University of Auckland
Bachelor of Pharmacy
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THE ISSUE
Pharmacy has a perception problem. Young people think the role of a pharmacist is to simply wear a lab coat and count pills. But pharmacists perform an essential role in our society and provide a wide range of front-line health services. The University of Auckland needed to shift the perception of Pharmacy in order to recruit new Bachelor of Pharmacy students and safeguard the future of Aotearoa’s health. Our target audience was young. From the age of 15 you need to choose the required subjects steering you towards a career in Pharmacy. But 15-year-olds aren’t reading University prospectuses and they certainly aren’t aspiring to a future counting pills.
IDEA
We went straight to where 15-year-olds hang out. We created a hot new fashion drop across Instagram and Tiktok to get young people thinking differently about pharmacy and demonstrate Pharmacists are More than just a white coat. Five influential artists were paired with Bachelor of Pharmacy alumni. Each partnership created one bespoke coat exploring the different roles a Pharmacists’ play in society. The physical coats were exhibited at University of Auckland Open Day and have become a tool for career expos and high school recruitment drives.
RESULTS
With 38% more ‘apply now’ button clicks than there are places on the program and Bachelor of Pharmacy enrolments increasing by 5%,the future of Aotearoa’s health looks bright.
