Boots urges Brits to visit its pharmacies rather than GP

Boots is jumping on the UK Government’s drive to get Brits to think of their pharmacist first when they have a health concern – rather than their GP – through its first long-term behaviour change campaign.

Fronted by a new TV ad, the activity sees pharmacists pop up in unexpected places as people start to notice symptoms of ill health – from cafés and restaurants to local parks and swimming pools – to highlight the range of conditions they can support through advice, diagnosis and treatment, which they can access in 1,800 Boots stores across the UK.

The campaign launches a long-term creative platform – Pharmacists Everywhere – that has been designed to shift perceptions of Boots from a healthcare retailer to the first port of call for people’s total healthcare.

Developed in partnership with advertising and media agency The Pharm and led by VML, the dedicated WPP partnership team also includes WPP Media, Hogarth and Ogilvy PR who have led on media, production and PR.

The campaign ties in with new research from Boots which reveals that two in five (39%) people admit to regularly deprioritising their health during the busy back-to-school season.

Feeling a burden to GPs (40%) and the time it takes to book and go to an appointment (49%), came out as the top reasons people may put their health on hold.

Although pharmacists can advise on, diagnose and treat a range of common health conditions, nearly half (40%) of UK adults say their GP remains their first port of call when they do seek help.

Boots director of marketing at Laura Gooday said: “This is our first behaviour change healthcare campaign that is designed and built for the long term. We know that, despite the broad range of healthcare support pharmacists can now provide, people don’t always think to visit their pharmacy first when they feel unwell. Pharmacists Everywhere as a creative platform seeks to address that.

“We are encouraging people to visit their local Boots pharmacy as soon as they start feeling unwell, and in this campaign, we celebrate the wide range of healthcare conditions they can support people with – from earache to contraception – with no appointment needed.

The TV spot will run nationwide with a 30-second film directed by Fiona McGee at Arts & Sciences. It begins with someone blowing their nose in a café as a barista turns into a Boots pharmacist to say, playfully: “Looks like sinusitis.”

As the ad continues, viewers are introduced to a runner with a rash that is treated by a pharmacist leaping from a bush, a woman with a UTI who finds help from a pharmacist popping out of her living room lamp and a couple on a first date in a restaurant who are given contraceptive advice from a pharmacist posing as a waitress. The ad closes with the tagline “You’re never too far from a pharmacist” to highlight the accessibility of Boots stores nationwide.

The wider integrated campaign will also run across print, social, digital, instore and ADOOH, showcasing real time locations of pharmacist support. This campaign represents the first time Boots will use its own pharmacists in advertising materials. Outside TV, the ad has been adapted for audio through partnerships with Global Radio and Acast podcasts.

The Pharm – VML executive creative director Juliana Paracencio added: “This impactful campaign marks a truly exciting direction for Boots. By showing pharmacists popping up in the most unexpected places, we’ve put entertainment front and centre. It brings a fresh, playful, and humorous perspective to healthcare, and does so across every channel. We’re really looking forward to continuing to have fun with Pharmacists Everywhere as we take the platform forwards.”