Rite Aid sponsors SouVez, looks to get in early on marketing to new mothers

8/18/2008

NEW YORK Rite Aid has already positioned itself as an early-adopter to what has the potential of becoming a new marketing paradigm reaching new mothers. The No. 3 drug chain earlier this year became a pre-launch sponsor of SouVez, a New York-based marketing communications firm specializing in healthcare and multi-ethnic markets that’s preparing to launch a new-moms marketing vehicle called “the health record” in 2009, SouVez announced Monday.

“Rite Aid is making a lifetime commitment to supporting new parents and the well being of each child,” stated John Learish, Rite Aid senior vice president of marketing. “Rite Aid Pharmacy is proud to sponsor the health record program.”

Pre-launched in 2008, the health record has already reached more than 350,000 moms across the country. With a major launch set to roll out in 2009, the program is projected to cover 25 percent of the new-mom market nationwide—equating to more than 1.2 million new moms in 40 states—via the program’s 600-plus hospital partners.

The health record is a bilingual journal, personally signed and hand-delivered by a healthcare professional to new moms in hospitals. The program has been designed to empower moms by helping them keep an organized, documented record of their child’s health and development, including immunizations, illnesses, hospitalization and emergency records, as well as medical providers and key medical guidelines.

“We feel the material is of such value that we are discontinuing our ‘moms and baby book’ that we usually hand out, and are presenting the health record to our new moms,” commented Stephanie Zinn, marketing manager of Gerber Memorial Health Services. “Unlike the other stuff we give out, I love the health record because it’s so presentable and not something parents will throw away.”

The health record offers numerous leveraging opportunities for advertisers, as the program is measurable and fully integrated, and includes a database for future marketing efforts, couponing, logo brand placement and messaging with CSR functionality.

Advertisers can present a range of products or several brands to new mothers via one platform while delivering value to the mom, child and family, or sponsor a public relations or CSR campaign around the health record.

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