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Lilly Tomlin, the American comic, once said: “When I was growing up, I wanted to be a somebody. Now I realize I should have been mor

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

e specific.”

In direct response advertising and direct mail selling, as in life, specifics sell. Generalities don’t.

Consider, for

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

Examples of combination products may in

example, a direct response ad that I have in front of me. I tore it from the May 2006 issue of Harper’s Magazine last night.

This a

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

d faces an almost impossible sales challenge:

The product it promotes is the ROM, a Range of Motion exercise machine that r

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

tails for $14,615—impossibly expensive

The machine promises to give you the benefits of a complete physical workout in jus

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

Combination pro

four minutes—almost impossible to believe

The manufacturer is selling a high-ticket item on paper and not in person—almos

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

t impossible to do

But I think the folks at ROMFAB in North Hollywood, California, know what they are doing. They are lik

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

ly to sell plenty of these machines using their direct response ad because they pack it with specifics and not generalities. Conside

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

. . .

Specific price: Not $14,599, but $14,615.

Specific workout: Exactly four minutes a day.

Specific thesis:<

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

/b> “Over 92% of people who own exercise equipment and 88% of people who own health club memberships do not exercise.” Hence the app

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

al of their exercise machine that requires only four minutes a day.

Specific proof: “Over 97% of people who rent the ROM for

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

Following aspects would a

30 days wind up buying it” (so it must deliver on its promise of a complete workout in four minutes).

Specific credentials:

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

Not “award-winning,” but “Winner of the 1991 Popular Science Award for the ‘Best of What’s New’ in Leisure Products.” To be credible

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

you must be specific.

More credentials: “Manufactured in California since 1990.”

Cost: Under 20 cents per use (the c

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

py explains how they calculated that number).

Specific offer: Free DVD or video that demonstrates the product.

Specific

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

call to action: Not “Visit our website for more information,” but “Order a free DVD or video from ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

ise.com">www.FastExercise.com or call (818) 787-6460.”

These specifics help ROMFAB sell an impossibly expensive exercise machin

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

using direct response copy in a simple display ad. Notice that the offer is not to buy the machine, but to order the free video, th

.

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

en rent the machine. That’s the easier sell. When your product is costly and your sales proposition hard to believe, overcome object

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

ons with specifics, use an offer that moves the buyer off the inertia seat, and use a call to action that requires little commitment

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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Digg It - In Direct Mail Marketing Copywriting, Specifics Outsell Generalities

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