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PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The National Consumers League recently launched the Script Your Future initiative to raise awareness among patients about the impact of not taking their medications as prescribed, and now the first-of-its-kind campaign is kicking off in several markets around the country.


Script Your Future is an important initiative, as 3-out-of-4 Americans fail to take their medications as prescribed by their doctors. This equates to an estimated $290 billion drain on the U.S. healthcare system each year — costs that are avoidable.


MT. KISCO, N.Y. — Retailers and small- to mid-sized brand marketers shouldn’t be quick to dismiss social media as an effective avenue to communicate with consumers versus traditional media outreach like TV and radio. That was a key takeaway of a recent survey conducted on behalf of marketing/public relations firm Robin Leedy & Associates.


In fact, the research suggested that the balance of power already may be tipping in favor of social marketing, particularly in certain categories and definitely among certain consumers.



MINNEAPOLIS — Target is poised to become an even more significant player in the world of health, wellness and beauty in the coming years, assuming the company can execute a range of initiatives designed to grow sales to $100 billion and double earnings per share to at least $8.


Energy shots have delivered a jolt to pharmacy sales to the tune of an incremental $50 million in the past year. That business was borne out of targeting the typical all-nighters: college kids cramming for exams, truck drivers and third-shift workers. But seniors?


Who’s clipping coupons? Ironically, coupon redemptions in the wake of the Great Recession are heaviest among higher-income, better-
educated Americans, researchers reported.


“With the value offered by coupons, one might think that the lowest income households would be among the heaviest users,” noted The Nielsen Co. “In fact, more affluent households dominate coupon usage.”


CVS Caremark’s Larry Merlo passed the NACDS chairman’s gavel to H-E-B’s Bob Loeffler. Tom Ryan and Mary Sammons were first-time-ever co-recipients of the Sheldon Fantle Lifetime Achievement Award. NACDS announced it would consolidate its show calendar in 2013. … It was a busy 2011 Annual Meeting. And DSN covered it all. If you missed our Show Dailies, click here to see what our cameras saw.


More and more, there is a new niche being carved out of the take-home test kits being offered through pharmacy. It used to be only pregnancy and ovulation test kits that were available in that space. Now there is a plethora of offerings, including tests for drug abuse, screenings for such conditions as high cholesterol, paternity tests and tests for sexually transmitted diseases. And the space is expected to continue to grow. “We see four key drivers of this trend,” said Steve Smith, Identigene director of marketing.


Spice consumption is at an all-time high as consumers’ changing palates are craving more flavor. During the 1950s, Americans stocked less than 10 spices in their pantries. Today, the average American’s pantry includes up to 40 different and diverse spices, according to research from McCormick & Co.



The wider availability of relaxants and perms — which largely are geared toward African-American hair — coupled with consumers seeking greater value due to a challenging economy has helped fuel sales of the niche segment.


PRINCETON, N.J. — Church & Dwight in April launched the First Response Digital Ovulation Test, a new at-home ovulation test that can detect a woman’s personal luteinizing hormone surge — the hormonal indication of ovulation — based on her own individual hormone levels.

The $290 billion that poor medication adherence costs the U.S. economy every year cuts across every imaginable disease state, but one in which it can be particularly problematic is mental health.



It’s not often a niche brand manufacturer attempts to resuscitate what has been for years a commoditized category. But that’s exactly what Meda Consumer Healthcare will be attempting to do with iron — establish a good/better/best proposition to a supplemented category best defined as mediocre. For the 52 weeks ended April 16, mineral supplement sales were down 3.3% to $534 million across food, drug and mass (including Walmart), according to Nielsen Group data.