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Altruism. Corporate responsibility. Philanthropy. These are often used to describe cause-related marketing, an activity in which businesses join with charities or causes to market an image, product, or service for mutual benefit.

Embracing a cause makes good business sense. Nothing builds brand l

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

oyalty among today's increasingly hard-to-please consumers like a company‚s proven commitment to a worthy cause. Other things being equal, many consumers would rather do business with a company that stands for something beyond profits.

Powerful marketing edge

Cause-related marketing can become 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

cornerstone of your marketing plan. Your cause-related marketing activities should highlight your company's reputation within your target market. Cause-related marketing can positively differentiate your company from your competitors and provide an edge that delivers other tangible benefits, incl

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

uding:

Increased sales
Increased visibility
Increased customer loyalty
Enhanced company image
Positive media coverage

By choosing a cause you are passionate about, cause-related marketing is emotionally fulfilling. It's a way to merge

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

your profit center with your "passion center" and build a business that mirrors your personal values, beliefs and integrity. If your cause also resonates with your target market, your activities will generate tremendous goodwill and media attention can be its side effect.

Real-World Success Stor

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

Combination pro

y

Cosmetic dentist Mark McMahon made himself a media mini-celebrity with a thriving practice due in part to his high-profile pro bono work in his community, a strategy that landed him radio and TV appearances in areas where he worked.

McMahon established partnerships with local charities, includ

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

ing a homeless shelter and a shelter for battered women, and offered free dental services to their members. Before each event, he contacted local media and let them know what he was up to. Several TV crews showed up, filmed him treating patients, and later aired the segments on the evening news.

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

These events were surprisingly easy to arrange, and every year, they'd help us get press simply by doing these charitable promotions," McMahon says. "Local television news stations loved the emotional element. And it was obviously rewarding to see patients after we'd treated them who'd been in pai

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

n for months talking about how glad they were to be relieved of their toothaches."

Another project involved the Delancey Street Foundation, a residential education center for former substance abusers and ex-convicts. "I agreed to treat some of their members' acute dental needs," McMahon says. "I

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

quickly appreciated the media appeal of transforming the appearance of these rough-looking guys with terrible smiles."

McMahon captured the event with before and after photos. "These guys had missing teeth and terrible smiles," he says. "So I had a professional photographer capture before picture

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

s of these guys in street clothes with their snarling faces. After I fixed their teeth, we took more pictures, but this time dressed the guys in suits and ties, now looking like lawyers and accountants, with me sitting right in the middle. The media loved it, and it was great seeing these men look

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

Following aspects would a

ing like new."

McMahon's TV appearances created name recognition. "After I did the story on a local television show, I was recognized in my gym by a masseuse who had seen the show," McMahon recalls. "She said, 'I was thinking about you this morning while I was flossing my teeth.' She became a gre

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

at source of referrals."

(Excerpted from the book Get Slightly Famous: Become a Celebrity in Your Field and Attract More Business with Less Effort, by Steven Van Yoder)

Getting Started

Cause-related marketing yields mutual benefit. Look for partners with a similar agenda whose goals can be bett

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

er achieved by partnering with your business. Take inventory of the assets that make you an appealing partner in a cause-related venture.

There are many types of mutually beneficial relationships you can form with your cause-related partner, including special events, sales promotions and collecti

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

n plans. An easy way to embrace a cause is to team up with a charity.

Whenever Johnny "Love" Metheny, a slightly famous nightclub owner in San Francisco, opens a new club, he shares the limelight with a local charity. "I have a history of including the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in my grand open

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

ings," says Metheny, who was voted the society's Man of the Year in 1991. "It's not only something I feel good about, but it helps us market our businesses to the community and media at the same time."

Volunteer with an organization. When Eunice Azzani, an executive recruiter, volunteered to serv

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

e on the board of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, she didn't anticipate that it would connect her with executives from Mervyn's, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo Bank, all of who eventually hired her to work for them.

"People don't hire a piece of paper or a process. They hire people they trus

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

t," Azzani says. "Volunteering for a position at a local organization makes you very trustworthy." She advises business owners to target causes they believe in. "If you're helping with a cause you believe in, people will see that you care. And they'll realize you will probably care as much about y

.

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

our work."

As your partnership takes shape, become ambassadors for each other. Talk about the charitable organization and have flyers available. Promote the organization (and your partnership) on your website and in your newsletters. Ask your partner to extend the same courtesies to you.

Never l

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

ose the marketing focus of your community partnership efforts. Even though the work is philanthropy, your cause should generate interest in your company and motivate people to buy from it. Select a cause that is important to your target market, and make sure your target market sees that connection

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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