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I recently received the “fabulous news” that I had won ?5,000.00. You know what they say about things that sound too good to be true – they usually are. So I looked for a phone number – absent. I then looked at the return address – Canada. Canada? I had a closer look at the

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

delivery envelope – Royal Mail frank, i.e. it had been posted from the UK. Strange. I did a Google search for company name. At number 2 was a link to an article in the Mirror entitled “Rogue Mail”. Yep – it was a slick scam which was apparently netting the operators millions

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

Examples of combination products may in

of pounds because to claim your prize you had to send a payment, in this case ?20.00.

Now many would have been outraged at receiving such a letter. Instead, I saw it as a great learning opportunity not, I hasten to add, because I’m planning a scam of my own, but because it put

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

nto practice (with great results) many of the strategies of doing an effective and legitimate Direct Mail campaign. Here are some of the tactics adopted by this company and a few ways to improve the effectiveness of your Direct Mail campaigns.

1. Delivery Envelope
The enve

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

lope displayed the company’s name and under the company name were the words “Cash Release Documents”. Over the window of the envelope were the words “Final Notice For:” which implied a sense of urgency. To the right of the envelope were the words “OPEN AT ONCE” – i.e. a strong

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

Combination pro

call to action. This company obviously knew the strength of using teaser copy, i.e. copy to whet the appetite of the reader.

2. Response Envelope
Including an addressed reply envelope generally increases the response rate and a reply envelope was dutifully included in this

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

case. Some Direct Mail marketers use FREEPOST envelopes but the problem with this is that it can increase the response rate of junk mail.

3. Main Letter
The main letter was well-presented and looked official. The letter had been folded in three and the body of the letter

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

was laid out in such a way that the information above the first fold was compelling as well as the information between the folds and at the bottom of the letter.

We tend to scan letters reading the headline, sub-headers and footers first and taking in any other striking informat

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

ion so this was a clever marketing tactic. In fact, the headline is critical to the success of the Direct Mail campaign. Given our short attention span, some attribute 90% of the success of a Direct Mail campaign to using a captivating headline.

In this case, above the fold an

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

in italics there was a short paragraph preceded by the word “Attention” and containing the word “CONGRATULATIONS” notifying me that I had won a prize and it was “ready for dispensation”. The prize would be held for me until I responded (by post) according to the terms of the le

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

tter. Then there was another “call to action”.

The letter went onto to say that as soon as I responded my cheque would be dispatched to me using a registered courier service. This helped to reinforce the fact that I had to act quickly to take advantage of this offer.

The midd

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

Following aspects would a

le section gave details about the prize and an option to have the money released in one lump sum or to have 4 equal payments. A no-brainer proposition when you think about it but what this copy did was reinforce the “fact” that there was money at stake here.

The information in

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

he last segment recapped the information previously expressed and reinforced the need to act quickly or lose my prize.

4. Signature
The scanned signature was legible and in blue. Believe it or not this is another important feature of Direct Mail letters. Signatures should

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

be legible and research has shown that the best colours for your signature are “process” or “reflex” blue. The rest of the text should be black against, ideally, a white, off-white or pale yellow background.

5. Post Script
All strong sales letters will contain a strong po

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

stscript to end such as reminding potential customers of the key benefits of the item being sold or of the steps to take. In this case the reader was reminded that they could spend the money any way they liked encouraging those who had been lured to this point to imagine how the

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

would spend their unexpected windfall.

6. Order Form
Naturally, Direct Mail Marketing campaigns will contain an order form. The order form should stand out from the main letter. One way to achieve this is to print it on paper of a different colour such as blue or pink.

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

Another marketing tactic is to give the order form a different title. Think about it, most people are averse to form-filling. They find it tiresome. In this case the order form was headed “Cheque Release Form” where the first two words neutralised any negative impact the word

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

“form” might have had.

These tactics can all contribute towards generating high-income earning legitimate Direct Mail campaigns. The letter I received was slick but there were several errors or irregularities as I have glossed over here. In my next article I’ll highlight these

.

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

irregularities or the things to avoid when sending out a Direct Mail Campaign.

It’s sad then that people stop this low to con people out of their money when they could apply the similar tactics and elicit money honestly. Unfortunately, there will always be vulnerable or easily

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

influenced individuals who will fall for these unscrupulous Direct Mail tactics. I hope this article will help to make people more aware of the scams that are going on and that less people will be duped by them. Oh, by the way, the name of the company – “Global Escrow Services”

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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If you want to retain a loyal patron you need to do everything you can to ensure that they have an extraordinary experience each and every time they are with you. Instead of trying to create specific rules which dictate how employees should act in all situations, companies must instead examine all aspects of their business and define broader goals and values which guide the organization.

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