One-on-one tutorial programs for students have been established in seven inner cities across America. Walgreens mainly focuses on giving back to children and their aging customers. The PR department makes sure they have diversity among their community relations tactics. Other efforts they support are the American Red Cross, Abraham Lincoln Center, Expo for Today's Black Woman, Detroit Branch of NAACP, Houston Ebony Music Society, and Junior Achievement.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Giving Back to the Community
One-on-one tutorial programs for students have been established in seven inner cities across America. Walgreens mainly focuses on giving back to children and their aging customers. The PR department makes sure they have diversity among their community relations tactics. Other efforts they support are the American Red Cross, Abraham Lincoln Center, Expo for Today's Black Woman, Detroit Branch of NAACP, Houston Ebony Music Society, and Junior Achievement.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Crisis Communications: Pharmacist Strike!
In the Chicago Sun Times, Walgreens spokesman Michael Polzin said all the affected pharmacies would remain open, but for less hours, which still meant 8am until midnight. The pharmacies were staffed by nonunion pharmacists and technicians. Polzin said the consumer relations department received calls from customers with questions about the strike, but the company had not received any complaints.
Walgreens was the first to give information about the strike before rumors started. Before the strike kicked off Walgreens' national director of pharmacy affairs, Phil Burgess, went on ABC Chicago and explained what their plan was if the union followed through with the strike. He reassured the public that pharmacies would stay open and pharmacists not involved in the union would continue to work and managers would come in from different regions. This showed that Walgreens had these plans already in place in case of a crisis. After the strike began the Walgreens spokesman, Michael Polzin, was chosen to address the media and be the single source of information throughout the strike to allow the public to put a face to the corporation and build confidence that Walgreens would take care of their customers throughout the strike.
According to 'Drug Topics' magazine, Polzin said "Publicly, union leaders talk about safety issues, but that is not what they are emphasizing at the bargaining table. Pay is always an issue and we have a very fair offer that keeps our pharmacies well staffed and pays our pharmacists well over $100,000 a year. Our pay package is a 20% raise over four years. Plus we have great benefits such as a stock-option plan and a profit-sharing plan. The profit-sharing plan matches over three dollars for every dollar that pharmacists contribute."
Polzin did a great job explaining their pay package and helping the public see that Walgreens is a good company to work for and that they do take care of their employees. He did say the pharmacists only wanted money, which may have upset the pharmacists, but he was being honest with the media.
Another thing the union worried about was the company's elimination of a staffing review committee. They argued that pharmacists filled over 500 prescriptions a day, and the review committee gave pharmacists an opportunity to request and document if they needed additional staffing.
In response, Polzin said the average number of prescriptions filled by pharmacists at the chain's stores is 280 a day, not 500. He added, "Our proposal does not eliminate the review committee, contrary to what the union has stated. Our proposal will make that committee more efficient. So rather than taking two to three months to get an answer back to the pharmacist, it will take only 10 to 20 working days."
Polzin's response was perfect because he corrected the inaccurate number of prescriptions filled a day and he corrected the negative idea of the review committee. He didn't admit fault for the strike, but addressed the pharmacists' complaints. During this strike Walgreens ran print and radio ads to let patients know that its pharmacies were still open. Walgreens handled the situation professionally and came out pretty clean. The pharmacists ended the three-week strike not getting what they requested, but feeling they at least forced Walgreens to be more aware of staffing levels and patient safety. Both sides seemed to end the strike without much animosity.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
"The Pharmacy America Trusts"
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Ch-Ch-Ch Changes
According to Yahoo! Finance, Walgreens' Board of Directors adopted an amendment to the company's By-laws stating in order to be nominated to be as a director one must have reached their 72nd birthday first and secondly, the nomination must be approved by all other members of the Board of Directors.
Regis and Kelly are doing a 3D Halloween special on October 31st and Walgreens is giving out the 3D glasses for FREE!! This is a great way to get more people going to Walgreens to get the glasses and picking up some things while they're there! What a creative idea on both of their parts.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Health, Happiness, Halloween & a Hard Week
Sounds like Walgreens is busy, no wonder they're the nation's largest drugstore chain, bringing in about $54 million for the 2007 Fiscal year, which ended August 31, 2007. Although, according to The Chicago Tribune, the first week in October Walgreens' share plunged the most in 27 years. The stock fell $7.08 to $40.16 on the New York Stock Exchange. According to the Deerfield-based Walgreens, the plunge was the result of "poor performance on higher expenses and lower reimbursements for popular generic medications." Walgreens claimed expenses grew more than 11 percent, to $12.8 billion, due to more advertising, store and staff costs.
Walgreens will get it together, they just need to remember to stick by their Mission Statement:
'We will treat each other with respect and dignity and do the same for all we serve.
We will offer employees of all backgrounds a place to build careers.
We will provide the most convenient access to healthcare services and consumer goods in America.
We will earn the trust of our customers and build shareholder value.'
Walgreens' Flu Shot Program began October 1st. Flu shots are offered in all 48 states where Walgreens has stores. The shots at Walgreens stores with Take Care Health Clinics are administered by Take Care Nurse Practitioners. There are currently 46 Take Care Health Clinics inside Walgreens drugstores in Chicago, Kansas City, Milwaukee and St. Louis.
The Walgreens Outreach Program for those with disabilities is putting smiles on faces and keeping them there nationwide. Take a look at this heart warming report on the Outreach Program. On the Walgreens Web site there is a place where you can read Chuck's story, who is part of this program. It was smart to put an employee's story on the site to help people understand how much these jobs mean to them and their families. The Outreach Program is effective, rewarding and empowering.
On a lighter note, the Halloween Cutest Costumed Kid or Critter Photo Contest is underway and Walgreens has added a contest for the 'Most Hair-Raising Halloween House.' This is a great idea by the public relations department. The pictures and contests encourage people to check back at the Walgreens website and have fun looking through the Halloween photos. Make sure you vote for your favorites!
Monday, September 24, 2007
Techno S a v v y
People are going to the Walgreens website to check out weekly ads, print out coupons, refill prescriptions, get info about diseases and conditions from the 'Health Library'. There is an animated feature where people can view animated videos of liposuction, cosmetic surgery, the effect of tobacco use on arteries and many more.
More things the site is useful for is finding the closest Walgreens, checking for the product you've been meaning to pick up or find a recipe for dinner tonight. There is plenty to learn when searching through this site. There's health calculators, contests, promotions, recall info, and photo
'Health Corner' TV is where walgreeners can watch several short informative health segments. If you have a child on the way or you're looking for guidance with children, take a minute to look at 'Moms Who Blog: Kids Corner' where mothers can get tips on things from keeping children safe in the summer to the proper dosage of certain medicines. Pssst... Walgreens -- You might want to put a link to this blog on your home page instead of counting on people to type 'blog' into the search box. It's a great idea, flaunt it! While you're at it, what about blogs for young professionals, seniors, or photo help for the digitally challenged? Speeches by CEO, Jeffrey A. Reins, should be put online for investors, employees, customers to hear.
The Walgreens P.R. team seems to be on top of the new media developments. I think they should engage their CEO more, by putting a blog video on the site. Their 'Halloween Headquarters' page was a little disappointing. I expected a more fun, interactive, and costume filled page, but instead its a little boy in a pirate costume and picture prices. Holidays are a perfect opportunity to be creative. They could link to a Halloween game and have a little more fun with it. I love the Halloween photo contest idea, but there should be a link on the home page for this to get more people involved. It's not even October yet, there's still time!
It's a challenge, but techno s a v v y companies are increasing customer satisfaction, bettering their reputation, and gaining more consumers in the process. It's P.R. utopia! Business is no longer: hello, purchase, goodbye. The corporation-customer relationship is more important than ever and new media is raising the communication bar.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Walgreens!!
I chose Walgreens as my company to blog about because they're a well-known, trusted corporation who stands by and follows through with their mission. Walgreens has a website, that's jam-packed with information; they seem to get that a company's website can make or break their ability to reach and keep customers happy. The site is easy to maneuver and almost anything you want to know about their products and the services they offer can be found with a only a few clicks.
A significant amount of money is donated by Walgreens to different charities and overall they have a positive reputation in the community. One common complaint about Walgreens is they charge a substantial amount more than Costco and Sam's Club for the same prescription. It's true, Walgreens and CVS both charge more, but you get what you pay for. Walgreens is a trusted company and people are paying their prices because they have other advantages such as drive-through and some 24 hour a day pharmacies. Also, some of their generics are covered by insurance. One thing that Walgreens has that Costco and Sam's Club fail to provide, is the sense of a tight-knit community pharmacy like 'Cheers' where everyone knows your name. It's hard to feel good about getting pharmaceuticals at a large warehouse.
Walgreens offers coupons every week and gives customers a chance to get great deals. I came across a blog by a woman, who bought a decent amount of products from Walgreens for a low cost by using the savings Walgreens has to offer. Their reputation for having good deals only gets better with blogs like these circulating throughout the Internet. It proves they really are trying to do business in the best interest of their customers.
The PR department at Walgreens is doing a great job at minimizing negatives, but they need to work on really maximizing their positives. The Walgreens Outreach program's main purpose is to hire people with disabilities and to help incorporate them into the work world of society. This is a positive and touching thing they're doing for people with disabilities. However, if I didn't search their website I wouldn't have known about it. They could play this up a little more. A woman blogged about how touching this program was so people are noticing and the image of Walgreens is getting better and better.
Walgreens PR seems to have it together and the employees seem to be happy. One thing their team could do is link the profile of their CEO, Jeffrey A. Rein, on the home page of their website because customers may not think to look under 'Press' for his biography. Rein could even have his own blog where he addresses recent topics related to Walgreens as a way for customers to get a chance to know him.
One More Thing...
ATTENTION WALGREENS CUSTOMERS:
On Wednesday September 12, 2007 Walgreens is filling up INKJET printer ink cartridges for FREE at more than 3,000 locations. Check out if your local Walgreens is participating in this. If so.... go fill up!! Good Job Walgreens for giving back to your customers!