X/Procure® - Electronic Procurement & Media Solutions

Pharmaplan recently renewed its contract with X/procure®. This was due to positive sales figures across the board. According to Pharmplan’s CEO Gert van Hoogland, who has worked in Europe, America and New Zealand, “Nothing I have seen internationally, compares with the software solutions that X/procure® continuously develop.” He adds “It’s often better to work with a young company – they’re the ones who come up with out-of-the-box solutions.” Pharmaplan does not produce its own products, it manufactures and markets products on behalf of international principals.  “We offer these companies the marketing and sales arm they need to make a proper dent in the market. Our strategy revolves around speaking directly to the pharmacist and X/procure®’s innovative advertising fits in perfectly with this,” comments Gert. With the new 12 month contract, Pharmaplan will entrench their presence in pharmacies by targeting dispensing pharmacists, front shop assistants and buyers. The aggressive advertising campaign consists of a powerful combination of banner, screen savers, announcement screens, messages and interventions. The objective of this campaign is to ensure that products are both ordered and dispensed and to launch new brands into the market.“We are pleased with the faith that Pharmaplan has demonstrated in our offering and are positive that this persuasive campaign will achieve the results they are looking for,” says X/procure®’s Managing Director Deon Lewis. “Pharmaplan has chosen a three-point of contact approach – at ordering, dispensing and point-of-sale – this has proven to be very effective in the past,” he adds.

X/procure®, the Primedia Unlimited subsidiary, welcomes two new members to the executive management team. J-D Henderson and Lourens Barnard bring to the table a wealth of skills that are bound to be put to good use within the dynamic electronic advertising procurement company.With vast sales and marketing knowledge, J-D joins X/procure® as Sales & Marketing Director after a tenure at Dial-a-Bed as Commercial Director. “J-D can’t wait to get his teeth into the sales and marketing portfolios,” says MD Deon Lewis. “He will be responsible for all sales activities directly related to pharmacies and advertising and will oversee a team of sales people. He comes highly recommended.” "The appointment of Operations Director falls on the capable shoulders of Lourens Barnard, who has been with the company since 2001. Lourens has an in-depth knowledge of X/procure® as he was with us when we rolled out our very first installation into the pharmaceutical market. His skills have seen him climb through the ranks from Technician, to National Service Manager and then Operations Manager before his most recent promotion.” “My team joins me in congratulating our two appointments. Both are forging their relationships at a very exciting time in our company’s growth and development.”X/procure®’s clients include Reckitt Benckiser, Adcock Ingram, Abott Laboratories, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Cipla Medpro, GlaxoSmithKline and Norgine among others. X/procure® Ordering Software is installed in 50% of the pharmaceutical market, dominating 90% of the electronic advertising market or 1800 pharmacies, due to the joint venture with two key dispensing vendors (ComputAssist and Propharm).

Bio-Oil is currently the biggest selling skincare product for scars and stretch marks within South Africa, Australia and the UK. Despite being a market-leader, Bio-Oil continues to market aggressively and has recently signed up with Primedia Unlimited subsidiary, X/procure®, in order to communicate directly with the pharmaceutical industry. Loved by models like Kerry McGregor and endorsed by Marie Claire as a ‘Star Buy’, Bio-Oil has received much public acclaim and media attention throughout its 20 year existence. Already a well-known product, the focus of Bio-Oil’s latest campaign is to connect with pharmacists who are a primary sales channel for the product. Through the use of an on-line browser competition, Union-Swiss hopes to encourage two-way communication with the pharmacists and further leverage its already popular POS competitions.“X/procure®  offers a very convenient and effective medium to directly communicate with the pharmacists, whilst also providing the quantitative feedback required to accurately measure the success of your campaign.  It’s a great opportunity to leverage existing marketing initiatives using an online format,” says Paul Dimaio, South African Business Manager of Union Swiss. The two-month campaign also aims to create synergy with Bio-Oil’s television advertising by alerting pharmacists with announcement screens and screen savers, to prepare for the increased demand and stock up. This measure hopes to avoid a scenario where consumers rush to purchase the advertised product, only to find that it is out of stock and rather buy a competitor’s product. “We are pleased that Union Swiss has tasked us with promoting a home-grown favourite like Bio-Oil, demonstrating that even market-leaders need innovative marketing support to stay ahead,” says Deon Lewis, Managing Director of X/procure®.

To enhance the quality of life of more people in South Africa, Pfizer SA recently launched Pharmacia, focusing exclusively on the provision of original generic medicines to specifically address some of the country’s critical disease areas. To increase awareness of the division’s products, Pfizer has enlisted the skills of software company, X/procure®, to advertise its range directly to pharmacists. Through an intensive seven month campaign on X/procure®’s advertising screens, found in over 1500 pharmacies, Pharmacia’s offerings will be included at the point of ordering, dispensing and sales via unique advertising content. “To communicate the availability of Pharmacia’s three initial product offerings to pharmacists we will be utilising the Announcement Screen and Intervention Advert platforms,” says X/procure® MD Deon Lewis. “The Announcement Screen simply communicates the existence of Pfizer’s subsidiary and its available products while the Intervention Advert is a particularly clever device that ensures the Pharmacia product is made known to the pharmacist, even if it wasn’t initially queried.”“While there is a risk that generic medicines can cannibalise their originals, this is a lucrative market segment that Pfizer has chosen not to ignore. In line with government regulations in facilitating the sale of affordable medicine - we believe that Pharmacia is about to change the current medicinal climate,” says Deon.