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The marketing function in any business has a high expense profile. This is due in large part to the need for an array of marketing materials—known in "marketing speak" as collaterals. The purpose of collaterals—brochures, white papers, newsletters, web sites, and other printed or electronic infor

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

mation—is to increase awareness, recognition, and interest about a company (or particular product or service) in its target market.

Service firms must rely almost wholly upon collaterals to attract and interest customers. With no tangible product to see, touch, or try out before buying, these co

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

Examples of combination products may in

mpanies need to convey their quality, reliability, and value by proxy—and collaterals play a major role here. Collaterals are "service samples" for potential customers. They represent their companies symbolically through the quality and value of their content, the appeal of their graphic design

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 color schemes, and even, in the case of printed materials, their texture.

So, we have materials that 1) must successfully represent the company and its services and 2) take up a significant portion of the marketing budget. Add in the fact that the preparation and production of collaterals

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

call for specialized skills—copy writing, graphic design, web design, printing, to name a few—that require outside contractors, and we have a program that needs good management to achieve the highest return on investment.

Managing contractors to get the best collaterals for the best value is o

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

Combination pro

ften a major challenge for small and medium service firms. The array of skills needed and the choices for final output can cause the cost pendulum to swing wildly:

-- Pay too little and you end up with stuff that doesn’t represent you or, worse, is detrimental to your image.

-- Pay too muc

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

and you aren’t getting anywhere near the best value for your investment, or, worse, your materials end up being held hostage by your contractors because they are too complex for you or anybody else to take over.

How can you avoid "collateral" damage to your company's image and/or your bank ac

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

count? Here are six strategies, in reverse order of importance, that will stack the deck in your favor.

7. Resist the DIY impulse.

Unless you or a member of your staff really do have the skills needed to turn out good (= results producing) materials, don’t try doing it yourself. Better

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

to have no brochure than one that looks "homemade" by someone who doesn't know a font from a hole in the ground or who thinks that white space is a snow-covered field in Minnesota.

6. Get the most skills that you can from one person.

Any creative contractor you hire should be multitalen

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

ed. For example, last year I worked with a graphic designer who was excellent in both web design and hard copy design—and understood the differences between the two. For the cost of his design time, I was able to apply his output to multiple items and have hard copy pieces that matched the we

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

b site.

5. Only hire team players.

Your creative contractors need to be more interested in your business objectives and results than in art for art's sake. When you are reviewing proposed designs or creative solutions, ask what, why, how. What business benefit will this provide? Why a

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

Following aspects would a

6-color brochure rather than a 4-color one? How is a Flash animation going to attract more business from the web site? There may be valid business answers to these and other questions; if so, go for it. If not, pass by the artsy stuff and concentrate on more practical items.

4. Keep up wit

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

output technologies.

Printing technology has drastically changed over the two decades I’ve dealt with it, and it continues to do so. Make sure that you are using the best technology fit for your hard copy materials. Assuming that you have hired multitalented team players, you have built-i

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

n advisors who will match you up with the most effective (quality and cost) output medium for your needs.

3. Strive for as much self sufficiency as possible.

While you do not want to go the DIY route for your collaterals, you still want to maintain control of them and do as much as is f

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

easible yourself. For example, have your designer create templates for repeating pieces such as newsletters or proposals, then prepare these documents in house. Another element of self sufficiency is obtaining and storing electronic copies of all artwork, in original format as well as any der

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

ved versions. You own the art, so don’t brook any refusals to provide it.

2. Practice good project management.

Any project must be managed, and creative projects must be managed even more carefully. Plan any collateral preparation with a timeline, milestones, and resources, then manag

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

e your contractors according to the plan. Depending on the scope of the work and its business criticality, you might consider building in incentive bonuses to key contractors based on criteria such as early delivery, adherence to design specs, or other performance indicator.

1. Clarify your

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

objectives before you start looking for contractors.

To get the best possible return on investment from your collaterals, you need to clearly understand what you want to achieve from them. The results your collaterals produce should tie in to your marketing and business objectives; if yo

.

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

aren't clear what those objectives are, attend to those first before attempting to create materials. The first contractor you hire, in fact, may be a marketing consultant who can work with you to clarify your objectives and identify means to measure the ability of your entire marketing program

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

(including collaterals) to support their achievement.

Pursuing these strategies will help keep your collaterals on track in terms of their effectiveness as your representative, and will ensure that you are getting the most bang for your buck from the "artistic" side of your marketing equation

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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When people speak of marketing research, they are usually referring to quantitative research. Quantitative research involves a survey of a selected sample of a specific group using mail, telephone or in-person interviews.

In infomercial creation, there are a number of different options available to you. You can hire someone to do the work for you or you can do it yourself. There is much to consider about this process though so taking the time to plan and execute each step of it will help you to better achieve the results that you are looking for. For many, infomercial creation is the beginning of selling their product effectively.

The use of an arbitration clause within any contract is the best way to prevent ending up in lengthy and expensive court battles.

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