Customized drugs are here. A pharmacy in Illinois makes drugs that the majors don't. They point the way forward for the tailoring of medicine to consumer needs and wants. Today, major drug company business models pursue the most lucrative new find. Especially something that can enjoy the protection of a patent, ie has high price protection.. That means inevitably sales are about mass; market, marketing, returns. Costs have been high to tool up, and then selling new formulations to the mass. So drug companies want new blockbusters to supercharge profits. New drugs  cost a lot. Worse, the number of formulations on sale are  restricted given the size of the market to funnel consumers to the mass approach.

OK so now they're starting to segment and trial. Pocket size throat sprays. Thin strips that melt in your mouth.Suppress. Theraflu. All efforts to reach consumers differently. To sell  more product. 

But what major drug companies haven't done is release commercially unused research to the general market, even though it may be an effective treatment for a small target market of consumers. Then, periodically, companies just pull  drugs off the market, despite effectiveness. Too little profit. Some drug ingredients and drugs just work better for some people than others. But they may not be available. And for whatever reason,  drugs may be available here, (the US) but not there (Canada). Or vice versa. Drugs are not a consumer focused business, despite what the companies say.

Now new business models are on the verge of overcoming the entrenched value of the distribution networks and big capital backing of the majors. A new business model for drugs links widely distributed and peer reviewed information, blogs;  internet distribution;  and groups of compounding pharmacists or small production run drug companies.  It's a new network that battles bigness and major's entrenchment. So each distribution and production element is necessary. And each was previously unavailable. Together they redress the balance towards consumers.

And, bring the shakeout value of competition into a now closed and sclerotic industry always erecting barriers to serve institutional profit over individual health.

Nike have always been a radical company, out on the edge. Their business model created cheap shoes for the US. By running "sweatshops", detractors claimed. Supporters; that globalized factories contributed wealth to developing countries. Take your pick. But they can market. They do know trends.

Now, Nike have turned the basketball game, NBA2K6, into a fantastic, marketing billboard for their shoes. And, bigger picture, internet ordering tool. In the game, winning brings new levels to master, and new Nike shoes to design. There's tight integration to Nike ID. Real world, Nike ID is a design your own shoe tool. You design colors, logos, a look on a 3D shoe site. Then these shoes get delivered.

Nike thinks big. When Nike ID relaunched, cell phone users could design a shoe and see it on the Reuters billboard on Times Square, New York  But Nike has also placed its products into  games such as NBA Live, FIFA Street, NCAA Football; Gran Turismo 4 featured an unlockable car with Nike brand.

So do Nike now think games will drive change in consumer buying? ie Comfortable playing shoe maker in a videogame? Then, hey, buy the shoes online in the real cyber world. We know games are bigger annual revenue earners than the movies. Will games now also displace TV as key movers of taste amongst players; predominantly young adults?  Perhaps, this coming basketball season will tell.