Chain Drug Stores Plan Promotional Ad Campaign

National Association of Chain Drug Stores on Monday announced that it will launch an advertising campaign next month in the Washington, D.C., region to raise the industry's profile, The Hill reports.

NACDS President and CEO Steven Anderson said, "We are taking the offensive and establishing an increasingly proactive stance," adding, "We are turning up the volume on this central message: Pharmacies are essential to health care."

The ad campaign, which will run from March to August, will be centered on five ads that each focus on one aspect of how pharmacists interact with patients. An NACDS spokesperson said the budget for the campaign is in the range of the "high six figures (to) low seven figures."

Anderson, citing the release on Monday of President Bush's fiscal year 2009 budget proposal, said, "If past is prologue, we can expect this budget to reflect a potentially devastating devaluation of the role of retail pharmacy. ... We need to tell our story." Anderson said the industry expects it will be targeted again this year for Medicare and Medicaid cuts, which will require additional lobbying and public relations efforts.

In addition, Anderson noted the importance of health care in the presidential campaign and said the industry must prepare now for changes that could occur after the election. "Whatever the outcome, we will have a new president in January 2009. We will have a new administration. We will have a renewed debate about the future of health care in this country. Again, we need to tell our story," Anderson said (Young, The Hill, 2/4).