August 8, 2007
Publix: No Charge for Antibiotics
Publix has come up with one way to compete with the $4 charged for a 30-day supply of certain generic prescription drugs by Wal-Mart. The company will just give them away for free. Okay, not all of them, but seven of the most prescribed and least expensive generic oral antibiotics.
According to a Publix press release, the seven antibiotics, which include Amoxicillin, Cephalexin Sulfamethoxazole/Trimethoprim (SMZ-TMP), Ciprofloxacin (excluding ciprofloxacin XR), Penicillin VK, Ampicillin and Erythromycin (excluding Ery-Tab), make up roughly 50 percent of the generic pediatric prescriptions filled at the company’s 684 pharmacies.
The company said it will fill prescriptions for a 14-day supply of the antibiotics at no charge and will not place a limit on the number of prescriptions. According to IMS Health, the seven antibiotics generally run between $4 and $10.50 for a 14-day supply. Ciprofloxacin is more expensive costing $32.
Florida Governor Charlie Crist was on hand for the Publix announcement. "Health and wellness is crucial to every Floridian’s quality of life and paramount to the vitality of our state," he said. "We appreciate great partners like Publix Super Markets working to further provide affordability and accessibility to quality prescription drugs for working families and seniors."
Dwaine Stevens, Publix media and community relations manager, said, "We are always striving to provide our customers with service and value. With health care and prescription costs on the rise, our free prescription drug program will reinforce our commitment to the total health and wellness of our customers and their families."
Not everyone was impressed with the action taken by Publix from a healthcare standpoint. Some argued that the antibiotics on the list are used much less frequently than in the past and that the costs of the drugs are within the reach of the chain’s shoppers.
Competing pharmacists, however, did give Publix high marks for its marketing prowess.
"We were going to start this very thing and they beat us to it," said Paul Elias, owner of the Prescription Pad, in Plantation, Fla. and outgoing president of the Broward County Pharmacy Association, told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "These are very inexpensive drugs, a few dollars each. Like the Wal-Mart thing, it’s a great promotional device."
Discussion Question: What does Publix get out of its free generic antibiotic program? Should Publix and others such have any concern that consumers might see some of these prescription pricing programs as more sizzle than steak?
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This is just free advertising. Its cheaper to give away these inexpensive drugs that to advertise. This is similar to when a gas station sells gas below the minimum mark-up and then gets a $10,000 fine. It actually works in their favor as free advertising.
I agree that this strategy is smart and will help attract a lower income shopper base to the stores. I think Publix does stand a chance to keep those shoppers if they can get them moving around the store to experience the services they offer and to explore the variety of goods at various price points. They offer a great selection of private brands at very good price points, and are clearly competitive on national brands in many categories. The shoppers will not be disappointed with the clean and well-merchandised facilities either.
At the end of the day, it will be the shopper who decides if their stores can meet their needs. The marketing move to get new shoppers in is strong and smart. The benefit of free medicine to the already loyal core base of shoppers is powerful as well, and sends the right message that Publix cares about the health and wellness of both its current and potential shoppers.
It’s a brilliant move and apart from the PR bonanza, it’s genuinely needed. This is the core of Publix’ appeal. The company’s gestures actually are useful.
By way of further explanation: I live in Miami-Dade County. Children’s health is a HUGE issue here. Beyond the glitz of South Beach, the county lacks many basic services, particularly for the poor. Things that most of us take (or took) for granted just don’t exist, and the slack has been taken up by philanthropic foundations or other trusts.
For example, when I was growing up, a school nurse was just part of the program, even in public schools. If you didn’t feel well at school, you went to the nurse. Not so in Miami-Dade County. And basic health care needs are often not met. A local philanthropic foundation, the Dr. John T. MacDonald Foundation, funded a signature program for providing pro-active and reactive health care in selected public schools in poor areas. The program has been quite successful, and the torch has now been picked up by the Children’s Trust, a quasi-governmental agency, to expand the program.
My point is, Publix continues to demonstrate that it has its finger on the pulse of its constituents’ needs. The fact that its business booms as a result is great for stakeholders, but frankly, the business has been earned.
Am I a fan? Yes, I am. But they’ve earned my respect, and my business.
In the short term, Publix gets great publicity, marketing, and a little bit of negative press (which in this case is also good press). After the glow subsides, this program has the potential to be a strong traffic and loyalty driver. For consumers, “free” is hard to argue with. Publix’s customer base is the middle to high income consumer. Now the chain will start pulling in some lower income consumers away from the Wal-Marts and dollar stores of the world. The question is: how much will they spend? Because there is an extreme product pricing disparity between the discount chains and Publix, I wouldn’t expect the lower income consumers to become loyal Publix shoppers.
This also raises an interesting clinical situation. In general, many agree that we as a society already take too many antibiotics. This could put pressure on physicians to write prescriptions for these antibiotics in medical situations that could call for an alternative remedy.
A bold move. Bravo to Publix. What do they get out it? How about serving their customers in a way no one has done before and building business in other drugs that are far more profitable than simple antibiotics. And let’s not forget a million bucks worth of free publicity.
Publix knows how to appeal to its constituencies and its free generic antibiotic program will sit well with their customers, particularly those burdened by prescription bills. It is a good promotional device, not very costly, and a step ahead of Wal-Mart’s $4 generic program. I like how Publix plans.
I don’t remember such publicity when Meijer first introduced this a year ago.
Loss leaders are the most common traffic driver supermarkets use. Free drugs might be a great traffic driver. Free publicity is a great traffic driver. But will the cherry pickers make it unprofitable? And if it becomes unprofitable, what’s the pr damage if Publix needs to turn it off?
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This is just free advertising. Its cheaper to give away these inexpensive drugs that to advertise. This is similar to when a gas station sells gas below the minimum mark-up and then gets a $10,000 fine. It actually works in their favor as free advertising.
I agree that this strategy is smart and will help attract a lower income shopper base to the stores. I think Publix does stand a chance to keep those shoppers if they can get them moving around the store to experience the services they offer and to explore the variety of goods at various price points. They offer a great selection of private brands at very good price points, and are clearly competitive on national brands in many categories. The shoppers will not be disappointed with the clean and well-merchandised facilities either.
At the end of the day, it will be the shopper who decides if their stores can meet their needs. The marketing move to get new shoppers in is strong and smart. The benefit of free medicine to the already loyal core base of shoppers is powerful as well, and sends the right message that Publix cares about the health and wellness of both its current and potential shoppers.
It’s a brilliant move and apart from the PR bonanza, it’s genuinely needed. This is the core of Publix’ appeal. The company’s gestures actually are useful.
By way of further explanation: I live in Miami-Dade County. Children’s health is a HUGE issue here. Beyond the glitz of South Beach, the county lacks many basic services, particularly for the poor. Things that most of us take (or took) for granted just don’t exist, and the slack has been taken up by philanthropic foundations or other trusts.
For example, when I was growing up, a school nurse was just part of the program, even in public schools. If you didn’t feel well at school, you went to the nurse. Not so in Miami-Dade County. And basic health care needs are often not met. A local philanthropic foundation, the Dr. John T. MacDonald Foundation, funded a signature program for providing pro-active and reactive health care in selected public schools in poor areas. The program has been quite successful, and the torch has now been picked up by the Children’s Trust, a quasi-governmental agency, to expand the program.
My point is, Publix continues to demonstrate that it has its finger on the pulse of its constituents’ needs. The fact that its business booms as a result is great for stakeholders, but frankly, the business has been earned.
Am I a fan? Yes, I am. But they’ve earned my respect, and my business.
In the short term, Publix gets great publicity, marketing, and a little bit of negative press (which in this case is also good press). After the glow subsides, this program has the potential to be a strong traffic and loyalty driver. For consumers, “free” is hard to argue with. Publix’s customer base is the middle to high income consumer. Now the chain will start pulling in some lower income consumers away from the Wal-Marts and dollar stores of the world. The question is: how much will they spend? Because there is an extreme product pricing disparity between the discount chains and Publix, I wouldn’t expect the lower income consumers to become loyal Publix shoppers.
This also raises an interesting clinical situation. In general, many agree that we as a society already take too many antibiotics. This could put pressure on physicians to write prescriptions for these antibiotics in medical situations that could call for an alternative remedy.
A bold move. Bravo to Publix. What do they get out it? How about serving their customers in a way no one has done before and building business in other drugs that are far more profitable than simple antibiotics. And let’s not forget a million bucks worth of free publicity.
Publix knows how to appeal to its constituencies and its free generic antibiotic program will sit well with their customers, particularly those burdened by prescription bills. It is a good promotional device, not very costly, and a step ahead of Wal-Mart’s $4 generic program. I like how Publix plans.
I don’t remember such publicity when Meijer first introduced this a year ago.
Loss leaders are the most common traffic driver supermarkets use. Free drugs might be a great traffic driver. Free publicity is a great traffic driver. But will the cherry pickers make it unprofitable? And if it becomes unprofitable, what’s the pr damage if Publix needs to turn it off?