Main Subject - Business

Marketing refers to everything a business does to promote itself in the marketplace, and to create or strengthen its reputation in the minds of consumers.

Advertising is just one method or strategy in an integrated marketing plan. While it’s important to com

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

municate a consistent message to consumers through the various pieces of your integrated marketing plan, advertising typically is very time sensitive and very specific in the message that’s being delivered. Two clear examples of advertising are an ad in the p

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

Examples of combination products may in

hone book (promoting a solution to an immediate need or problem) and a newspaper circular for a department store’s weekend sale (also promoting a solution to an immediate need or problem).

Here are a few basic questions we would ask before designing an ad:

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

What do you want to accomplish with this ad? Knowing what you want to accomplish will drive the ad’s content and visual image. It will also determine what type of ad is created and what medium is used for it.

Who are you trying to reach with this ad and is

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

his the best way to reach them? Different market segments prefer different ethods of getting information, so the best way to reach one won’t be the best way to reach another. For example, if your target market is young people in Generation Y, a newspaper ad i

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

Combination pro

s not the best way to reach them since, as a group, they generally don’t read the newspaper.

Who exactly is your target market and what are their demographics and psychographics?Demographics are basics like gender, geography, age, ethnicity, and income. Psyc

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

hographics are how they think, behave, and make choices. For example, some segments are driven to select some products or services by price and other products or services by emotional issues such as exclusiveness.

All advertising should be tracked to see if

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

you’re accomplishing your objectives. It may be worthwhile to run the same basic ad with a few minor changes (in ABC newspaper using one headline and in XYZ newspaper using a different headline). Develop a way to track responses and see which one gets better

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

esults. Unfortunately, advertising isn’t an exact science.

Any advertisement should accomplish four things: Gain ATTENTION Generate INTEREST Promote DESIRE Drive ACTION

People are bombarded with messages every day. Yours has to get the person’s attentio

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

n to allow their brain to focus and process the information. Although we may walk out to the kitchen for a snack during a commercial, our brains are still picking up the audio from that commercial and the information is registering in our heads. The advertise

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

r has gotten our attention on a very basic level.

An advertisement must either generate interest or capitalize on a potential customer’s existing interest in the product or service. A commercial for a new car is a good example of how this works.

A commercia

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

Following aspects would a

l comes on for a new car and the potential customer finds herself starting to think about how old her current car is, how many miles are on it, and maybe it’s time to consider getting a new one.

Perhaps she’s already been thinking about those things, so she’

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

already interested in getting a new car. Now when she sees the commercial, perhaps she starts wondering about that specific car. What’s the gas mileage? What’s the safety record? What’s the reliability? What would be the sticker price with the features she w

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

ants?

Closely tied to interest is desire and here’s where emotions and other sensory information come into play. You may have gained the attention of the potential customer by running a commercial during the 6pm newscast (you bought that more expensive time

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

slot because you know your target market gets the news this way). She’s in the market for a new car (women make 80% or more of the choices in this product category), so it shouldn’t be too hard to generate interest. Does the commercial help her see herself dr

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

iving that vehicle? Do you use a woman in her age category, who resembles her in other ways? Is it an attractive vehicle that won’t make her feel older than she is? Does the color appeal to women In her demographic and psychographic categories? If you can ans

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

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

er yes to many or most of those questions, you may have generated some desire for your product.

You’ll never know what made her stop in your showroom (or store, or office) unless your staff is trained to ask questions about her motivation. Most consumers wil

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

l play down the response to an advertisement because they don’t like to feel they’re influenced by such obvious attempts to get their business, but if you help your staff develop their patience and questioning ability, they can narrow the possible motivators

.

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

and influences for that customer. This information is incredibly important because advertising decisions should be based on factors that influence customer behavior, not what you guess may work. A particular advertisement may be expensive to develop, but if i

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

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

t fulfills all of the components including driving the customer to the desired action, then that’s money well spent.

In our next issue, we’ll share our thoughts on expanding your marketing -- and perhaps your revenue -- into the 24 / 7 world of the internet

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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