consumer-driven healthcare. And Thierry Garrier, director marketing, dietary supplements at DSM, presented some of the new technological advances in consumer healthcare.
Patrick Spear, president and CEO GMDC, closed the first day with an analysis on how health and wellness can be positioned as a successful retail strategy to help recapture lost foot traffic. "Foot traffic is showing a declining trend as consumers shift to online purchases [and] click-and-collect," Spear said. "But there are still large, untapped opportunties within the retail setting," he added. "The key thing is to develop a shopper-centric focus," he said, that draws the consumer to the retailer, whether it's online or in-store.
