Think About Your Eyes Public Awareness Initiative To Launch Nationally In 2013
By Essilor News
03/15/2013
Alexandria, VA (March 15, 2013) – Think About Your Eyes, L.L.C., a non-profit organization under The Vision Council, announced today that it is launching a national public awareness initiative, focused on increasing the importance of overall vision health, in the second half of 2013. With support from the American Optometric Association (AOA), the Think About Your Eyes® campaign will also be reaching out to optometrists and other industry leaders around the country to join this public eye health initiative.
Originally piloted in May 2010, in nine test markets, the awareness initiative focused on educating the public about the benefits of eye health and the importance of getting an annual comprehensive eye exam. The campaign reached approximately 25 percent of the U.S. and demonstrated the ability to motivate and change public behavior when it came to vision health. Overall eye exams grew by 7.9 percent, translating to 120 incremental eye exams per practice, per year in those markets.
“On the heels of a very successful pilot, we are excited to expand our efforts and deliver this message, alongside the AOA, to millions of Americans,” said Ed Greene, chief executive officer of The Vision Council. “The first Think About Your Eyes campaign resulted in more than 3.4 million incremental eye exams in our test markets and more than 367,000 previously undiagnosed cases of eye disease were discovered. With results like that, imagine the impact we can have on a national scale as we combine the strengths of the Vision Council, the leading industry association, and the AOA, the leading professional association.”
In addition to raising awareness among consumers through television, print, online advertising and social media, the new effort will focus for the first time on engaging support from the eyecare community as a whole. With the additional support from optometry and other industry partners, Think About Your Eyes will become a long-term sustainable program.
“Never before has it been possible to motivate preventive health behavior on a large scale like Think About Your Eyes has been able to do, and we are thrilled to join The Vision Council and others in support of this program as it takes off with a national launch, said Dr. Barry Barresi, Executive Director, American Optometric Association. “We are also dedicated to engaging our membership of optometrists across the country to make a difference in the overall eye health of the public. We know working together as an eyecare community is key to the future success of this program.”
To engage optometrists, members from Think About Your Eyes will be attending both state and local optical association meetings to seek support through annual membership and offer Think About Your Eyes advertising sponsorships to member optometrists in their markets. Meetings to garner ongoing awareness will also take place around the country with other leaders in the vision industry.
“It is vital for all of us in the eyecare community to promote the importance of vision health to the general public and make sure everyone is aware of the consequences at stake if they don’t take care of their eyes,” said Marty Bassett, chief executive officer, Walman Optical and board member, The Vision Council. “With Think About Your Eyes, we have found a solution to motivate the general public and our entire industry, and we say special thanks to Essilor of America and Luxottica for initiating this effort through their generous support.”
To learn more, interested partners should contact Rick Holt, Director of Think About Your Eyes via email, rholt@thinkaboutyoureyes.com or phone, 703-548-6504. For more information, visit www.thinkaboutyoureyes.com.
About Think About Your Eyes, LLC
Think About Your Eyes, LLC is a non-profit organization under The Vision Council with generous support from Essilor of America and Luxottica.
About Think About Your Eyes
Think About Your Eyes is a public awareness initiative focused on educating consumers about the importance of vision health and annual comprehensive eye exams.
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