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When I started my first marketing job I was asked to prepare a flyer and have it delivered to all the homes and businesses in the area. The company would then track the response rate and see if this number matched the norm for this type of marketing campaign. However, they measured the succes

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

s by the number of sales from the campaign rather than the number of responses. In fact, they had no idea how many people responded but they did know how many people bought. When they dropped the campaign, the reasons were all wrong. They did not have a problem with response, they had a probl

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

Examples of combination products may in

m with converting responses to actual sales. The measurement tool they used did not fit the situation. They measured based on what the sales department did with the responses and not how effective their marketing tactics actually were working. Sound familiar?

I have had many marketing experi

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

nces since that time but it seems that most companies I worked for are all doing the same thing and I mean the exact same thing! The results tend to fall into the same patterns just like using a cookie cutter to create each campaign. If the results are good, there is no real reason to change

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

t but what if you could improve the odds and improve on the results at the same time? This is only possible if you do not commit the 7 deadly sins of marketing.

SIN #1 - Relying on what works for others . By thinking what works for your competition will also work for

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

Combination pro

ou may have some truth in it but you are setting a trap for your company. By relying on someone else's successful campaigns you are not doing a thorough enough job. It may work in the short term but in the long term you will not be able to make quick changes because of the lack of knowledge.

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

The knowledge you will be lacking is what was actually tested to make the campaign successful, you may not know the demographics in enough detail even though your product may be very similar.

SIN #2 - Assuming your product will be in demand and needed by your audience.

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

Never make assumption about what your audience will want. They are not exactly like you and they have difference needs and interests. Yes, you can create a new market but that takes time and a lot of effort. You need to gather proof that there is a need for your product. This can be accomplis

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

ed through surveys, doing test samples, interviews, and such. Don't waste your money on developing a marketing campaign if you are not sure if there is really a market for your product.

SIN #3 - Not defining the target audience in enough detail. Audiences should be nar

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

owly defined to maximize the spending for marketing. Audience details would ideally include (but not limited to) demographics (age, gender, income, number of children, etc.), psychographics (lifestyles, spending habits, sports interests, hobbies, etc.), and geographics (location details such

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

s neighborhood, city, county, state, etc.). If you can pinpoint your audience, you will likely see an increase in the results for your campaign.

SIN #4 - Creating a market for your product after the product has been developed. You may think of this as not the function

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

Following aspects would a

of the marketing department, nothing could be further from the truth. Marketing needs to be the first line of defense before a product is developed. Marketing needs to do the research to make sure there is a market for the product long before it comes off the drawing board and into production

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

Spend dollars on feeling out the marketplace as to needs and wants and then develop only those products that people will buy.

SIN #5 - Spending the entire marketing budget on one or two tactics. If you spend all of your marketing dollars on developing a brochure to ma

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

l out, you will only get the response rate from a direct mail campaign. You should always test several tactics to find which ones work and then choose the ones where the response rate is the greatest. Often companies simply develop one type of marketing collateral and so with it without think

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

ng about other tactics that may outperform the current one. You should be constantly testing tactics and if the budget permits, using more than one tactic at a time.

SIN #6 - Not paying attention to seasons or holidays. Too often organizations do not appropriate plan t

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

eir campaigns for seasons or holidays. I have seen very expensive campaigns fail because it was executed over a long weekend. People were busy spending elsewhere and did not pay attention to the campaign (which was dated for that weekend). The marketing department (which may just be you) shou

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

ld have a calendar marked with special occasions, holidays, and anything that will have an effect on response rates. You absolutely must know in advance so you are not wasting your marketing dollars.

SIN #7 - Thinking you know everything about marketing. Be careful not

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

to fall into the trap that you everything you need to know about how certain marketing campaigns are put together. Yes, you may know a great deal, but times, methods, response rates, and people change over time. You need to spend time keeping abreast of the latest developments in marketing an

.

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

product development. There are plenty of free publications through organizations such as tradepub.com to help you be on top of your game.

Now where did sales fit into this discussion? It actually fits into the planning process. If sales is not on board with what is happening

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

in marketing, they will sell the same old way and not buy into how you are setting up your campaigns (and for that matter - why you are doing it). Get them involved at the start and then once the campaign is underway, they will be able to increase the conversion rate from response to customer

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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All of those negative messages you hear about bad credit and mortgages! I'm talking here about how it is commonly believed that if you have bad credit it's virtually impossible to get a home loan, and if you do happen to get a home loan, then the interest rate will be so high it will be a feat in itself just meeting the repayments.

You find them in all spheres of society – in cubicles, on the shop floor, on the sports field, in the marching crowd of protesters, as huge as in the CEO-chair, yet as small as on the nursery school playground. They are the minority group of people impacting on the majority of society – whether positive or negative – but they are of one breed: the leaders. However, the real leaders – those who make it to be examples in the business bestsellers – have one particular commonality that is easy to spot: MATURITY.

In today's fast-paced business world, CEO's are trying to keep up with change and adapt to the global marketplace, constantly searching the horizon for an edge over the competition.

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