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Military metaphors work well for the field of marketing and advertising, and with great deference to the more serious conflict in Iran, we will look to both Napoleon and Sun Tzu for our foundation forstealing market share.

Market leaders were gene

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

rally on a deliberate track to build category. In many ways, this is not as true today as it was in the past. Today, only a few market leaders can afford the luxury of simply building categories. For those of us in the real world, who are not

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

Examples of combination products may in

number one in the category, and who are being outspent and overshadowed in the market place, our brands need to steal customers from the competitive set.

Human Tendencies

Oddly enough, with careful planning and insight, you

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

may in fact find an ally and advantage in the market leader. Napoleon taught us that our advantage often lies in an understanding of human beings. He tells us that there is often a deep complacency to be found in market leaders. “The great ma

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

ority attends to what is necessary only when they feel a need for it — the precise time when it is too late. They take only their needs into consideration — never their abilities.” Sun Tzu agrees. He tells us that we need to act boldly and wi

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

Combination pro

th speed. “The nature of forces is predominantly swiftness.” This is much more than just “get there first with the most” — it demands that we find an advantage and exploit it while our competitors wallow in the status quo. This advantage is b

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

rand.

Most brands, particularly package goods and technology brands, believe this advantage needs to be found in a product attribute, some new innovation that allows their brand to build a unique selling proposition. No one is downplaying the

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

tactical advantages offered by product innovation; it is simply not where a brand builds long-term equity and is often unavailable and costly to develop. The good news is that the business world is full of successful brands that under-perform

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

d their competitive set. The world of video recorders is a perfect example.

Beta vs. VHS

Remember the old rule of thumb: be first in the market and the advantage will be yours. Well, back in the 80’s Sony’s Betamax was first

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 the market, and they had a superior product. Are you listening Apple Computer? The war between VHS and Beta was about to begin, and with surprising results. The Beta format was clearly superior in the video image it produced (it still is).

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

The cassettes were a little smaller and more compact. In addition, Sony led the market in innovation, producing the first stereo video recorders, and they were the first to bring in HQ technology. On top of this, they had one of the world’s

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

Following aspects would a

most powerful brand names. People still leave the little sticker that reads “It’s a Sony on their TV screen — such is their brand equity. What happened?

Remember what Napoleon said? “The great majority attends to what is necessary only when

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

hey feel a need for it.” Well, Sun Tzu mapped out a perfect strategy for VHS to take advantage of this tendency. He said to, “Seize what they care about and you will own the advantage.” In this case, he was talking about the customer. He went

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

on to say, “Attack their weakness and emerge to their surprise.” VHS realized that what the customer cared about was not quality of picture but cost- effectiveness. This was also Beta’s weakness. Tapes running at this speed could only record

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

a little over an hour. On top of this, blank tapes were expensive — almost $20. VHS machines offered a very slow speed (with poor quality, but this was not advertised) that allowed users to record up to 6 hours on a standard tape.

This attribu

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

te, (I would not call it an advantage), allowed VHS to gain in market share. It was not long before their sales were outpacing Beta. With the edge in penetration, they were able to persuade video rental outlets to carry VHS as well as Beta ti

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

les. Pressure from the rental industry to lower costs spelled the end of Beta in the US. The market supports only one standard. History tells us that convergence is inevitable. Sony now distributes VHS machines in the U.S.

Sun Tzu had words fo

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

r Sony's inability to capitalize on what was clearly a better technology, “Only those who deliberate carelessly and lightly view their enemies will be ensnared by the adversary.” Sony was indeed ensnared. They believed an assumption that the

.

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

American consumer would want a superior product and embrace its benefit. It is never enough to know your technology, you must know the customer (it is a mistake to confuse your customer with the broader market if you are looking to steal shar

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

e). This is fair warning to those of us that think a better product will carry our brand to victory over the competitive set. It is never enough. As Sun Tzu put it so eloquently, “Those sophisticated at strategy occupy undefeatable positions.

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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