Although it has used occasional events-based marketing in the past, such as on Mother's Day, critics claim Boots has failed to exploit its stores as effectively as other retailers. Much of its in-store marketing has consisted of point-of-sale advertising.
The pharmacy chain plans to hire a marketer with the sole remit of increasing its number of in-store events to showcase expertise and product lines. Key dates include those around Christmas.
According to insiders, marketing director Andrew Brent has been encouraged by the success of last year's 'Change One Thing' healthy living campaign, which offered health advice and was primarily based in-store.
In the past six months, Boots has placed a greater emphasis on its estates. Recently the company said it was planning to rebrand its smaller stores inherited from the merger with Alliance. The shops will now be named 'your local Boots pharmacy'.
The retailer is revamping its Advantage Card kiosks in 485 of its outlets for the first time since their launch in 1999.
It has also created in-store 'health zones' and made better use of floor space by dropping underperforming products such as electricals and homewares.
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