Merck's Goal: "One Less" Gardasil Marketing Problem

Merck is trying to market its cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil to women who may not benefit from it after U.S. sales shrank in July and August, according to a Bloomberg article

As pointed out by Jim Edwards over at Bnet "Merck is simply adjusting its strategy to the inevitable grind of numbers: As more girls get the shot, its remaining market declines — and thus Merck must target increasingly marginally profitable populations"

Even though 75% of the most effective market for Gardasil (teenage girls from 13 to 17 years old) has not received a dose of Gardasil, Merck would rather focus on women ages 19 to 26, who have been less likely to get the shots than try to go after teenagers.
"We see tremendous opportunity," said Bev Lybrand, Merck's senior vice president of vaccines. "We have a number of programs under way to get after these women."

Gardasil has difficulties that marketing must overcome. These include price, effectiveness, and possible dangerous side effects (the CDC said it has received reports of 21 deaths and almost 10,000 side effects in women following vaccination). The latter is an especially difficult hurdle if you have to target mothers of teenage girls rather than the girls themselves -- it's taboo and even illegal in some cases to market to minors under the age of 18. For example, Merck cannot do direct mail or email marketing to teenagers by collecting names and postal/email addresses. That needs parental permissions.

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It's all about profit!