The CVS pharmacy chain is hoping that an ambitious flu vaccination program will provide a shot in the arm in another way — by drawing first-time customers to its stores and clinics.

With a goal of delivering 1 million flu shots this year, the company recently launched a high-profile advertising campaign that, for the first time, puts its MinuteClinic outlets front and center.

National TV ads promoting the flu vaccinations began airing in October and showed up during such marquee broadcasts as the Major League Baseball playoffs. The company declined to say how much it had spent on the campaign, which centers on prime-time television with some radio and print.

“We’re trying to build awareness of MinuteClinic,” said Bari Harlam, vice president of pharmacy marketing for CVS Caremark Corp.

“It’s a new offering, a new brand and a new concept. It’s an opportunity to expose people to that experience.”

MinuteClinic, founded in Minnesota, was acquired by CVS in 2006 and is operated by a Minneapolis-based management company. It is the nation’s largest retail-based health care provider, with more than 550 clinics in 27 states. There are 23 MinuteClinics in Minnesota.

Company surveys taken during the third quarter of this year found that roughly 20 percent of MinuteClinic patients had never been in a CVS store before, spokesman Mike DeAngelis said.

More than half who came in for flu shots had never visited a MinuteClinic, he said.

Last year, more than 700,000 people got flu shots at CVS stores or MinuteClinics.

Target Corp. also is using the cough, cold and flu season to market its Target Clinics and pharmacies, but the Minneapolis-based retailer is taking a more measured approach. With 23 health care clinics in the Twin Cities and six in Maryland, the company has used direct mailings and in-store signs to push its flu vaccination program, spokesman Joshua Thomas said.

Both companies see flu shots as a way to increase store traffic — and, thus, potential sales — as well as a vehicle to bring in new customers who might not realize that the clinics can offer treatments for such ailments as allergies, strep throat, warts and bronchitis.

Retail health care clinics are staffed by board-certified family nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Most are open seven days a week and in the evenings, and don’t require appointments.

“We want to provide consumers an alternative,” Harlam said.

Source: StarTribune.com
Original Publication Date: November 9, 2008