In 2011, Mark joined Danone Nutricia Early Life Nutrition as category marketing manager for the pharmacy channel, working with the Aptamil and Cow & Gate brands

What’s a typical day for you?

The great thing about my role is that there is no such thing as a typical day. The pharmacy channel is incredibly diverse, and I work closely with wholesalers and retailers across the channel to develop plans to engage pharmacies with the baby category.

Our vision is to make pharmacy a destination for mums for expert advice regarding infant feeding and specialised nutrition

, and a big part of my role is leading the Aptamil Professional Expert Advice initiative. This aims to equip pharmacy teams with the knowledge and confidence they need to have great conversations with their customers about infant nutrition and common feeding problems.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

I enjoy the variety of my role and the challenge of engaging pharmacies with the baby category opportunity. Many pharmacies believe they cannot compete with the supermarkets in the baby category, but I passionately believe that this is not the case. Pharmacies are uniquely positioned to support mums, with trained healthcare professionals accessible in every store without the need to make an appointment. By playing to their strengths, pharmacies can be the place that mums turn to for advice.

What motivates you?

The opportunity to make a difference to the health and nutrition of babies. Around 50 per cent of babies will experience common infant feeding problems, and this can be an incredibly distressing time for parents and babies alike.

Our research shows that mums are frequently turning to their local pharmacy for advice and reassurance about such issues, but worryingly this is an area where pharmacy teams often lack knowledge and consequently do not feel confident giving advice and support. I’m motivated by the opportunity to change this, so that mums asking their pharmacy team for support will receive consistent and credible advice.

How is Danone working with pharmacy?

Through our Aptamil Professional Expert Advice programme we are aiming to equip pharmacy teams with the knowledge and confidence they need to support their customers. We have developed a comprehensive e-learning programme for pharmacists and technicians as well as training materials for pharmacy assistants.

How can pharmacy teams support parents?

Pharmacy teams can play a crucial role providing advice, reassurance and support to parents. Parents are given so much advice about caring for their baby that they can actually become confused or simply miss things that are said. And sometimes they can feel uncomfortable asking their GP or health visitor what they perceive to be a minor query or one that they feel it isn’t worth making an appointment for.

When you see a customer with a baby, take the time to get to know them and let them know you are there to help. Build a good relationship and you will gain long-term customer loyalty as well as having the satisfaction of being able to help someone through one of the most important periods of their life.

What does the future hold for Aptamil and Cow & Gate?

We have recently changed our company name from Danone Baby Nutrition, and this reflects a shift in our strategy. We have always been passionate about the importance of nutrition for babies and young children; now we want to move forward by broadening our horizons to provide nutritious products and meaningful education and services for pregnant women, babies and young children. By helping mums and babies get the right nutrition during the first 1,000 days of life, from pregnancy until two years old, we can positively influence both short and long-term health outcomes – an exciting challenge and one which pharmacy is ideally placed to play a key role in.

And finally, what would you be doing if you weren’t at Danone?

In my spare time, I enjoy competing at agility competitions with my dog Kimi. It’s definitely a hobby rather than a career option, but if I wasn’t at Danone, the opportunity to put some extra training in and get really good at it would be appealing!