Digg It - Business

Perhaps, with apologies to Dale Carnegie, we should call this article: "How to make enemies AND influence people."

The subject: United Colors of Benetton's cam

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

paign to promote its clothing, using photos and stories about death row prisoners in the U.S. It's what journalist James Bone of the Times of London called the

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

Examples of combination products may in

latest in a string of deliberately provocative campaigns".

In an age when most advertisers try their hardest to avoid offending anyone, this company takes a cl

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

arly contrarian approach. A cynic might call it a cheap trick to get attention and free media coverage (like this article). But, Benetton has run campaigns like

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

this for quite some time, and important communication lessons come out of them, regardless of how we feel about the subject matter.

Let's start with focus. Obv

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

Combination pro

ously, if the company willingly offends the moral sensibilities of many potential customers, it must focus on a particular part of the market, specifically peop

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

e with liberal social and political attitudes.

In marketing terms, that suggests Benetton segments with psychographic criteria. Psychographics refers to the li

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

festyles, values, and attitudes of consumers, including social and political viewpoints.

Given that it has run campaigns like this one for some 20 years, we ha

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

e to believe that Benetton knows this segment well and focuses on it intently.

Turning to positioning, just about every other clothing company uses warm and fu

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

zy advertising themes. Advertising that makes you feel good about yourself because you look good, which makes you attractive to others, and therefore popular, a

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

d all of that should satisfy some of your important goals.

Benetton, on the other hand, apparently wants its customers to feel good about themselves because th

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

Following aspects would a

y have a social conscience, because they feel moral outrage about one of the hot-button issues of our time.

This positions the company very distinctively. Whil

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

no end of warm and fuzzy strategies may get mixed up in consumer minds, Benetton has a clear and unequivocal position that won't be mistaken or soon forgotten.

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

Diversity is the next issue: we who live in North America sometimes forget other large markets exist beyond our immediate borders. Benetton, an Italian company

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

, probably recognizes those markets.

Voters in all major industrialized countries, except the U.S., have rejected the death penalty since World War II. That in

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

ludes people in the powerful economies of Western Europe.

So, from Benetton's bottom-line perspective, it can afford to offend some potential American customer

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

as it builds or maintains markets in Europe and Asia. Not that Benetton has been reticent to offend Europeans either. Another recent ad campaign showed a nun a

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

d priest kissing, which raised many hackles among European consumers.

As you can imagine, this contrarian strategy could backfire easily, if used by a firm wit

.

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

that couldn't carry it off well. To succeed with it, you need to know your marketing and markets very well indeed.

In summary, a contrarian positioning strate

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

y like Benetton's, one that might offend some potential customers while increasing the loyalty of others, presents a high-risk, and possibly high-reward, option

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.diggit.org.ua/article/29546/diggit-Contrarian-Marketing-at-Benettons.html">Contrarian Marketing at Benetton's</a>

BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.diggit.org.ua/article/29546/diggit-Contrarian-Marketing-at-Benettons.html]Contrarian Marketing at Benetton's[/url]

We are all aware that competition in the market is really stiff. Businesses are creating strategic schemes on how to attract and gain trust from their target prospects. They make use of different materials that will stand for them. In this manner advertising and printed materials are highly demanded to printing companies.

Being fired is a dirty little secret that strikes terror in the heart of job seekers, lest someone ask them why they left that particular job. But it doesn't have to be that way. Find out how to answer that question so your worst fear (No one will hire me because I've been fired!) doesn't come true.

Virtual Assistants add great value to the success of other enterprises. Learn who they are, what they do, how they can help and where to find one!

Tags

Links

Digg It - Contrarian Marketing at Benetton's

Related Articles: