Essilor Expands National Advertising Campaign To Promote Innovative Varilux Lenses
By Essilor News
09/18/2014
DALLAS – Sept. 18, 2014 – Essilor of America, the nation’s leading manufacturer of optical lenses, continues to educate consumers on the benefits of Varilux® progressive lenses through the expansion of a national advertising campaign and the launch of a new website. Varilux is the leading progressive lens to correct presbyopia, the most widespread vision problem in the world.
“The first phase of our Varilux campaign was hugely successful, and we’re looking forward to the opportunity to reach even more consumers,” said Lauri Crawford, senior vice president of marketing, Essilor of America. “By illustrating the impact eyesight has on every part of our lives, these ads promote not just the Varilux lens brand, but the overall importance of working with an eyecare professional (ECP) to achieve sharp, healthy vision.”
Earlier this year, the Varilux campaign increased in scope from television and radio to include digital and print advertising and a redesigned website. The new site features elements of the advertising campaign, more consumer-focused content, illustrations of what consumers can expect when viewing the world through a Varilux lens, and a responsive design that adjusts based on the viewing device. The new site also displays resources for eyecare professionals and includes a highly-visible ECP locator on every page. The ECP locator has seen 500 percent more use since the TV spots began airing in April.
The ads demonstrate the ways blurry vision negatively affects day-to-day life, promoting Varilux as the top progressive lens solution and the only provider of the groundbreaking W.A.V.E. Technology: Wavefront Advanced Vision Enhancement™, which identifies and removes lens high order aberrations to deliver sharper vision. The campaign will also employ new Varilux Point-of-Purchase (POP) materials, which provides a direct link between the advertising and the ECP practice, facilitating recommendations of the product and discussions between consumers and their providers.
The strategy is part of Essilor’s continued efforts to generate brand awareness and encourage patients to ask their eyecare professionals about Varilux lenses. In addition to this targeted marketing initiative, Essilor’s senior vice president of customer development, Howard Purcell, O.D., F.A.A.O., Dipl., will appear on Lifetime’s Baby Boomers in America to discuss presbyopia and Varilux lenses with Morgan Fairchild on Lifetime Television and Lifetime Television HD - Saturday September 20, at 9:00AM ET/PT and on Lifetime Real Women (LRW) Saturday October 18, at 8:30AM ET.
While presbyopia affects almost everyone over the age of 45, more than half of those with presbyopia don’t receive adequate correction. By 2020, it’s estimated that 2.3 billion people will have presbyopia, making the promotion of the Varilux brand a worthwhile investment for Essilor, especially in its continued work to drive new patients to ECPs. Since the invention of Varilux in 1959, Essilor has led the way in presbyopia research and product development, cultivating Varilux into the most recognized progressive lens brand in the industry. A total of 300 million people around the world wear or have worn Varilux lenses, with a new wearer every three seconds.
For more information and to explore the redesigned website, visit Varilux.com.
About Essilor
Essilor is the leading manufacturer of optical lenses in the United States and is the market leader in progressive, high-index and anti-reflective coated lenses. A pioneer in the development and production of ophthalmic lenses, Essilor employs more than 10,000 people throughout North America. Essilor manufactures optical lenses under the VARILUX®, CRIZAL®, TRANSITIONS®, XPERIO®, DEFINITY®, THIN&LITE® and other Essilor brand names. Essilor Laboratories of America, Inc is the largest, and most trusted, optical lab network in the U.S. and offers a wide choice of services and lens brands, including Essilor premium lenses, to eyecare professionals across the nation. Essilor of America, Inc. (Essilor) is a subsidiary of Paris-based Essilor International, a publicly held company traded on the Euronext Paris stock exchange (Reuters: ESSI.PA).
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VARILUX, CRIZAL, TRANSITIONS, XPERIO, XPERIO UV, E-SPF and DEFINITY are registered trademarks of Essilor International. THIN & LITE is a registered trademark of Essilor of America, Inc