Main Subject - Business

"How can our nonprofit address appropriate production values and expenditures?"

In other words, not what we can afford, but what we can do to make our newsletter look fan

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

tastic and be effective but not appear over-the-top? We don't want our donors to question how their money is spent. How do we effectively balance cost-efficiency with quality?”

Now, that’s

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

Examples of combination products may in

a very good question. As a matter of fact, it's one I hear frequently from marketing and communications staff members at nonprofits around the country.

As marketers, and as consumers, we k

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

ow that quality matters. It's a fact that print readers enjoy color printing, striking graphics and photographs, and nice paper stock (let's call these components "production values"). Simi

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

larly, Internet audiences appreciate websites and e-newsletters that are designed in a unique, color-rich style.

However, your communications quest isn't to generate your audiences' enjoym

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

Combination pro

nt or appreciation. It's to motivate your audiences to act – to give, to join or to register. And it's likely that each campaign or even marketing piece will require you to hone a different

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

production value.

I advise you to look beyond design and print production values to the real objectives of print and online communications. Ask yourself the following questions to help 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

make decisions on production values:

Do you aim for audiences to keep a printed piece (as you might with an Annual Report) or read it and toss it?

A "keeper" should be

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

roduced with higher production values than a throwaway flyer. What do your audiences respond to most? For a nonprofit focused on teens and 20-somethings, sharp web design and lots of (usefu

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

) interactivity is a must. For the AARP, print materials are equally, if not more, important.

Talk to your audiences to find out what really matters to them. Spend your budget in those pla

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

es.   Your allocation will also depend on the medium. For websites, usability (ease of use) is much more important than slick design, although an outdated look can discourage po

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

Following aspects would a

tential donors or volunteers.

How can you produce quality print and online marketing components, at a somewhat lower cost?

It's not all about money. What I think is most

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

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

important is that a nonprofit marketing piece or site is professionally done.  For example, a clear, recognizable design is more important than four-color printing or a glossy p

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

per stock. You can save more by having a professional graphic designer design one or more templates for your brochures and flyers. Then you and your colleagues can plug in content as needed

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

for a series of flyers or brochures.

Will your print or online piece stand alone or be reviewed as one of several communications from various nonprofits and other entities?
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
>

If you are advertising in a local newspaper or taking a page in a community guide, it is critical that your ad is designed to look at least as (if not more) professional than the other a
ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust
s in the publication. Otherwise, readers are likely to overlook your promotion. Even worse, an unprofessional look and feel can convey that your nonprofit itself is unprofessional.

Use the
y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products
se guidelines to start your own planning checklist. Add other parameters that are critical to your organization. I think you'll find that you'll develop a checklist that enables you to make
.

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
the right decision on production values time after time.

Don't forget to design some strategies to manage issues as they evolve. For example, if a board member has criticized a recent annu
elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip
l report for looking "too glossy," ask that board member for suggestions on how to create professional, quality communications, sans gloss. Request that he or she pass on to you good models

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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Main Subject - Balancing Quality and Cost-Efficiency in Your Nonprofit Marketing Materials

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