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Introduction: Customer loyalty can be defined as a behavior or attitude of a customer to purchase a particular product of a specific brand over others which available in the market for a particular need. The packaged good industry defines this con

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

sumer attitude as ‘Brand Loyalty’. Brand loyalty can be defined as “The degree to which a customer is loyal to a given brand in that they are likely to re-purchase/re-use in the future. The level of loyalty indicates the degree to which a brand is

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

Examples of combination products may in

protected form competitors” (Yellow Pencil).

Customer loyalty has become the buzz word of the marketing industry (Papers4you.com, 2006). Companies are constantly trying to increase their brand awareness by promoting loyalty schemes, making more

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

and more people buy their products. Regular maintenance of customer database containing customer, sales data and other statistical data is a good technique to measure customer loyalty. By constantly analyzing this data companies can increase their

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

customer loyalty.

Brand Equity: In general brand equity is the value a customer places on brand. If the brand is trusted the equity will be positive but if the brand has a bad reputation the equity will be negative. The Marketing Science Institu

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

Combination pro

te (MSI) states that brand equity can be viewed by customers "...as both a financial asset and as a set of favorable associations and behaviors" (MSI 1989). While Farquhar (1989) contends that brand equity to a consumer follows from a positive eva

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

luation of, or attitude toward, the branded product, Keller (1993) hypothesizes that consumer-based brand equity arises from a more favorable differential response to the firm's marketing efforts. Concept of brand equity is associated with the fin

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

ncial and accounting perspective like estimating the value of a brand also this concept is studied while working on strategic marketing activities.

Customer Satisfaction & Retention: It is difficult to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage

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

in n today’s world of fierce competition where every company is trying to prove their product better than the others. Providing excellent customer service and retaining existing customers can help companies to achieve competitive edge over others

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

in the market place. It's been estimated that the cost to land a new account is as much as six times the cost to retain an existing one. (Alan S. Horowitz).A minor increase in the customer number can create a big impact on the total profits that i

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

s why customer retention plays an important role.

Now the question arises how to retain customers? Customer retention can be achieved by loyalty schemes and programmes all these activities involve developing strong customer relation, greater atte

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

Following aspects would a

ntion to details and customer expectations. All customer retention programmes should focus a particular customer base. It has been argued that loyalty schemes take time to produce immediate benefits for customers hence many customers move out thes

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

e schemes very quickly. “Formal loyalty programmes can be challenging to implement and may not be an optimal way to achieve retention and profitability goals but when they are done right loyalty programmes can help converting more prospects into b

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

uyers” (Shari Altman).

Customer loyalty plays a very essential role in the performance of a company (Papers4you.com, 2006). By retaining existing customers and expanding customer base companies create a brand equity which is positive. Though we s

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

y that customer loyalty is an important factor in today’s competitive market but what is more important is to manage and maintain loyalty. Loyalty schemes should be highly focused and should build on strong customer relationship in order to achiev

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

e 100% customer satisfaction.

References

Altman, S. (2005) Loyal Subjects, Multichannel Merchant, Vol. 1 Issue 6, p34-35, 2p. Brand Equity , Yellow Pencil . Accessed on 21st June 2006 [www.yellowpencil.co.nz/brand%20sharpening/brand%20glossary]

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

Farquhar, Peter (1989), "Managing Brand Equity," Marketing Research, pp24-33. Horowitz, S. A., (2006) Top 5 Ways to Retain Your Clients. . Accessed on 20th June 2006 [http://sales.monster.com/articles/retainingclients/] Indiana University. Acc

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

essed on 21st June 2006 [http://www.indiana.edu/~vpur/image/gloss.shtml] Keller, K ,L. (1993), "Conceptualizing, Measuring, and Managing Customer-Based Brand Equity," Journal of Marketing Vol57, pp1-22. Marketing Science Institute (1989), "Revie

.

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

w,, In Defining and Applying The Brand Equity Concept: Why Papers For You (2006) "E/M/46. Dissertation. Research customer loyalty in services industry", Available from http://www.coursework4you.co.uk/sprtmrk36.htm [22/06/2006] Papers For You (20

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

06) "P/M/443. Marketing value of consumer loyalty", Available from Papers4you.com [21/06/2006] Schultz, Don E.; Bailey, Scott.(2000) Customer/Brand Loyalty in an Interactive Marketplace. Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 40 Issue 3, p41, 12p

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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Acquisitions let owners establish a base, such as: obtain a going concern in a particular location and establish a niche, i.e. bring in more business of a certain type in the market. Acquisitions also help to obtain entry into adjacent market areas and increase the prestige of the company. Mergers, in addition to these benefits, offer reduced work level and a way to cope with larger competitors.

If you have read about Loss Prevention, Retail Security, or Electronic Article Surveillance chances are you wondered about the definitions of one or more of these phrases. This article examines the phrases and definitions on a word by word basis.

Are you unsure about how to ask for more money during a performance review? Do you feel like you’re probably settling for less in a job interview...But don’t know choice you have?

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