Advice You - Business

Most of us make mistakes in our marketing now and then. I've done things with my own marketing and advertising that I would never advise a client to do. Sometimes I knew they were bad ideas before starting but, through some temporary

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

lapse in judgment, went ahead anyway. Other times I learned the hard way what works and what doesn't. At any rate, we don't always think ahead to the results of each action we take. This brings me to #1 on my list of ways to waste y

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

ur marketing.

1. No plan.

I sound like a broken record on this topic and, in the interest of full disclosure, I confess I haven't always had a plan. But, if there is a good way to assure some of our marketi

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

ng and advertising efforts will be wasted (along with our budget), this is it. Without any plan, we're easily dispersed and tend to market and advertise haphazardly. We become easy targets for anyone selling space in a directory, or

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

worse, get the idea that hiring a plane to drag an incomprehensible message over the city will make the difference.

Everyone needs a marketing plan: small companies, big companies, and every type of business in between. It doesn't ha

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

ve to be a large, complicated plan. It doesn't have to be very formal. However, there are some key things it should include:

A. Short-term Goals -- What do you want to accomplish right now? Increased sales, better customer r

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

lations?

B. Long-term Goals -- What do you want to accomplish over the next year, two years, five years? Staff increases, new areas of operation, improved company image? If you don't know what you are reaching for, you w

easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi

ill never get it.

C. Estimated Budget -- A budget helps you decide what you can do that will bring the best return for the money and effort spent.

D. A Review -- Include in your plan anything that worked well la

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

t year. It's not always necessary to reinvent the wheel. If something works, keep doing it!

E. New ideas -- New ideas or improvements on old ideas. Save time and money by knowing when and where you will advertise

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

and how you will promote.

2. Not Knowing Who Your Audience Is and What They Think

Your audience is your public, your prospects, your clients and potential clients. For most businesses, that doesn't include

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

veryone in the general public. If you are a swimming pool cleaner, you will get the most from your advertising budget by promoting to pool owners. You can get an even better response if you know what concerns pool owners have about

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

he cleanliness of their pools.

The best way to learn more about your prospects, who they are and what they think, is by survey. But if you can't do a survey, you can learn more just by talking to current customers, looking back throu

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

gh past sales, evaluating trends, and studying what works for your competition. Promote directly to the concerns of prospects rather than just telling them what you offer.

3. Not Being Consistent

<

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

m>A. Message -- What is your message? Based on your plan and your knowledge of your prospect (from the work you did above), you should now know what your message is. Don't mix it up, don't confuse your prospects. Keep telling y

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

our message. Continue to survey and learn more about your audience and change your message only when you find out that your prospects think or want something different.

B. Your Look or Identity -- It doesn't have to be award

t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel

winning design but it should be consistent. Establish your corporate image through consistent application of color and layout. Always use your company brand consistently. Do not use your logo as a headline or bury it in copy or dilu

ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

te it in any way. Keep your identity a separate element that is easily distinguished and recognizable.

C. Repetition -- Keep promoting. If you send out a postcard in January and business doesn't increase immediately, do not

y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products

top. The reason you see McDonald's ads every day is because it takes that to keep business coming in. It's better to mail an inexpensive postcard every month than to do a large, expensive, one-time ad. The ad is gone in a day and yo

.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de

u are forgotten the next day. Instead send some information every month: new product announcements, successes or testimonials from current clients, etc.

The Difference

There are hundreds of ways to waste yo

elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

r marketing and advertising. The best way to avoid mistakes is simply to put your attention on what you're doing and what you want to accomplish. Right now, go make a plan and get to know your audience. It will make a big difference

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

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