Deborah  Wilkes is Editor & Publisher of OTC bulletin, the business newsletter for the consumer healthcare industry. Co-founder of OTC Publications Limited, which launched OTC bulletin in 1993.  Deborah is Chair of the Judging Panels for OTC Bulletin and OTC Marketing Awards, and is actively involved with industry bodies and is regular speaker at industry events.

Q: As an industry insider what keeps you fascinated by the OTC health sector?

From an international perspective, the steady flow of shifts in business strategy and the rapid pace of mergers and acquisitions in the consumer healthcare industry.

Q: What do you think are the biggest challenges facing the OTC sector today for eg:  the high street chemist/branded suppliers/overall?

One of the biggest challenges is forecasting how the difficult economic environment will affect the different product categories within the consumer healthcare sector.

Q: How do you think OTC retail is changing/may change in the next 5 years

Over the past few years, more OTC medicines have become available from supermarkets and other non-pharmacy retail outlets. This trend seems likely to continue over the next five years. Meanwhile, pharmacies may take a more proactive approach to their OTC business, as their prescription dispensing business comes under pressure.

Q: What do you see as the impact of online retailing on the sector?

Online retailing is becoming more important for OTC products, but the uptake varies considerably from one category to another.

Q: With the growth in online and multiples in the sector what do you see as the future for independent pharmacies?  What is their usp and what support do you believe manufacturers must offer them?

The future looks tough for independent pharmacies, but many are located close to doctors surgeries and have a steady flow of customers picking up prescriptions. A lot more could be done to encourage customers to buy more healthcare-related products while they are in independent pharmacies.

Q: How do you think branded suppliers can maintain their position against own label value developments? What advantages do brands have?

Building brand loyalty is very important. Some manufacturers have done a very good job of building loyalty to their OTC brands, but others could do more.

Q: What do you think are the main challenges in marketing OTC products?

Working within the regulatory constraints that apply to marketing campaigns for OTC medicines, and dealing with the increasing regulatory caution as regulators become more risk averse

Q: What advice would you give to someone planning a career in OTC marketing?

The marketing budgets may not be as big as for other consumer brands, but consumer healthcare – with its regulatory constraints – is a fascinating and challenging area of marketing.

Q: How important is innovation for brands and retailers in the sector?

One of the most important forms of innovation in the OTC market – switching – can create completely new OTC product categories by taking prescription medicines and making them available OTC from pharmacies. More generally, innovation keeps brands one step ahead of the competition and retailers own-label products. Many innovations in the consumer healthcare sector in recent years have focused on making OTC products easier for consumers to take or more portable for them to use anywhere.

Q:  How important are manufacturers in training and development of pharmacists and pharmacy assistants?

Manufacturers can play an extremely important role in training and development, particularly for independent pharmacies. When new OTC product categories are created by prescription medicines becoming available OTC from pharmacies, then it is absolutely critical for manufacturers to make sure pharmacy staff are fully prepared to handle consultations with customers.

Q: In your opinion, what makes a great marketer or account manager?

An inquisitive nature combined with an open mind.

Q: What is your view of RB UK as a player in your industry?

Good at building brand loyalty.

Q:  What is your favourite RB product, and why?

It is too hard to choose a favourite, but from RBs long-established portfolio, Lemsip comes to my rescue most winters.

Q:  What should be RBs next great product innovation?

A toilet cleaner that only has to be used once a year. RB would have lower sales volume, but the product could definitely command a premium price!

Sitting in the Scientific Services Group (SSG) , which is part of RB’s Research and Development (R&D) department, your work has a huge impact on the profitability of a really exciting region! Your ability to affect profitability can happen in much shorter timeframes than in category development as this department focuses on new product developments (NPDs). Here in SSG we are working with existing products and adjusting formulations, claims, production and supply strategy. So let me tell you a little about my first few weeks in SSG…(for those new to my blog, I’ve recently moved to India from the UK!).

Factory Transfers

Vanish liquid is a recent launch in India. Initially we had been importing product from our factory in China to A) hit the market ASAP and B) to test the market. Vanish liquid has shown good initial success – and without cannibalising our existing powder product.

The location of a production factory has a large impact on GM (gross margin) and profitability . We are currently in the process of moving Vanish production from China to India, localising our production. This will mean an increase of over 30% on our GM, which is HUGE and will have a massive effect on the brand’s profitability.

Formulation changes and Harmonisation

SSG is also required to manage the complexities encountered in our factories, such as the number of formulas made for one product. Veet has 3 main variants: Normal, Dry, and Sensitive. Within these variants, there are also formulation changes e.g.when we add extra materials such as Aloe with vitamin E. Countries migrate to the changed formulas within different timelines. However, the more formulas a factory carries, the more complexity is added. Cost is also impacted as cycle times will be longer due to the cleaning and swapping of lines and mistakes are more likely to be made.
Therefore SSG need to ensure that this situation is managed. I am currently managing the migration of Veet to our most recent formula which will supersede supply to all countries. These projects run for roughly 6 months over which raw material sourcing, line trials, stability and product registration will be completed.


Claims and Demonstrations

Consumers in one country can be completely different to the next. I can see this from my personal experience, I LOVE to have a tan, the browner the better, but here in India the paler the better. All of the creams and facial products sold in India are targeted at this need bucket. It is therefore really important to manage claims and advertising campaigns per country. This is another role of SSG, investigating potential claims and supporting these.

Vanish has some really interesting consumer demonstrations, including a Monster stain – scary! As part of my work I will be looking at ways to develop India specific demonstrations and claims to improve our market share. It’s all about making your product relatable and building trust in your brand!

Wish me luck

I am sure most people reading this will have heard about the worlds ‘ageing population’. One of the most shocking statistics I have heard is that by 2015 Japan is estimated to experience a 175% rise in tax to support their aging population – find this shocking? The UK is estimated to experience the same situation in 11 years! This will have a massive impact on the economy and the way we market products.

Some shocking statistics

• By 2025 the number of Americans over 60 will increase by 70%

• The largest increase in population by 2050 will be in Africa whose population is expected to at least double putting their population at 2.1 Billion.

• There are 4.1 working adults in developed countries for every child under the age of 14.

To put your business head on means that if we stick to our current target consumer we will be considerably limiting our market potential. Fewer children per adult only means that this situation will become more extreme.

Current Target consumer

Currently, most of our products are aimed at the female head of a household. Our typical Airwick consumer is a female aged between 45-64, who places great importance on the image of her home.

New markets

China, India and Africa represent white spaces and new consumers that we and many other industries are still figuring out. There are many challenges within these markets – infrastructure, affluence and understanding of a new consumer mindset are all key. It’s not as simple as taking a product designed for the European market and rolling it out to a developing market. Our cultures are completely different and so are the consumers. Fragrance preferences vary massively between countries. If you live in the UK, you are likely to prefer floral and fruity scents. However, if you live in the US, you will find a large proportion of food related scents like pumpkin pie.

How will this affect the FMCG industry?

If there are 4.1 adults to every child under the age of 14 in developed markets, then our current target consumer bracket will decrease in population by a factor of 4. That would have a massive effect on our sale volumes and profit. In order for our brands to be successful in future years we must look at the needs of an aging consumer but also ensure we do not neglect the base consumer.

We must adapt.

Hi my name is Sezi, this is my first blog on myrbopportunity. I joined the RB Italy in March 2011 and im currently completing an internship in marketing.

Segmentation, Targeting, 4P’s, 3C’s?

As an aspiring marketeer at some point in our educational life, we all took the course “Introduction to Marketing”. We learned about the basics of marketing at school- segmentation, targeting, 4P’s, 3C’s etc. But simply learning about these terms are never enough. That’s why today, I want to talk about one of the best  courses that I have taken so far: RCBK 101 – Introduction to Reckitt Benckiser.  

I should say upfront that it may well be one of the most challenging experiences that anyone can have. From the first day, you will realize how much you need to self-improve while also searching for ways to apply the knowledge taught during school years.  

One of the greatest motivators is the feeling that you are actually contributing to what is done. Deep down inside, I am sure everyone fears a bad internship experience, where we spend hours on end counting the days left until the end of our internships. But here in RB, the sense of ownership grows so fast that one day, out of the blue, you will find yourself doing store checks on a Saturday afternoon while shopping for groceries. At least that’s what I’ve realized today  

The cherry on the top is the teaching staff. They are always eager to share their professional experiences through constructive criticisms while also ensuring a friendly working environment. Considering all these factors, I believe that here is the place to be. Don’t you think so too? 

One of the reasons I love Aircare is the perfume! Or namely the fine fragrances cupboard .

My favorite training so far was provided by Firmenich (a fragrance house) – we got to have a go at creating our very own cologne. I was paired with Kate our fragrance manager, so may have had a slight advantage, but we won a bottle of champagne for our efforts  ! My well remembered fact from that day was smelling a compound called Ambergris, I recognized it instantly as a smell in male perfumes, this compound is the synthetic version of SPERM WHALE PUKE! Yes, you read right – Puke!

I thought I would interview our fragrance manger Kate Langley to give you a look at the diverse functions within R&D. Plus her top 3 perfume recommendations from her expert nose (now if that isn’t a reason to read on I don’t know what else is).

Hi Kate, perhaps it would help to tell our readers a little bit about yourself.

Hi Everyone, my name is Kate Langley, I am the Global Fragrance Manager at RB. I have been working at RB for 6 years.

What is your role within R&D?

As the global R&D fragrance manager it is my job to work with the R&D teams to design and develop the best fragrances for our products. Everything from how well the fragrance works with our product formulas, to creating a scent consumers will love and also working on the best fragrance names (this is really important especially in Aircare) . We have done a lot of work recently on the new Touch of Luxury range – take a look – they smell great!

What is your favorite part about your job?

I love my job, it is so varied, some of the best bits are:

1. I get to work on multiple brands which means there is always something different and exciting to work on everyday.
2. Of course …..the fragrances!!! You have to love fragrance to do this job as it is the best bit. I love the days when new fragrance submissions arrive in for us to evaluate.
3. The people, because I support multiple brands I get to work with a huge variety of people in RB

What makes RB stand out from the crowd for you?

Fast Pace, Vibrant, Exciting, Diverse, Challenging – you get give real responsibility from day one!

What AW fragrance currently on the market is your favorite and why?
Everyone has a different scent preference hence why there is such a variety of fine fragrances on the market. People choose fragrance based on what they like, memory triggers etc and everyone is different so below are a few of my favorites personally but this does not necessarily mean they are the best. Some of you may like them some of you may not – that is the great fun of fragrance!

And finally, the part every reader has been waiting for…

Top 3 Female fragrances
Angel – Thierry Mugler – This was a real game changer in the female fine fragrance industry.
Lolita Lempika – Lolita Lempika – Another Gourmand Oriental fragrance (my favorite scent direction).
A new one that I am mad about at the moment is The One – D&G – great!!
I could go on but I won’t!

Top 3 Male fragrances
Eau Savage – Christian Dior – An all time classic creation (and reminds me of my Dad!!).
Boss – Hugo Boss – Just gorgeous.
Le Male – JPG

Thankyou Kate! Now everybody can smell as nice as us ! Hopefully this goes to show that R&D is not your typical lab and specs job and your experience in this sector of the business is completely diverse.