Walgreens Braces For Upcoming Pharmacy War

Walgreens has introduced a rebranding strategy aimed at showcasing the company’s history, as well as boosting its efforts to target a younger demographic – especially millennial and Gen X females.

According to a CNBC news report, the announcement comes after CVS revealed its plans to acquire insurer Aetna for roughly $69 billion.

Walgreens will be renovating its stores, as well as launching a reinvented marketing campaign. The company will add a new tagline to its logo: “Trusted Since 1901.”

It’s also launching an updated mobile app, a strong loyalty program and a website where shoppers can buy online and pick up in the store.

“We are pharmacist led in the services we provide, [but] we do view the retail aspect as important,” said Adam Holyk, senior vice president and chief marketing officer. “The question for Walgreens becomes: ‘How can we translate our brand into the other products we sell today?'”

This repositioning is designed to reach female shoppers – specifically millennials and Gen Xers – to make Walgreens their “preferred pharmacy of choice.”

In addition to bringing in brands to attract these shoppers, Walgreens is placing a special emphasis on beauty. More than 1,000 stores have revamped the aisles where CoverGirl and Maybelline cosmetics are sold, among other brands, with more to come in the future. Additionally, about 3,000 beauty specialists have been hired to offer product expertise.

In a separate pilot test, Walgreens is collaborating with MedExpress to open urgent care centers in a handful of stores across four states, which could lead to more locations. The level of care offered would be a step higher than a traditional walk-in clinic, helping Walgreens to boost its clinic services. Currently, about 400 of Walgreens’ 8,100 drugstores offer some sort of on-site clinic services, while CVS has more than 1,100 walk-in clinics.

“In the areas that we are curating, we are trying to understand what consumers value,” Holyk said. “It is all part of our brand transformation … looking at the needs of our core customers, and we will continue to innovate.”