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With tight economic times at hand there is increasing pressure on marketers to sure up the marketing mix while cutting costs. T

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

radition has it that under these circumstances we migrate a good portion of our advertising budget into direct marketing. This

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

Examples of combination products may in

s still a sound practice, but there are some issues we need to consider.

The first thing that comes to mind is telemarketing.

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

elemarketing, which has historically been a good tool, has been over used and in many cases abused, causing public outrage, an

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

regulatory attention while rendering it less and less effective and more costly.

Online marketing is something that springs ri

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

Combination pro

ht to mind, but we have to admit that this is a marketing tool that is still evolving. Privacy and SPAM issues will continue to

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

loom over us, and we will always be missing potential customers who are "un-plugged" or just disinterested in the Internet. N

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

w, we do continue to recommend online marketing, but only where it has its place. Specifically, for existing customers and cont

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

cts, especially those with whom you transact with online or via email already. Double opt-in lists are becoming increasingly

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

ore attractive as well.

That leaves us with the old workhorse, direct mail. Yes, direct mail has its challenges. Particularly

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

troubling is the sea of unsolicited mail that arrives on all of our desks daily. To compound that we are uncertain if our envel

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

Following aspects would a

opes are getting open, and if they are we are not sure who is opening them. The solution: Postcards. Why postcards? Yes, t

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

ey are less expensive to produce and mail, but that's not what makes them so good. Their strength lies in the fact that they do

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

't need to be opened. Even if the recipient decides to throw the card away we still have a few seconds to reach them with our m

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

ssage between the their in-box and the circular file.

To really get a bang for our buck out of postcards we have to take it one

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

step further and get creative - playful actually. First off, postcards of unusual size, shape and texture stand out in the mail

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

stack and do not easily get shuffled into a stack of papers. In fact, they often fall on the floor and give us an added touch

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

point. Beyond tactile design of the card we can strive make the card so inventive that the message not only reaches the recipi

.

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

nt, but it actually gets passed around the office. This is the Holy Grail of direct mail marketing and with a little forethough

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

and creativity it is achievable. We've seen it happen, and talk about low cost per contact and high return on investment - wow

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):
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One of the areas that are often ignored in time management is communication skills. Many overlook the important aspects of communication and get caught up in time wasting. While others go through communication too fast, and ignore details that are productive. Finding the right balance of effective and efficient communication can be the greatest aspect of time management; bringing you to your completed objectives. Unless your objectives are in a vacuum where you are the only one involved, communication is definitely necessary.

This TQM article is written about a Baldrige Style Assessment in Business Results Category 7 guided by Baldrige Approach. Included are some common assessment findings derived from companies being assessed by a group of trained and experience senior assessors. Reader may benchmark it for their improvement case studies in TQM implementation Project.

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