The Merck Adult Vaccination Program (MAVP) was created to help pharmacists expand access to vaccination for adults. Because of their trusted role within the community and the amount of patients they see each month, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has charged pharmacists with improving the low vaccination rates among adults. The MAVP website is the portal through which pharmacists can access the tools they need to establish year-round vaccination programs in their pharmacies.

A pilot program was implemented in the summer of 2012, in a few select US markets that included 3 of the vaccine brands. Learnings from the pilot were applied to the national rollout across the vaccines franchise, which launched in the 1st quarter of 2013. The program is still ongoing, with new metrics and in-depth qualitative research applied to each new update.

The iPad program energized the sales force. It brought new life to their conversations and relationships with physicians. The interactivity of the experience revealed new audience insights — as well as new ways to illustrate the brand story.

An additional benefit of the development of the program was helping the brand teams to simplify and focus their communication strategies.

MAVP has been embraced as a useful resource by pharmacists. Nearly 30,000 pharmacies have enrolled with the website’s Pharmacy Locator, and display media drivers to the website delivered 2x the expected click-through rates. The Pharmacy Insider videos maintain at least 50% completion rates for viewing. National retail chains and pharmacy organizations have reached out to use MAVP content within their own programs.