NHS Launches New Campaign To Encourage People To Visit Their Local Pharmacist

The NHS is launching a brand-new TV advert using over-blown movie reactions to minor health concerns, to encourage people to ‘take the drama our of minor illnesses’ and see their pharmacist.

The ‘Help Us, Help You – Get It Seen To’ TV ad campaign uses horror, rom-com and action movie themes in a tongue-in-cheek way to raise awareness of the availability of free, private and confidential consultations in thousands of high street chemists.

The movie style is carried through into three dramatic film posters, which will run in OOH and be displayed in pharmacies, GP practices and other health settings across the country. Activity extends into PR and social media, as well as being amplified through the NHS and stakeholder organisations.

The central message of the nine-week campaign – created by M&C Saatchi – is that people should make their local pharmacy their first port of call for medical advice on minor health issues such as coughs, colds, tummy troubles and aches and pains. It aims to highlight the fact that community pharmacists are qualified healthcare professionals who can offer clinical advice and refer people to a GP or A&E where necessary.

It is part of the wider ‘Help Us Help You’ campaign, now in its third year, which promotes the importance of people taking personal responsibility for their health.

Phil Bastable, head of marketing at NHS England: “This phase of the Help Us, Help You campaign is a really important one. Community pharmacists are invaluable NHS experts, often underutilised because not everybody understands how qualified they are to help. This year we’re asking the public to ‘take the drama out of minor illnesses’ with an exciting new campaign creative, that we hope will really cut through and change behaviour.”

Mark Goodwin, Deputy Joint Executive Director at M&C Saatchi: ‘Pharmacists are the unsung heroes of our medical services. So it’s great to give them a starring role as front line experts.’

Source: M&C Saatchi

  community pharmacists, M&C Saatchi, Medical Services, NHS campaign