Advice You - Business

The ethnic media is a critical communications conduit nonprofit communicators can’t ignore. And, at the same time, ethnic media outlets are hungry for stories r

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

elevant to the communities they serve. Many nonprofit stories fit the bill. A colleague of mine, Pete Mackey recently attended the NCM (formerly New California

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

Examples of combination products may in

edia) Expo, hosted by NCM founder Sandy Close, and was generous enough to share what he learned.

Mackey credits the Expo with providing attendees with great ins

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

ght into a media world that may be as new to most nonprofits and foundations as it is to him. In attendance were some 800 representatives from nearly 200 ethnic

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

edia outlets serving the 1/6 of the US population that speak languages in addition to (or instead of) English at home. These outlets reach African, African Ameri

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

Combination pro

an, Asian, and Latino readers, among other groups – via magazines, newspapers, radio and TV.

Session presenters and exhibitors were extremely wide- ranging, inc

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

luding a managing partner at Ogilvy Worldwide, Ben Chavis, formerly of the NAACP and now of the Hip Hop Summit Action Network and heads of national Latin-America

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

-oriented television and radio networks. While many of the outlets presenting were relatively small, serving distinct populations such as immigrants from one cou

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

try living in a particular city such as Chicago, a number of them have expanded to a national reach, notes Mackey. Admittedly, they are hungry for advertising su

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

port. They are also hungry, though, for stories relevant to the communities they serve, and, Mackey observes, many nonprofit stories fit the bill.

Mackey credit

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

Ms. Close for fostering the spirit of dialogue and community that is beginning to gel among these outlets. The stronger an organization they develop, the more c

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

Following aspects would a

lout they will inevitably gather. Indeed, their energy and passion reminds Mackey of the buzz of the dot.com companies – innovative, driven, specialized, and ent

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

epreneurial. He anticipates additional outlets and individual leaders who will help shape US media in decades to come from the synergies and successes among them

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

However, Mackey is still trying to figure out how he can work relationships with these media into his budget. "The problem is they serve such targeted markets

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

hat I have to decide to what extent it's worth it for a foundation like ours to invest in them. We have a national reach but only provide about 150 scholarships

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

nnually," he comments.

Readers, the ethnic media is definitely a critical audience for nonprofit communicators to explore in reaching populations less well-serv

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

ed via mainstream media – not least because they represent and serve a burgeoning cross-section of the new America.

From my perspective, the solution to Mackey'

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

dilemma is to very carefully target those specific audience segments you need to reach but whom you are not reaching successfully. Ethnic media outlets offer 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

r organization new, affordable strategies to reach these key audiences.

More on NCM at: http://news.

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

cmonline.com/news/

More detail on sessions and exhibitors at: http://expo.ncmonline.com/news/

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

A discussion of the three main types of projects, their inherent difficulties, and the best approach for tackling each type.

The best taglines quickly succeed in engaging audiences. These dos and don'ts for strong nonprofit taglines will help you craft a tagline that is a brief and focused call to action, and avoid taglines that try to say too much or are too long or vague

Tags

Links

Advice You - How to Reach Diverse Audiences via the Ethnic Media

Related Articles: