Gore gave a talk at The Pharmacy Show last week (October 13) and shared how behavioural economics can be applied to the pharmacy sector. 

He raised the importance of advertising and said adverts should have “resonance, clarity, originality and relevance”. 

But he offered a damning conclusion of what the current state of advertising is like in community pharmacy. 

Read more: Pharmacy First: NHSE admits it must ‘do more’ as campaign begins 

“Nearly every advert I see for pharmacy is advertising pharmacy,” he said. “Not your pharmacy, the concept of pharmacy. Most pharmacies are not really differentiating. 

“I could take an advert out of all your front windows and put it in another pharmacy's front window, and you wouldn't know.” 

Gore suggested personalisation of adverts will help this by giving a face to the pharmacy in adverts it puts up, as well as socialising them by showing people “where they believe other people are going”. 

Read more: Boots ‘lollipop pharmacist’ urges patients to ‘think pharmacist first’ 

Including questions in advertising helps to make “your lazy brain work” and Gore explained research showed an “11% better sentiment” towards adverts that had this. 

He spoke further how this can help to develop the clinical services a pharmacy offers and how to “link” services available in winter like vaccinations to “make it the default general setting” for patients to go to for other services. 

Humour and upselling 

Gore explained how concrete phrases in advertising are remembered up to 30% more by consumers as if “people can picture in their mind, they are far more likely to remember it”. 

Gore likened this to Red Bull and how it “does not give you wings, it gives you energy”, but including “an amorphous concept” like energy in its classic tagline “wouldn’t have made it memorable”. 

He stressed the importance of humour in advertising too, with research demonstrating “80% of customers are likely to buy more and spend more on an advertising that uses humour”. 

Read more: Pharmacies enlist campaign help amid weight loss ad warnings 

He mentioned how the recent Boots “You’re never too far from a Pharmacist” adverts tapped into this. 

“Boots have seen the same research I've seen that shows the use of humorous adverts is going down, [but] they actually work. The advert’s not that funny, but it's funnier than other adverts out there.” 

Gore also spoke about the importance of upselling and said pharmacy should capitalise on being “highly trusted” by patients. 

“If you've been into a McDonald's and you say, ‘can I have a burger and fries’, they go, ‘do you want to make it a big meal?’ Pharmacy thinks if somebody comes in for one product and you say, ‘would you be interested in that?’ They'll leap over the counter and beat you to death! 

“The worst thing that will happen is people will say no. But if you phrase things correctly, you can help them.” 

Read more: Mounjaro price hike: GPhC issues weight loss jab ‘marketing’ warning

It comes as pharmacies on Monday began a national campaign to promote the Pharmacy First service after an NHSE official said she “recognised” that it needs “to do more” to raise public awareness about the service. 

In July, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) issued nine rulings against companies found to be illegally advertising weight loss injections online and on social media, clarifying that “indirectly” advertising weight loss POMs is banned.