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One of my associates sent me a promotional email she'd received. “I know this marketing communication doesn't work,” she told me, “but why doesn't this make me want to buy?” I took a look, and what I saw was familiar and sad. The promo

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

tional piece was for a weekend retreat. I could feel all the good intentions behind it, but the words just lay on the page like tired puppies. Worn out. No zip. No life.

As solo business owners, we are often at a loss to understand wh

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

Examples of combination products may in

our words aren't getting a better response. Although an offer can fail for many reasons, I always recommend you look first to your marketing communication.

Why? Because if your message doesn't connect, you won't get much payoff from

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

more exposure. Once your words really speak to people, you'll get more bang for your buck from more marketing activity or better alignment.

Here then, are the top 5 reasons your marketing communication may fail to strike a chord.

1.

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

o Clear Focus for What You are Offering.

When we aren't clear on the ultimate outcome that we are delivering, we sometimes try boosting our appeal by offering to deliver everything under the sun. In this case? The retreat offered: ren

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

Combination pro

wal, creativity, connection, peace, appreciation of life, awareness, balance, and self-discovery

Phew! It's so many different ideas my poor brain can't wrap around it all. There's no central theme or image I can use to fix in my mind

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

what she's offering. Instead of thinking “wow! I'd get a lot from this experience,” I walk away thinking, “I am confused, and I wonder if the retreat leader is too.”

2. No Verbal Markers that Say “I am talking to you!”

When we try to

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

be a fit for everybody, we end up being a fit for nobody. Even when we think we believe in the law of attraction, our words often reflect our indecision or confusion about whom we want to reach. One sure sign that you aren't clear? Whe

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

there are no concrete “identifiers” in your copy. By identifiers, I mean phrases like “as a working mom,” “as a business owner,” “in the workplace,” “navigating the world of academia.” These concrete markers confirm for the audience

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

that your marketing communication was written for them. It makes it personal.

3. No New Insight into Your Audience's Struggle

It's no longer enough to let your audience know that you feel their pain. You have to quickly demonstrate t

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

at you have valuable insight into that pain. That you've made some connection they haven't about why they are stuck where they are. That gives them hope that what you are offering aren't the same old tired solutions that they've heard

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

Following aspects would a

f before.

In this marketing piece, I would have liked to have heard answers to questions like “What is it that leads us to be so disconnected from ourselves?” “Why is renewal needed now more than ever?” Even something as simple as “Th

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

e harder we work, the more we need quiet, open space to recharge our batteries” would have made me go, “hmm, could that be true for me?”

4. No Visible Plan for Delivering on Your Promise

Once you've shown that you know your audience,

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

and you have a juicy and specific outcome to offer them, the communication shifts. Your reader is no longer asking, “Am I interested?” She is asking, “Do I believe this person can deliver on what they are promising?”

Testimonials are

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

ne way to establish credibility, but what testimonials don't do is create a picture for your audience of how you lead them step by step to the destination you've promised. When the way you deliver is a mystery, you're asking people to

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

take a big leap of faith. When you describe your logic, process, or philosophy in a limited number of steps, your audience can see how your steps or ingredients add up to the outcome you are promising.

For example, if the woman offeri

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

g the retreat had listed the “five stages of renewal” or the “three ingredients of creative discovery,” her readers would have immediately believed more strongly that she could deliver.

5. No Fire in your Belly

To me, words are trans

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

arent. They reveal every nuance of who you are, how you see yourself in relationship to the world, and how you feel about your work. Since so many creative professionals say they hate marketing, it is a surprise that the communication

.

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

they write comes across as strained and tense?

On a gut level, you readers will feel if you are writing from the place of consuming excitement about what you offer or from a place of caution and ambivalence. The more you let your word

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

carry your passionate and full-hearted energy, the more your message will have an indefinable “something” that stirs the readers' soul and sparks their interest in what you offer.

Copyright 2004-5. Isabel Parlett. All rights reserved

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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