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The famous P.T Barnum once said, “Without promotion, something terrible happens, NOTHING!” And marketing (or promotion) is all about combating that dreaded ‘nothingness’. The qu

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

estion is… are you doing it right?

Gone are the days where you could open up shop, hang out a sign, and people would beat a path to your door. It just doesn’t work like that a

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

Examples of combination products may in

y more (if it ever did). No, these days you’ve got to find a way to ‘get the word’ out, and that’s all a part of marketing.

Advertising is often the most common way this is achie

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

ed – after all, many people think that advertising is marketing, and it’s not – it’s just one part of it.

Mistake #1 – Confusing Advertising With Marketing

Marketing is all about

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

marshalling your available resources to assist in the sales process. After all, nothing happens until someone makes a sale. Marketing is about influencing the buying decision at al

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

Combination pro

points of influence and contact. It covers the way the phone is answered to the way your washrooms look and smell. If you’re not thinking about marketing in this fashion you’re le

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

ving the door wide open for your competitors to slip in and steal your customers away.

Mistake #2 – Running Institutional or Brand Building Adverts

You’ve seen the ads – “XYZ Aut

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

omotive Service & Repair. The Best Service In Town!” These adverts are a sheer waste of money because they don’t direct the reader, viewer or listener toward any intelligent action

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

or buying decision. More over they immediately cause the prospect to say things like “yeah, sure!”, or “so what!”

Advertising serves one purpose and one purpose only – to sell stu

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

f. Anything else is either vanity, folly or both. Ads are like ‘silent’ sales people – evaluate adverts with the same eye you’d use when evaluating a sales person and you’ll see th

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

difference.

Direct response style advertising on the other hand makes a complete case for the company, product or service. It overcomes sales objections. It answers all major que

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

Following aspects would a

tions. And it promises results, backing up the promise with a risk-free warranty or money-back guarantee. Direct response style advertising works.

Mistake #3 – Not Stressing Uniq

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

eness

Most successful businesses or professional services are built around a USP, or unique selling proposition. It might be reliable post-purchase service, super-fast delivery, c

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

nvenient hours or a combination of things. Think about what it is that sets your business apart from the rest and then make your USP the engine that drives all your marketing and a

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

dvertising efforts.

The next time you see your competitor’s adverts; see if you can identify their USP. Take note: if you can’t identify your own USP, you can be certain your cust

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

mers can’t either!

Mistake #4 – Targeting The Wrong Prospects

Always send your sales messages to the people who are your primary prospects – and ignore the rest. You can’t be all

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

things to all people and attempting this makes you nothing to everyone.

If you wish to reach people over 45, for example, your ad’s headline should say something like “If you’re 4

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

or over…” And make certain all your headlines and ads are specific and targeted to your ideal prospect – avoid abstractions.

Mistake #5 – Failing To Test

Finally, if you don’t t

.

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

st prices, headlines, offers, advertising copy, and all your verbal and non-verbal sales messages, you’ll never know what the market wants, or what it will pay. You’re just guessin

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

– which can be financially disastrous.

Marketing is a process not an outcome. Eliminate these 5 marketing mistakes from your business and you’ll see positive results – guaranteed

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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Businesses routinely maintain copies of correspondence and memos. Far to often, however, they do not extend this practice to email correspondence. Email correspondence is no different then your normal paperwork. You must keep copies of all of it to protect your business in any litigation.

There are five critical factors that can measure whether your acquisition is working perfectly or not. This article will outline the critical factors and how you can guage whether you are on the right track or not.

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