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Well that certainly is a direct -- if not offensive -- title, isn't it? Stay with me a little while longer, and you will understand its significance.

Many of us realize that, to get a buyer's attentio

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

n, we have to tell them about benefits. As Jack Trout and Al Reis wrote in their best-seller, Positioning, everyone listens to the same radio station, WII-FM (What's In It For Me?). No one really cares

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

Examples of combination products may in

about us as businesspeople; they care about how our businesses can help them achieve their objectives.

So what? There's that abrasive term again. But that is really the question that you have to answ

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

r. You see, businesses -- large and small -- often market themselves with what they think are benefits. In actuality, they are trumpeting features, never really answering the question. Take a recent te

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

levision commercial by General Motors, for instance. It promotes one of its SUVs that is equipped with an eight-cylinder engine that switches to four cylinders when possible. This, the commercial profe

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

Combination pro

sses, increases fuel economy. Okay, there's the benefit, right? Wrong. The fact that the engine switches from eight to four cylinders is a feature. It has not answered the question, "So what?" But the

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

act that the engine increases fuel economy is certainly the benefit, correct? Wrong again. It is the advantage over other engines that do not have the same capability. The benefit is the fact that you

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

can afford to own this SUV because it helps keep costs down, a fact the commercial never mentions.

You might think the difference between this advantage and the benefit is very slim or that the benefi

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

t is implied. But unless the actual benefit is clearly stated, the reason for the commercial -- in fact, the reason for the SUV -- is left for the prospect to determine. My question is why would anyone

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

want to leave the last step -- the most important step -- unresolved? Why wouldn't the advertiser provide the answer to the prospect's "so what?"

The answer to this is quite simple and very costly. Co

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

mpanies all-too-often advertise products with the intention of letting prospects fill in the benefit. The thought here is that you may want to buy the product for one reason and I may want to buy it fo

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

Following aspects would a

r another. Letting us determine the products' benefits, they believe, will sell more units. Unfortunately, this way of thinking leads to the selling of fewer units.

FAB To be most profitable and give

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

you the best return on investment, your advertising has to present FAB (Feature, Advantage, Benefit). To do this consistently is not easy, but the results are well worth the effort. Let's say you are a

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

printer who has purchased a new digital print machine that can produce high-quality postcards, each with an individual recipient's name, photo, and address on it. With the elections coming up, you wan

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

t to promote its capabilities to politicians. Which one of the following three scenarios would be most likely to get business?

A) Our new XK-3600 provides you with one-to-one marketing materials that

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

nclude the recipient's name and address and a photo of his/her house.

B) Our new XK-3600 provides you with one-to-one marketing materials that include the recipient's name and address and a photo of h

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

is/her house. This makes the postcard more personal, so the recipient feels as if you are speaking directly to him/her.

C) Get more votes by speaking directly to your constituents. Our new XK-3600 pro

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

vides you with one-to-one marketing materials that include the recipient's name and address and a photo of his/her house. This makes the postcards more personal, so the recipient feels as if you are sp

.

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

aking directly to him/her.

Of course the answer is C. In example A, there is a feature -- providing the politician with "one-to-one marketing materials that include the recipient's name and address an

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

d a photo of his/her house." The printing company's target audience, the politicians, will either consciously or sub-consciously ask, "So what?"

-------------------------

Copyright 2006, Peter George

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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