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What's your best form of advertising? If you're like the vast majority of the people we meet, it's word-of-mouth. Of course – it automatically offers a virtu

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

ally infinite return on investment because it's free!

Since you're like most people we meet in that regard, you're probably similar in another – you can't c

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

Examples of combination products may in

ntrol word-of-mouth advertising.

Don't feel like you're alone. The very trait that makes this form of advertising so desired (it's free) also makes it very

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

lusive (you can't buy it).

Imagine for a second a 50 gallon metal bucket loaded up with sand or dirt or hotdogs or something. Can you lift it? We just teste

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

it, and we can't even lift it together.

Now, picture that same large bucket, but this time put a wheel on one end and two handles on the other. Like a whee

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

Combination pro

barrow. Can you lift it? You certainly have a better chance now. The weight hasn't changed and the material hasn't changed – but now you are putting physics

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

o work in your favor. T

hat wheel acts as a fulcrum and the handles give you leverage. Before you know it, you're wheeling that 400 pound bucket of hotdogs

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

ight down the sidewalk.

The same analogy holds true in word-of-mouth advertising. When you look at the problem from the obvious perspective it seems about a

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

hard to control as the bucket of wieners.

But, if you apply nontraditional marketing "physics" to the problem, you can soon begin controlling the previousl

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

uncontrollable.

Here are a few levers and fulcrums that you can try in your business:

Viral Marketing: the perfect example can be found at http://www.subs

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

rvientchicken.com. Create something that is very interesting – it might be information, it might be entertainment, or as in the case of the chicken, it might

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

Following aspects would a

just be weird.

Then, share that something with people who are well connected. You know who they are…the folks who seem to know everybody. Put your "virus" i

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

their hands and they'll bounce it around like a hot potato – as long as it's very interesting. Your brochure doesn't count.

Pass It On Program: Give

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

a gift certificate (not a coupon) to every one of your customers. Put their best friend's name on it.

What are they going to do?

Gift certificates are like

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

cash – so they're not going to throw it away. What about the best friend? Well, it sure would be rude to throw away a gift from your best friend.

Chances ar

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

those friends will soon be knocking at your door.

Bring A Friend Program: Bring a friend who has never been to our restaurant and we'll buy you both

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

a glass of wine.

The Most Important Part: Be worth talking about. The messages that spread the quickest are the ones that are somehow valuable or ben

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

ficial. "Big sale this weekend" is a very slow mover on the viral email circuit.

Some people say they control word-of-mouth advertising by "doing a good job

.

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

" Not anymore they don't. "Good jobs" don't spread any faster than "big sales." There's got to be a better way!

The good news is there is and in Jim and Tra

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

is' small business marketing secret #6.5, you'll learn it.

It's sort of like the glue that holds this whole thing together. Stay tuned for the series finale

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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Much has been written over the years about business. Much has also been written over the years about war. There are many parallels between the two. The more business people from the shipping dock to the executive suite view business as war, the more the spoils of war: success.

Few career fields are growing faster than the computer tech field. Computer networking is a field experiencing almost uncontrolled growth. College degree programs are not able to provide the training necessary for success in specific areas of the field, and employers are dealing with sorting through resumes trying to determine who has the needed skills and training to handle a given job.

Motivating your employees to become proactive rather than reactive is what you want, isn't it? Getting them to do more than react like a snail on Valium when things need to get done, or offer creative new solutions are necessary elements for business survival.

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