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

International opportunities
Before I started working at RB, I went travelling for 3 months… and I LOVED IT! I was pretty sad to come home and realise that this wouldn’t be possible again for a long time. Little did I know, but RB would offer me some amazing travel opportunities.

RB really has been the perfect place to begin my career. Having only been working for RB a year, I have been to the USA, China and am now LIVING in India!

Every one of these trips has been an amazing experience on both a work and personal level. All 3 countries I had never visited before and it has really opened my mind to different cultures, mindsets and the infinite possibilities out there!

USA
During my trip to the USA, I met and presented to one of the head buyers from Wal-Mart. It was really interesting to experience this side of our business as sometimes, in R&D, you can feel detached from the end goal – selling our products. Trade relationships are really important to the success of any business and it was invaluable to see this interaction.

China
China was a whirlwind! While I was there I travelled to Beijing, Shanghai, Dongguan and Hong Kong (all crammed into 5 days!). When in China you have to be adventurous with the food – pigeon, beef stomach (tripe) and beef tendon were amongst the strangest I tried.

During my time in China, I was sitting in on consumer focus groups (with live translation, of course ), visiting one of our core fragrance houses and meeting with some local suppliers. I gained a very rounded experience of the facilities we use and the consumer mindset which varies greatly around the country.

India
WOW – when I finished university, I would never have imagined I would be living in India for 6 months! Currently being based here, I am completing my second placement on the graduate scheme in the Scientific Services Group (one of the three departments in R&D). I will be managing Vanish for India, a few Veet projects and some products for Paras personal care which we acquired earlier this year.

I am really enjoying India so far – despite having found a cockroach in my apartment on the first night! As well as getting a really varied and fast paced work life, I also get to experience a truly diverse culture – I can’t wait to explore!

For me RB is my perfect match!

Last week, I put the question to Reckitt Benckiser’s directors, managers and associates alike: “If you were to give one tip to candidates applying to RB, what would it be?” Three of the people below were assessors during my assessment day, so what they have to say to you all potential RBers out there will be really valuable!

If I look back to when I was going through the RB recruitment process, I think the best advice I would have given myself would have been to…

Be yourself! At the end of the day you don’t want to be working in an environment which doesn’t suit you. The culture at RB is very unique and our assessment process is about finding people who will excel in this environment. Think of it like a dating agency . It’s as much about finding what you want from a company as what a company wants from you.

Be an all-rounder. Yes you may have just studied science for 4 years, but RB is more than just that. We look for your business acumen, logic, negotiation skills, teamwork and so on. Be 3D!

Good Luck

One of the biggest focuses of the RB culture is career progression. The fact that everyone moves roles so often helps to keep the ideas fresh and maintain a vibrant fun working environment. Recently one of my colleagues Helen Stephenson was promoted from Senior Innovation Associate within Aircare to an Innovation Manger within Scholl & Durex. A clear idea of a career path is a must have for progression within RB, however it can sometimes feel a little daunting to know where to start in terms of mapping out your career for the next 5 years. So read on to find out how Helen planned and achieved this.

Hi Helen, Congratulations again on your promotion, this must be a very exciting time for you! Has your focus and training always been within the FMCG Industry or has your career experience so far been particularly varied?

I studied for a Masters degree in Chemistry at the University of Nottingham and started to make decisions about my career during that time. I had a variety of summer jobs, but in my third year I was successful in applying for a summer internship with ICI and found myself working within the Food Ingredient R&D group at Quest International, Holland for 3 months. I really enjoyed applying technical thinking to problems with a tangible, consumer need and this led me to have a much clearer idea about what I wanted to do following my degree – I had my sights set on R&D, particularly new product development.

Following my degree I studied for a PhD in Polymer Chemistry supported by ICI and made some great friends and connections along the way. My first full-time job was working as a Project Scientist for Critical Pharmaceuticals, a spin-out company from the University of Nottingham focusing on the development of slow-release drug delivery systems. This was a great experience in technology management; I was responsible for transferring an exciting new technology from an academic setting into a commercial business. It developed my entrepreneurship and taught me a lot about securing financial support for new ideas with the responsibility to manage risk and deliver against specific time frames.

After 2 years at Critical Pharmaceuticals I decided that I wanted to look for opportunities within a big company to gain experience in the development of products closer to the market and with global reach. This led me to Reckitt Benckiser Healthcare and I joined in 2007 as a Formulation Associate on the Nurofen brand. Nurofen is a really exciting brand to work on; I was involved with all stages of product development from concept generation through to product license submission. It was a valuable experience in understanding the Quality and Regulatory framework a consumer healthcare product must be developed within.

I then had the opportunity to make a complete change and moved to work as an Innovation Associate for Airwick. This pushed me outside my comfort zone, not only because I had to grasp a very different technical field quickly, but also a very different target consumer. I would say that Aircare is much more subjective and less functional than Healthcare; it’s important to understand the consumer’s frustrations & drivers and use these to guide technical innovation. This gives lots of opportunity for meeting and interacting with consumers, which is always great fun!

So your career so far has been particularly varied. You have been working with RB for around 3 years and held how many positions?

The Scholl & Durex Innovation Manager role will be my third position since joining RB

Which role so far has been your favourite?

That’s a difficult question, but I would say working in Aircare Innovation has been my favourite, despite also being the toughest! This role has enabled me to gain experience within a very fast paced, dynamic environment where a project can reach the shelf within 2-3 years from concept. At the Innovation end you require a strong understanding of the strategic vision for the brand and have the opportunity to really influence the future pipe-line. There is great autonomy and ownership to drive things forward and make things happen.

Have you always had a clear idea of your career path?

No, not at all. In the first stages of my career I took opportunities as they presented themselves and a set plan seemed too restrictive! What I would say is that I actively looked for opportunities at every stage to learn more about myself and develop. It was only when I joined RB that I started to realize the benefits of career planning. I have had a career plan for the last few years which maps out the responsibilities & experiences I would like to achieve moving forward, and the roles that would enable me to do this. It’s still important to keep it flexible because who knows where the next opportunity might arise, but it provides some direction and targets for me to proactively work towards my next role.

Why did RB stand out from the crowd for you?

Initially the big brands and exciting products! I wanted to be involved with making a difference for consumers. When I learnt more about the company I was impressed with the ownership and responsibility you get, not only in your day-to-day role but also in driving your career forward.

You career within RB so far has been very fast paced which fits well with our company culture and industry strategy. What do you see as the steps you took to achieve promotion from your current position to becoming a manager?

There are plenty, but these are my top 3:
- Developing a strong network and building relationships with key stakeholders
- Challenging myself to go above and beyond and then delivering
- Demonstrating the ability to lead and develop others

Do you think the step from Associate to Manager is large?

Yes, of course – it will be another steep learning curve and I’m sure there will be a few growing pains. But I’m excited by the challenge and looking forward to the extra responsibility – that’s what keeps me motivated at work!

What would be your top tip for candidates looking to apply to RB?

Be your own person and if you are motivated and driven to achieve great results through collaboration with others, RB is the place for you.

Thank you Helen, we wish you every success in your new role!

Helen demonstrates key drivers needed to succeed within RB, a personality driven by responsibility and achievement, the confidence to take real ownership of your work and someone who is always looking for the next challenge to take on. Reckitt Benckiser’s fast paced market strategy is reflected in the companies’ career progression and role movement. If you are serious about your career progression then RB is the place for you!