Pharmacies can now unlock a raft of marketing opportunities, with the launch of a new scheme that gives them a “hyperlocal” view of their communities, identifying local health needs and audience behaviours as the new Pharmacy First model rolls out.
Marketing agency Brand Champions has launched the initiative – dubbed the postcode check – to give UK pharmacies a clearer picture of the communities they serve and help them turn local audience insight into more relevant, targeted and effective marketing.
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Postcode check draws exclusively on publicly available, open-source information, including local authority, Census and NHS data, alongside insight into local search behaviour, audience needs and pharmacy visibility.
Pharmacies can enter their postcode online to receive a snapshot of the marketing and engagement opportunities in their local area.
The analysis will identify local demographics and health needs; the services and health concerns local people are searching for; and how visible the pharmacy is to those seeking relevant support.
Brand Champions will then identify practical opportunities for the pharmacy to convert its physical proximity to local customers into greater awareness, relevance and engagement.
The initiative launches as people increasingly turn to a wider range of sources for health information. While search and social media are already well established, 34% of 16- to 25-year-olds now report using ChatGPT for health guidance, while 30% use TikTok, according to a 2025 Semble survey.
The Pharmacy First model, which rolls out this autumn, will enable participating pharmacies to diagnose and treat more conditions directly. But as pharmacies become a more important first point of care, public awareness risks falling behind as more people turn first to search, social media and AI for health advice.
Brand Champions was launched in 2017 by founder and chief executive Fiona Wylie, following a near 20-year career working with major brands including British Airways, Nestlé, Clover and Niquitin.
The scheme builds on Brand Champions’ wider range of hyperlocal marketing, applying the same location-led approach it uses to help brands understand and respond to the distinct characteristics, behaviours and opportunities within individual communities.
This includes work with Costa Coffee which Brand Champions helped to develop location-specific marketing activity based on the characteristics, behaviours and opportunities within individual communities.
Wylie said: “Pharmacies have something incredibly powerful that most brands would spend years trying to build: trust, a physical presence in the heart of their communities and customers living within walking distance. But proximity alone doesn’t make you top of mind.
“Every postcode is different. A pharmacy serving young families will have different opportunities from one serving an older population; people will be looking for different services, asking different questions and using different channels to find answers.
“The postcode check is about making that local opportunity visible. We take publicly available information and look at it through a marketing lens to show pharmacies who is around them, what matters to those people, where the pharmacy is – and isn’t – showing up, and where there may be an opportunity to act.”
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