Tools: Storytelling

1. Challenge:

I’ve started with a national pharmacy chain, The Local Choice, last year as Group Marketing Manager  and I’ve noticed a huge challenge at hand. All marketing initiatives and campaigns didn’t align with  one message. A company must have 1 – 3 words/phrases that defines the brand, called the Brand  Mantra. E.g. Coca-Cola’s brand mantra is Happiness, Volvo’s brand mantra is Safety etc. Although  this word is not visible in their name or slogan, all marketing initiatives and campaigns are based  around their brand mantra.

2. Selection:

I’ve selected Storytelling as my design thinking tool in this process. Referring to the video lecture of  Joe Blanco: Storytelling is a fundamental part of every great brand. Storytelling is one of the most  powerful ways to breathe life into your brand and often called one of the main components of a  content marketing approach. By giving our brand an identity by capturing and sharing the stories they  really are, you can take your target audience on a journey they yearn to experience. In order for  consumers to form a personal connection with our brand, the brand mantra must be authentic,  creative and inspirational.

3. Application:

My first step was to take into consideration what our holding company’s brand mantra was – Dis- Chem, the holding company and leading corporate pharmacy group’s brand mantra is CARE. I then  turned my attention to the local community to ask them to share their stories. I visited the stores and  asked customers: “why do you shop at The Local Choice?” – many customers were very eager to  share their inspirational stories. Lastly I had a group meeting with some of our franchisees and my  colleagues to explain to them that I am in search of our Brand mantra and what they think our story  must be.

4. Insight:

I was definitely inspired with the outcome of this exercise. Customers shared stories of how special  they feel when they go to The Local Choice: “The pharmacist always greets me, he knows my name,  he knows my kids, and he knows my health history. I can always trust him to get me feeling better,  fast.”. One of the franchisees told a story: “One Sunday afternoon, after the pharmacy closed, one of  my customers called and was in distress. Her son was stung by a bee and she had no more  antihistamine for the allergic reaction. I told the customer to meet me at the store in 5 min, I rushed to  the pharmacy to unlock and assisted the customer. She was so happy and grateful for helping her  son, and today she is a loyal customer.”. Another customer’s story: “I am the office manager at the  church and can always rely on The Local Choice for support. They are always involved in the charity  events and they are known to make a positive impact, not only on your health, but in the lives of the  local community”.     These stories made me realise what The Local Choice is all about:  trusted pharmacist and staff,  excellent patient-pharmacist relationship, personal touch, local, treated in a kind and caring way,  convenient retail store. Taking into consideration what the holding company’s mantra is – CARE – I’ve  concluded that The Local Choice’ mantra is TLC (tender loving care). Definition: if someone or  something needs some tlc, they need to be treated in a kind and caring way OR being cared for in a  considerate and solicitous way. TLC is an abbreviation for ‘tender loving care’

5. Approach:

Now that I’ve established the brand mantra, I would definitely use the learning launch tool to develop  this initiative more in depth. I compiled 4 different “pillars” of which the “tlc” mantra can be  incorporated for all future campaigns:

•  TLC for me

•  TLC for my family

•  TLC for the locals

•  TLC for Africa

My approach would be to invite our Business Advisory Group, senior managers and our agency to a  learning launch session where we will discuss the products and services that fall in the pillars as  stipulated above.

