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Apply a bit of monkey magic to your sales and marketing

You can’t argue with the numbers, can you? Their first single went stra

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

ight in at number 1. Then the album shot to the top, smashing the record for fastest-selling debut album in UK chart history. The Arct

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

Examples of combination products may in

ic Monkeys have to be the sales success of 2006.

So, where did they come from? Internet space, of course. But, perhaps the Monkeys ca

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

teach us a little about selling and marketing products effectively. Here are some of the things they did well. Could you apply any of

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

these pointers to your business?

Being liked

If a customer likes you, he or she is more likely to buy. What causes one pers

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

Combination pro

n to like another? According to Sold! (by Steve Martin and Gary Colleran, 2003), having things in common with your audience is useful.

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

I think there’s something about personality too. Four strong-accented ‘underdogs’ from Sheffield…it works really, doesn’t it?

Proo

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

f of the pudding

The proof of the pudding’s in the tasting. Would your products sell better if your customers could have a try fi

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

st? Before the Monkeys were signed they gave away their music online. A great way to start word-of-mouth marketing. Because, who’s go

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

ing to be shy of a good-quality freebie? Referrals are one of the most cost-effective ways of selling, too.

Investing in customers<

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

b>

Existing customers are worth investing in. As well as giving you those referrals, selling to people who have already done business

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

Following aspects would a

with you is the most cost-effective way of marketing yourself. For their last gig, it’s reported that the Arctics kept tickets prices

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

to ?8, even though the black market was selling them for ?300, and the band themselves made a loss on the night. How could your busine

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

s invest more in the existing interest?

Helping people buy from you

Turn ‘selling to people’ on it’s head…how can you ‘help p

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

eople to buy from you’? Giving people a taster is a start. And, being front of mind when people are ready to buy is essential. Once th

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

Monkeys had a following (and people were itching to buy the album), then the big advertising campaign was everywhere. No doubt there

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

were some record label execs rubbing their hands together behind the scenes. But, you get the idea.

Having a good product

Of c

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

ourse, you can’t get away from this. You have to have a good product. And you have to have a product that’s attractive to the audience

.

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

ou’re selling to. I’m guessing the 360,000 sales in the first week proves the Arctic Monkeys had a good product to sell. Having just vi

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

sited Amazon, it looks like the Best of Tony Christie is already in the specials. Well it worked for a while, Tony…and fair play to you

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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Digg It - Selling, the Arctic Monkeys Way

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