Drug store outreach campaign looks to enhance reputation

By Ann Piasecki, M.A.
Public Affairs Specialist


This past summer Walgreens Corporation bulked up an existing Community Store Manager (CSM) program that is far more than a Band-Aid® approach to boost sales. It demonstrates a commitment to spread an authentic healing salve over the budget gaps of needy charities. The remedy calls for one CSM for every five stores in a district to take on additional responsibilities associated with outreach projects.

The opportunities for creative execution are boundless. Already one CSM has paired his enthusiasm for golf and store management skills by organizing a golf outing to benefit Easter Seals. A few well-placed ads in community newspapers and on radio stations along with in-store posters attracted enthusiasts enough to raise $50,000 for the organization that serves people with disabilities.

Under the direction of Mark Wagner, executive vice president of operations and community management, the program has become a feature that highlights Walgreens’ overall mission, which encompasses civic responsibility.

The intention of the CSM program is laudable, but it doesn’t have to eliminate the potential for profit. In this highly competitive market, customer loyalty and trust are the decisive factors in maintaining and increasing retail sales.

First, knowledge of the particular community—accessible health care, economic development, education, housing and transportation—is basic to successful relationship building. However, each region is left to deal with its own blend of positive and negative realities. As such, the characteristic traits of a good CSM should reflect an intuitive and sensitive nature so as to understand in broad strokes the societal implications that mark the immediate community. He/She should be ready to become a presence in pertinent civic organizations.

For example, in the Southwest suburbs of Chicago a savvy CSM would get the biggest bang for his/her buck by participating in the Will County Economic Development Commission. That relationship would open doors to the plans by municipal and county leaders, and serve to build a sense of camaraderie between Walgreens and community through work on joint service projects.

Meanwhile, Walgreens could take advantage of the multiple aspects of the Green Movement as they are realized in the particular region. Certainly an association with the Hickory Creek Watershed Committee, an open-to-the-public advisory organization that serves the Illinois communities of Mokena, New Lenox, Frankfort, Homer Glen, Joliet and Tinley Park., would fit the bill. The CSM would learn first-hand about the opportunities to diminish non-point pollution through the use of implementation tools that could be sold through Walgreens Online.

Combine that with insights about current environmental legislation coming down the pike at the state capital. Specifically speaking, composting—the way it’s done in Europe—has found tremendous support in the Illinois General Assembly. In light of the fact, selected Walgreens stores might consider hosting composting demonstrations put on by bona fide environmental organizations, and then feature these items along with other environmentally friendly products already available through Walgreens Online.

And when the time is ripe, Walgreens could generate a public relations bonanza by including a green rooftop or install solar windows on new or updated retail sites.

Certainly health fairs and community events, such as Relay for Life, would welcome a Walgreens exhibit/booth that offers free blood pressure testing and measures cholesterol levels and the like. In addition, build on the success of an already established relationship with the four-campus Lincoln-Way High School District by reaching out to include the elementary districts. For instance, at New Lenox School Dist. 122 junior high school students annually work on Web page design projects for local businesses. Why not authorize a region-specific Walgreens Web page, showing YouTube presentations of kids serving the community together with a Walgreens volunteer as well as the video of the composting demonstration, and, of course, advertising kid-friendly products sold in the stores and online.

The kudos that result from a grateful design class, other featured students, their parents and grandparents, are bound to generate not only an increase in store sales but also an allegiance to a store that thoughtfully invests in the community through educational support initiatives and more.

The CSM program has the potential to build on the notion of community mutuality—benefits for the community and profits for a retailer. It takes a seasoned public affairs specialist and experienced outreach professional to identify appropriate organizations for the purpose of maximizing the benefits that come from a relationship built on trust and caring. The cost of one additional corporate position to facilitate the CSM program would enhance profits and assist the community.