Brand Champions launches postcode check for pharmacies

Brand Champions has launched a postcode check service for UK pharmacies to help them identify marketing opportunities in their local communities.

Pharmacies can submit their postcode online and receive an assessment within a fortnight. The analysis covers local demographics, health needs, the services and conditions people in the area are searching for, and how visible a pharmacy is to those seeking support.

The assessment uses publicly available information, including local authority, Census and NHS data, alongside insight into local search behaviour, audience needs and pharmacy visibility. It then highlights practical steps a pharmacy can take to improve awareness and engagement among nearby residents.

The launch comes as pharmacies take on a broader role in frontline care and people increasingly seek health information through digital channels. A 2025 survey by Semble found 34% of people aged 16 to 25 use ChatGPT for health guidance, while 30% use TikTok.

That shift matters for community pharmacies because the Pharmacy First model is due to allow participating pharmacies to diagnose and treat more conditions directly from autumn 2026. The sector risks falling behind if public awareness of pharmacy services does not keep pace and patients continue to begin their search for advice through search engines, social media and artificial intelligence tools.

Brand Champions is seeking to apply a hyperlocal marketing approach it has used in other sectors to the pharmacy market. The model is based on the idea that communities can differ sharply by location, creating different patterns in health needs, customer behaviour and demand for services.

Fiona Wylie explained the rationale for the new offer.

"Pharmacies have something incredibly powerful that most brands would spend years trying to build: trust, a physical presence in the heart of their communities and customers living within walking distance. But proximity alone doesn't make you top of mind.

Every postcode is different. A pharmacy serving young families will have different opportunities from one serving an older population; people will be looking for different services, asking different questions and using different channels to find answers.

The postcode check is about making that local opportunity visible. We take publicly available information and look at it through a marketing lens to show pharmacies who is around them, what matters to those people, where the pharmacy is - and isn't - showing up, and where there may be an opportunity to act," said Fiona Wylie, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Brand Champions.

Local variation

Its broader work in hyperlocal marketing has focused on helping brands tailor activity to the characteristics of individual communities rather than relying on a uniform national approach. That includes work for high street names such as Costa Coffee.

In one example, a Wimbledon campaign linked to the local tennis tournament increased footfall by more than 20% week on week and lifted net sales by more than a quarter. Brand Champions is now positioning the same location-based approach for pharmacies, where local relevance may shape whether nearby residents recognise a pharmacy as a source of advice and treatment.

The proposition reflects a wider change in how healthcare providers and consumer-facing services think about local demand. Pharmacies have long had a neighbourhood presence, but they now face stronger competition for attention from online information sources that can influence where patients go first for support.

For independent pharmacies in particular, visibility within a defined catchment area can affect uptake of both core dispensing services and newer clinical offerings. An assessment built around postcode-level insight is intended to show whether a pharmacy is appearing where local people search and whether its messaging reflects the needs of the surrounding population.

Brand Champions describes itself as an independent marketing agency working with consumer and healthcare brands. Its new pharmacy offer centres on the argument that physical presence and trust remain valuable assets, but only if they are translated into local visibility and relevance.

The postcode check draws on open-source data and returns a local snapshot within a fortnight.