Advice You - Business

One of my greatest rewards as a public relations consultant is seeing a client get considerable and positive media coverage. It builds lasting brand recognition and serves as a third-party validation

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

for their organization and its products or services. It’s great for business.

But when all is said and done, that media coverage would never happen if it weren’t good business for the newspaper, tele

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

Examples of combination products may in

ision station or magazine that decided to take the time to cover a client. The truth is, a television station covers what their viewers want to see. The newspapers and magazines write stories their re

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

ders want to read. It makes perfect sense that they try to give their audience what it wants because in the business of news, “audience” is synonymous with the word customer.

Customers are what drive

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

business, and the news media is no different. So next time you’re thinking about contacting the media with that freshly written press release about version 15.4 of your software, stop and think for a

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

Combination pro

inute if it’s what their readers want to read. (That would be no.) Would you create a product you knew your customers didn’t want? Of course not! And connect won’t do it either because it’s bad for bu

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

siness.

You can make sure you’re doing a better job of helping the media please their customers by following a litmus test that’s similar to the one they follow for deciding what’s newsworthy and wha

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

’s not. Here are a few examples of what’s good for business when it comes to news.

Conflict and Controversy – Barry Bonds? SCO? Need I say more? You may want to stay away from this element of

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

ews if you are trying to get positive media coverage, but attorneys use it all the time because they know that people (customers) love to read about conflict and see it on television.

Consequence<

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

b> – What is the overall effect? Are you hiring 10,000 new people or 10 new people? Will the merger create new jobs or get rid of jobs?

Human Interest – Is there a human element to the story y

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

u want them to cover? I saw a story on the news one night about a disabled young man in the local high-school rodeo. It was heartwarming and fun to watch, and it focused on how he didn’t let his disab

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

Following aspects would a

ility get in the way of his desire to participate in a sport like rodeo.

I later found out that a local public relations agency was working to help get publicity for the Utah High School Rodeo Associ

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

tion. Coincidence? Not likely. They just understood the media business and the media customer. The story of a disabled young man who was benefiting from high school rodeo took care of itself.

Prom

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

nence – Prominent people, organizations and issues are attractive subjects for the media because more customers are interested in hearing about them. Gordon B. Hinckley, Larry H. Miller, Zions Ban

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

, Intermountain Healthcare, polygamy and nuclear waste are a few examples of each.

Proximity – What is the local angle of the story you want them to consider about your company? Where did it h

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

ppen? Where will it happen? For local newspapers and television stations, you have to keep this in mind because readers and viewers are naturally more interested about what’s happening in their own ba

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

ckyard. “Close to home” is more than a tagline no matter what television station it is.

Timeliness – Is it timely? This is probably the most important rule. When did it happen? When will it ha

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

pen? Read the paper. Watch television. Identify the current hot topics the news media is covering. The growing economy, increasing home prices, rising interest rates and steady job growth all seem to

.

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

e hot topics lately because they are happening now, and they affect everyday people.

These are just a few examples of what the news media will look for when you are trying to get media coverage, and

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

here are other tests you can find using a simple Google search. Next time you’re thinking about pitching an idea for a news article about your organization, put it to the test. Is it good for business

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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Advice You - 6 Ways You Can Get Better Media Coverage

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