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Is your marketing pouring some serious money down the drain, because you don’t have a cookie factor?

Just what the heck is a cookie factor anyway? And, how can you apply this simple marketing strategy and psychological principle to rake in some big bucks? You Buy $30 Takeaway, You Get Free Coke and Wontons

My smile was bigger than the Great Wall of China

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

the first time this happened. We were regulars at this Chinese food takeaway, but this time there was something unusual. When we paid our bill, out popped a 2-litre bottle of Coke and 6 wontons.

Confusion reigned and dollar signs kicked in. Was I paying for something I hadn’t ordered? Was there some communication gap here? My knotted eyebrows must have revealed

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

Examples of combination products may in

my bewilderment quite clearly. Before I could go blah, the little Chinese lady behind the counter held up her hand, smiled and said the words that entranced me forever.

"You buy $30 takeaway, you get free Coke and wontons"

She Had Us Trained Like Lab Rats…

Before that day, we’d never bought Chinese takeaways for more than $25. Yet magically as we cross

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

d the $30 mark, this entrepreneurial woman made sure we knew the value of instant gratification. Every time we hit the $30 mark, out came the goodies. Every time we didn’t, we got our order and big smiles, but little else.

Now we had a choice. We could have our usual, or order just a little more and be rewarded with all the extra goodies that came with it.

W

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

hat do you think we did?

Yes, just like you and every one else, our greed took over and our purchases hit the $30 mark like sunshine hits the Caribbean.

Say Hello To The Cookie Factor!

This in short is the cookie factor. You create a demand for the product with something so alluring that the customer forgets the product itself and concentrates mai

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

Combination pro

nly on the cookies. Psychologists call this the psychology of second interest. This effectively means that people shift focus onto the goodies and end up buying the main product based on this tiny inducement.

How Far Can You Take $5?

Pretty far, I’d say judging from Marie’s success. Marie, a friend of ours, is a freelancer and gets called in when there

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

re specific jobs to be done at various design firms. Like clockwork, she lands at the job with a box of yummy, scrumptious chocolate chip cookies. (Makes my mouth water, just writing this out!)

It’s bizarre I know, but clients earning in excess of a hundred grand a year, drool like little puppies over the prospect of free cookies. $5 worth of cookies was getting

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

Marie a red carpet treatment and more work than she could imagine. Without doubt, her work was exceptional, but then so was the work of her competition. The only tipping point in the game was the cookie factor.

You may not believe that grown, sensible people would be so stupid to fall for what seems to be a quite obvious bait. Yet look around you, the cookie fact

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

or is well and alive and bouncing off the walls!

Lookie Mommie, There Are Cookies Everywhere!

Look at air points and points that you collect every time you fill gas. Why on earth would you fly the same airline, despite those crazy timetables? Why fill gas at that grotty gas station? Or buy pizza from the same pizza shop every time? It’s all thanks to th

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

cookie factor. It’s greed kicking in and wanting something for nothing.

You can see the cookie factor in different dimensions. Here are three main avatars.

1) As An Inducement: Get That Vacuum Cleaner Moving!

People buy because of the added factor. They always have and always will. As long as they perceive themselves as getting something for nothing,

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

they will be drawn to it like flies to honey. The cookie factor makes firm believers out of hesitant buyers. Deep in the human psyche is the need for justification. The bonus that they receive fills that space and gets the credit card heated up once more.

2) As a Retention Tool: Stuck Like Glue!

The cookie factor is magical for retention. Imagine you had a law f

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

Following aspects would a

irm and you had these free educational training sessions for your clients on a regular basis. What you’re doing is giving away something for nothing. You’re drawing them back like the pizza parlour does every time. This is a powerful retention tool to get customers back in your airspace. The inducement and the retention factor might look and feel the same, but the

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

e is a tiny difference. Inducement is instant gratification, where as with retention, it’s a slow moving process that shows results in loyal customers.

2) As a Deterrent

This is the dark side of the cookie factor-- The Darth Vader! 5-year rentals and leases come under this category. The cookie factor is used to get the client in at a low rate, but keeps them hoo

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

ked into the product or service over a long period of time. When you buy a fridge or a computer, you can get an additional 5 Year Peace of mind by buying into additional guarantees. There is very little real benefit for the user here, but it exists, if only in the dark alleys of your marketing strategy.

Are You Mixing Up The Cookie Factor With The Hot Spot? <

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

/b>

If you are, it’s okay. A hotspot in selling, is finding out what is of most interest to the buyer and then going after that interest, often basing the entire sale on that one factor. The cookie factor is a tiny shift away from this thought process.

Let Me Give You An Example

If you were selling a house, a hotspot would be the proverbial cherry tree

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

The buyer loves the cherry tree, has always wanted a cherry tree and the sale of the home is based on this hotspot. The cookie factor is slightly different. It is a deliberate act of placing cookies to entice the potential buyer to dip into their pockets for a brand new mortgage. I’ve known people who’ve bought houses based on the premise that they get the sofas,

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

work desk or the artwork on the mantelpiece. I’ve known smart real estate agents that have placed this cookie factor as part of the deal and creating interest where boredom exists.

This is the bait, the cookie factor! It draws the customer in and tips them over in your favour. In effect, the cookie factor becomes the hot spot and you’re on your way to a definite

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

sale.

Where’s Your Cookie Factor?

If you look into your business and your marketing strategy, you will certainly find one. When tested online, it was found that sales went up by over 30% by introducing a bonus to the product. If you’re in services, you can offer two or three add-ons at the time of purchase. If you’re selling product, tag on a duvet 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

bed sale or a box of stamps with a pen.

Relevance of your cookie factor is extremely important. A recent chain of restaurants offered a free dessert with an order of dessert. Does that really entice you? If you’re going to have a cookie factor, dispense with the stupidity. Make it relevant and valuable and your customers will respond to it in hordes. If your coo

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

kies are stale or crumbly, find a garbage can they can call home.

And finally, remember it’s not hard to find a cookie factor in your business. It provides you with additional ammo to make the customer happy. And guess what happens when customers get happy?

Yeah, they buy!

Go out and find your cookie factor. Life will surely be more chocolate-chippy once you do

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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