Listen to Sophie Harris on Brand Intelligence
After four decades as one of Australia’s most recognizable brands, Priceline Pharmacy faced a familiar challenge: how to evolve without erasing what made it iconic. In this episode, Sophie Harris, Senior Manager of Brand at Priceline Pharmacy, joins host William Tyree to unpack how the team brought a beloved heritage brand into the modern era.
Sophie shares the thinking behind their new brand promise — “The Heart of Health and Beauty” — and how her team balanced emotion and credibility to craft a tone of voice that resonates across health and beauty audiences. She also explains the unique complexity of rebranding within a franchise model and how Priceline empowered store partners to become champions of the new brand.
From strategy to rollout, this episode offers an inside look at evolving a legacy brand with purpose — and what it takes to make a rebrand land across hundreds of locations, teams, and touch points.
Learn more about Priceline Pharmacy at https://www.priceline.com.au/.
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Episode Transcript
William Tyree:
Welcome to the Brand Intelligence Podcast, a show where we pull back the curtain on some of the world’s smartest brands. I’m your co-host, William Tyree, and today we’re exploring how Priceline Pharmacy executed a bold brand update after more than 40 years in the market. Joining me is Sophie Harris, Senior Manager of Brand at Priceline Pharmacy. Sophie, welcome to Brand Intelligence.
Sophie Harris:
Thanks so much for having me.
William:
It’s great to have you here — and congratulations on your Brandie Award. I loved the work.
Sophie:
Thank you! It’s been incredibly rewarding. We’re really proud of how it’s landed in market. We’re coming up on a year since the rebrand, and it’s been great to see it take hold.
William:
That’s awesome. Before we get into it, we always start with a fun question. If you were walking out to give a keynote about brand transformation, what would your walkout song be — and why?
Sophie:
That’s such a hard one! Music is so personal — and health is personal too. What makes one person feel great can be totally different for another. I’d probably go with A Sky Full of Stars by Coldplay. It’s a song about light, optimism, and finding joy. That really captures what Priceline Pharmacy is all about — helping customers feel great and see the light in themselves. The world can be pretty dark, so hopefully we can be a little bit of the light.
William:
That’s a great pick. I love Coldplay — you’re actually the third guest to pick one of their songs, but the first to choose that one!
Sophie:
Good to know! Fun fact — I actually saw them live in Melbourne on my birthday, which also happened to be the day our rebrand launched. So it was a double celebration: Coldplay and Priceline Pharmacy.
William:
That’s amazing. All right, let’s get into it. Priceline Pharmacy is a huge name in Australia, but not everyone outside the country will know the brand. Can you tell us a bit about its heritage and what makes it unique?
Sophie:
Sure. Priceline Pharmacy is a 40-year-old brand — one of the most recognizable retailers on the Australian high street and in shopping centres. The rebrand was really sparked by that tension between our long heritage and the rapidly changing health and beauty landscape.
We deliver everything from prescriptions to beauty and wellness products, and we operate under a franchise model, which brings its own complexity when you’re rebranding.
Despite that strong awareness and heritage, our brand consideration scores had softened. And it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been around — if you’re not staying relevant to customers, you lose connection. We saw that starting to happen, especially with the customer of tomorrow.
So it wasn’t about starting over — it was about evolving with purpose. Modernizing our assets, reigniting the emotional connection, and showing that Priceline Pharmacy is still highly relevant. Heritage alone isn’t enough anymore.
William:
That’s a great way to put it — “heritage isn’t enough.”
Sophie:
Exactly. We wanted to evolve the brand, not erase it. Australians have a deep connection with Priceline’s pink — it’s instantly recognizable. You walk down the street, you see that pink, and you know exactly who we are. So our goal was to preserve that equity while taking the brand forward in a way that feels modern, confident, and connected to today’s customers.
