August 13, 2007
Publix Makes Rare Goof
It’s common in the grocery business to find the name Publix in the same sentence as “best practices.” The company’s recent announcement that it would give away antibiotics, often used to treat sick children, should have been another case of the company demonstrating the right way to promote a point of difference in the marketplace. Instead, Publix lost some public relations points by failing to mention that it was doing away with its policy of matching the $4 price charged by others such as Wal-Mart for certain generic versions of prescription medicines.
When first asked about whether it was dropping its price match policy, Publix offered a non-answer. The Orlando Sentinel reported that company spokesperson Dwaine Stevens would not confirm that Publix would no longer match prices, preferring to concentrate on the day’s good news of the free antibiotics.
Jeff Johnson, manager of state operations for AARP Florida, said it was unlikely that members of his group would be better off as a result of Publix’s new plan.
“Free antibiotics are great. I’m glad that they’re doing that. But that’s generally a short-term drug,” he said. “The bottom line is, I think, consumers will end up being worse off if they have to pay full price for a lot of generics.”
The hoopla surrounding the free antibiotics announcement, including an appearance by Florida Governor Charlie Christ to commend the company, made it appear to some as though Publix was attempting to pull off a misdirection play of sorts.
As an opinion piece by Scott Maxwell in yesterday’s Sentinel pointed out, the omission gave the press license to go after Publix. His own paper included a story with the headline: Publix’s free-drug offer has flip side.
The lead in The Post and Courier of Charleston, S.C. read: “Free antibiotics from Publix Super Markets carry some side effects, including but not limited to the loss of money on other prescriptions.”
Maria Brous, director of media relations for Publix, told Mr. Maxwell that the new program would benefit more people because more would use it. As it turns out, few consumers were going to Publix for $4 generics.
Mr. Maxwell concludes that the points made by Ms. Brous suggest that Publix is doing right by its customers.
Unfortunately, by failing to tell the whole story in the first place, Publix now has some questioning if its current story can be wholly believed.
Discussion Questions: Has Publix damaged its credibility with consumers over its failure to mention it was discontinuing its price match policy while announcing its free antibiotics program? What should the chain be doing now to address the perception that it was not being open and honest with its customers?
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This is surprising, as having worked on the account in my past I can vouch by how carefully Publix plans and executes things. They are rabid about ensuring that the relationship they have with their customers stays as healthy as possible. That said, I agree with David that those who are allegiant to them are indeed allegiant. And if they come clean and offer a sincere apology, I do believe that the majority of their customers, based on their experience with them, will pardon the oversight without a thought.
The problem is that it looks like Publix was trying to cover the bad news with the good news. Clearly the timing was terrible. Even if there wasn’t a deliberate attempt to mislead, it’s going to be hard to get anyone to believe it.
If there’s anything that we’ve learned from politics, it is that the cover-up is always worse than the act. So, Publix’s best move would probably be to address the issue head-on now and rethink changing the price marking policy down the road. In any event they are going to have to “come clean” about why they walked away from price matching.
Yes, Publix made a pr goof by ending the $4 prescription price match. It’s hard for any retailer to end a popular discount program. Publix made friends with the free antibiotics, but on balance, they shot themselves in the foot. Retail competition is war. Wars are hard to end. As long as one major competitor sells prescriptions for $4, it’s not easy for the others to walk away.
It would be interesting to learn the financial effects though. Regardless of the bad pr, Publix’s profits might rise from these decisions. Everyone in retailing complains about cherry pickers who are profitless customers. Maybe Publix found that the $4 prescription traffic fits that description.
Yes, Publix did make a goof. But a rare goof. They will be forgiven by their customers because most likely, Publix will right any wrongs. They always do. The answer sounds simple. Just do the $4 Rx promotion as well.
My initial praise for Publix’s new drug policy has taken a bad hit by this revelation. While I want to give Publix the benefit of the doubt on this, at the least they are guilty of very poor timing. It sounds like they hadn’t thought this through very well and were in such a hurry to announce the free antibiotics that they hadn’t properly discussed the status of the discount program. The new program will most likely benefit families with young children the most and will be a poorer program for seniors. With Florida’s huge senior population, that might not be a good decision? At this point, no matter which way they decide to go, many will have bad feelings about this for awhile. Not all seniors have poor memories.
A senseless PR gaffe. Publix should just go up front as much as possible, and move on, although it would have been much better to have done so initially. Not anything that will have significant impact long-term, but some short-term pain for sure.
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This is surprising, as having worked on the account in my past I can vouch by how carefully Publix plans and executes things. They are rabid about ensuring that the relationship they have with their customers stays as healthy as possible. That said, I agree with David that those who are allegiant to them are indeed allegiant. And if they come clean and offer a sincere apology, I do believe that the majority of their customers, based on their experience with them, will pardon the oversight without a thought.
The problem is that it looks like Publix was trying to cover the bad news with the good news. Clearly the timing was terrible. Even if there wasn’t a deliberate attempt to mislead, it’s going to be hard to get anyone to believe it.
If there’s anything that we’ve learned from politics, it is that the cover-up is always worse than the act. So, Publix’s best move would probably be to address the issue head-on now and rethink changing the price marking policy down the road. In any event they are going to have to “come clean” about why they walked away from price matching.
Yes, Publix made a pr goof by ending the $4 prescription price match. It’s hard for any retailer to end a popular discount program. Publix made friends with the free antibiotics, but on balance, they shot themselves in the foot. Retail competition is war. Wars are hard to end. As long as one major competitor sells prescriptions for $4, it’s not easy for the others to walk away.
It would be interesting to learn the financial effects though. Regardless of the bad pr, Publix’s profits might rise from these decisions. Everyone in retailing complains about cherry pickers who are profitless customers. Maybe Publix found that the $4 prescription traffic fits that description.
Yes, Publix did make a goof. But a rare goof. They will be forgiven by their customers because most likely, Publix will right any wrongs. They always do. The answer sounds simple. Just do the $4 Rx promotion as well.
My initial praise for Publix’s new drug policy has taken a bad hit by this revelation. While I want to give Publix the benefit of the doubt on this, at the least they are guilty of very poor timing. It sounds like they hadn’t thought this through very well and were in such a hurry to announce the free antibiotics that they hadn’t properly discussed the status of the discount program. The new program will most likely benefit families with young children the most and will be a poorer program for seniors. With Florida’s huge senior population, that might not be a good decision? At this point, no matter which way they decide to go, many will have bad feelings about this for awhile. Not all seniors have poor memories.
A senseless PR gaffe. Publix should just go up front as much as possible, and move on, although it would have been much better to have done so initially. Not anything that will have significant impact long-term, but some short-term pain for sure.