DEERFIELD, Ill., April 02, 2012 - With more than 4 billion steps logged by Walk with Walgreens participants in the program’s first year, Walgreens (NYSE: WAG)(NASDAQ: WAG) tonight teamed up with Donald Trump and The Celebrity Apprentice® to promote more healthy steps in 2012.
Tonight’s show on NBC tasked celebrity teams with promoting the Walk with Walgreens program by producing an interactive health segment, as well as designing the packaging for a new Walk with Walgreens starter kit, which includes a pedometer and drawstring athletic bag. The kits, designed by a winning team led by Arsenio Hall, are free with registration while supplies last and available beginning tomorrow at Walgreens stores nationwide, including all Duane Reade stores in New York and New Jersey.
“We’re proud of the great strides Walgreens customers and employees have made toward healthier living, and this was a unique opportunity to bring greater awareness to our walking program and its healthy rewards,” said Joe Magnacca, Walgreens president of daily living products and solutions. “Working with Donald Trump and The Celebrity Apprentice®, we brought two innovative brands together to create a new and easy way for our customers to join the movement.”
Magnacca had a role in the show along with Mark Wagner, Walgreens president of operations and community management. The two Walgreens executives helped present the task to celebrity teams and provide background on Walk with Walgreens overall objectives. In addition to bringing a new look and feel to the program for its second year, the company aims to get more rewards to its members to help them save on products in its stores.
“Over the last 12 months, we’ve engaged hundreds of thousands of people in communities across America and our neighborhood drugstores, to walk, log and get rewards,” Wagner said. “We look forward to a greater awareness translating into more people taking more steps on the road to better health in 2012 and for many years to come.”
The winning celebrity team, which designed the new kits and whose likeness is featured on them, includes Hall, Clay Aiken, Paul Teutel, Sr., Aubrey O’Day and Teresa Giudice.
Walgreens and content-creation agency Starcom MediaVest Group’s LiquidThread produced custom creative messaging to run during commercial time within the broadcast. This unique creative execution featured Arsenio Hall and Walk with Walgreens spokesperson Alison Sweeney encouraging viewers to pick up their free kit and join the movement.
People can also join Walk with Walgreens by registering online at www.walgreens.com/walk. Online registrants will receive a virtual starter kit to begin the program. Registration is also available in the photo department at any Walgreens store or by texting “walk” to 21525.
More on Walk with Walgreens
Walk with Walgreens (www.walgreens.com/walk) is an online community and digital platform that allows members to log the steps they take and get rewards, in the form of weekly coupons, for use at Walgreens stores nationwide. Participants can also learn about the health benefits of walking, set walking goals, find local community walks and share content and information with family and friends through the site.
The Walk with Walgreens website contains a variety of interactive features and information on the four pillars of balanced wellness: health, community, nature and relationships. Site features include:
- Video content series – weekly video and blog posts from host Alison Sweeney
- Rewards – members receive a starter kit with exclusive wellness product and service offers, as well as regular rewards and coupons from a variety of health and wellness brands when steps are logged
- Professional and guest contributors – unique insight and advice from experts in the fields of health, wellness, cause and the environment
- User-generated content – opportunities for members to share inspiring stories, ideas, favorite walking venues and other information
- Forum/community – create your own profile page, search, message and connect with fellow walking friends
- Charity walks – links to cause partner sites provide members with quick reference to walks of interest in their area
- Social publishing features – easy-to-use publishing features, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and others allow members to share walks, stories and other content with those outside the site
About Walgreens
As the nation's largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2011 sales of $72 billion, Walgreens (www.walgreens.com) vision is to become America’s first choice for health and daily living. Each day, Walgreens provides nearly 6 million customers the most convenient, multichannel access to consumer goods and services and trusted, cost-effective pharmacy, health and wellness services and advice in communities across America. Walgreens scope of pharmacy services includes retail, specialty, infusion, medical facility and mail service, along with respiratory services. These services improve health outcomes and lower costs for payers including employers, managed care organizations, health systems, pharmacy benefit managers and the public sector. The company operates 7,840 drugstores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Take Care Health Systems is a Walgreens subsidiary that is the largest and most comprehensive manager of worksite health and wellness centers and in-store convenient care clinics, with more than 700 locations throughout the country.
Walgreen Co. Corporate Communications
Jim Cohn, (847) 315-2950