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Contact lens companies commit to consumer advertising, partnering with practioners
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If you are wondering where all those new contact lens patients in your chair are coming from, you might try looking no further than your waiting room. Chances are most of the national, high-profile magazines your patients are perusing could be what is bringing them to your office.
Direct-to-consumer advertising is not new to the contact lens industry or to optometry, but this year all manufacturers combined will spend about $40 million telling consumers what is good about their contact lenses through national print and TV campaigns. This represents a huge commitment by the industry and a trend of keeping the product in front of potential consumers that many believe will continue.
In this special feature, Primary Care Optometry News talked with executives at five contact lens companies to find out what their take-home message is to consumers, what they are spending to put their message out there and how optometry is positioned to reap the benefits.
Alcon emphasizes comfort, compliance
Alcon has been targeting all soft contact lens wearers through a national print and television campaign for its Opti-Free Supraclens daily protein remover and Opti-Free Express multi-purpose solution.
The advertising is designed to generate interest in contact lenses and lens care and includes a tag line encouraging lens wearers to see their eye care professionals on a regular basis. The company wants ODs to be aware that Supraclens can be used with all soft contact lenses and should be used only with Opti-Free Express multi-purpose solution.
According to a response prepared for this special feature, Alcon said its message in its advertising is to "make consumers aware of Supraclens, which keeps lenses more comfortable and cleaner. Also, because it is easy to use (one drop in each side of the lens case overnight in Opti-Free Express multi-purpose solution), we expect Supraclens to increase patient satisfaction as well as compliance, which will benefit eye care professionals."
Alcon did not disclose its media budget for this advertising campaign, but did note that the response from eye care professionals and patients "has been very favorable."
B&L touts frequent replacement lens
John Hennessy, group director for soft lens marketing at Bausch & Lomb, said the company's primary campaign has been conducted for Softlens 66, a frequent replacement lens with a water content of 66%.
Consumer advertising in national magazines started in March and will continue through the early summer before breaking and resuming during the second half of the year, he said.
"We believe it's important to deliver a two-tiered message," Mr. Hennessy said of the campaign. "Certainly, the professional is key for the sale of contact lens products, and we believe strongly in that; however, it's also important as a manufacturer to elevate awareness and interest in the category. All of our ads direct the consumer to see a professional for more information, and we believe this dual strategy is important."
Bausch & Lomb targets female contact lens wearers in its print ads, positioning Softlens 66 as a healthy choice for an active lifestyle. Consumers can call a toll-free number to redeem a coupon offer for free trial lenses. This same number also allows the company to track how well the ads are working.
While the company would not release how much it is spending on consumer advertising this year, Mr. Hennessy said the campaign is "a significant program in a host of major publications running for an extended period of time. It's a print campaign we plan to sustain."
He added that the company plans to relaunch Softlens 66, because it recently received extended-wear approval, and Bausch & Lomb wants to introduce the additional parameters to consumers and practitioners.
Ciba focuses on torics and tints
Ciba Vision is targeting women between the ages of 18 and 35 in a national television and magazine campaign that features its Focus family of soft contact lenses, including Focus Toric for astigmatism, Focus Softcolors color enhancement lenses and Focus Visitint, which has a handling tint for nearsighted wearers.
Dave Sanderson, vice president of marketing, North American optics, said the thrust of both campaigns is to educate astigmatic patients about the fact that they can wear contact lenses and to emphasize the comfort of Focus lenses. Ciba's advertising campaign will cost $10 to $15 million in the United States this year, he said.
"The majority of astigmatic people have no idea that contact lenses are a viable option and believe they're "stuck in glasses," which is a phrase they use," Mr. Sanderson said.
The campaign started in early February and will continue throughout the year. Both products will be shown alternately on television, although never at the same time. Simultaneously, a national print campaign includes ads in magazines such as Essence, New Woman, Glamour and the teen magazines Seventeen, YM, and Teen. Teenage wearers are also the target of a TV spot currently running on MTV.
The campaigns feature a toll-free number that consumers can call to obtain a certificate to take to their eye care practitioner for a free pair of trial lenses. As of last month, Ciba logged more than 500,000 phone calls to the number.
In addition to receiving a free trial certificate, Mr. Sanderson said, consumers who call and do not already have a regular eye care practitioner will receive a list of practitioners in their area. "These are optometrists and ophthalmologists who have Ciba trial lenses and fitting sets to offer patients," he said.
This part of the campaign — bringing more patients into the office — is important to optometry and the contact lens industry, Mr. Sanderson said, as part of an "ongoing partnering process where we pull new patients into the office with our advertising and the doctor satisfies the patient's needs with the right solution to vision correction."
This type of partnering has not been done as often or as well as it could be by the contact lens industry, Mr. Sanderson said, because many manufacturers assumed that potential contact lens wearers already knew about the benefits and features of contact lenses.
"The reality is that patients don't know what's available," he said. "And conversely, most patients seem to be more aware of the theoretical disadvantages of contact lenses. There's a lot of misinformation in the consumers' minds, and the industry has to take the initiative to give them correct information."
So far, that approach is working, Mr. Sanderson said, and if Ciba is helping to build the business of optometry through national advertising, "We think it's a good thing and hope they think so, as well."
Vistakon promotes daily wear lens
When it comes to longevity in direct-to-consumer advertising, Vistakon (a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson) knows how to be in it for the long haul, as is evident with its Acuvue products. Since entering the market in 1987, Acuvue has been the focus of continuous direct-to-consumer campaigns. The same can be said of Vistakon's more recent product, its daily disposable 1-Day Acuvue (introduced in 1993), which is being heavily promoted on the national print side this year.
The campaigns target anyone between the ages of 18 and 50, with a slight edge toward appealing to more women than men. Vistakon did not release the size of its media budget for 1997.
Jim Callahan, Vistakon president, believes these long-term campaigns represent "a win-win situation, because they bring people into a doctor's office and build the practice, and we hope they ask for Acuvue to build our business."
Mr. Callahan said the goal of the print campaign for 1-Day Acuvue, which targets spectacle wearers, is to encourage people to try the lenses for part-time wear or for special occasions and sports. "Our research indicates that if we can get spectacle wearers to try 1-Day Acuvue, they'll like it so much that a significant percentage will increase their wearing time and eventually convert to full-time wear," he said.
The print ads emphasize the convenience of Vistakon's daily disposable lens and its role in good eye health.
The Acuvue lens has been the focus of, primarily, television advertising, which began in early February. And like Ciba and Bausch & Lomb, the ads contain a toll-free number consumers can call for a certificate for a free trial pair of Acuvue lenses.
Mr. Callahan said the company has tracked nearly 324,000 phone calls since the campaign began 6 months ago (excluding retail calls) and "that greatly exceeds our expectations." He also said the company's market research indicates 54% of the calls have come from contact lens wearers, 46% have come from spectacle wearers, and that 15% of the callers have scheduled an appointment with an eye care practitioner.
Callers who do not have a regular eye care doctor are also given a list of three eye care practitioners in their zip code. "We don't recommend one doctor over another, and we rotate the names in a given zip code so all doctors who have our trial lenses and fitting systems can participate," Mr. Callahan said. "We believe the doctor is important to us, and our position is to work with the doctor on eye health."
While he noted that the direct-to-consumer advertising campaigns have been erratic in the contact lens industry over the years, Mr. Callahan believes the more awareness the industry can generate among consumers, "the better off as an industry we'll be.
"While contact lens wear is increasing, we still have a lot of people who wear glasses or dropped out of lens wear," he said. "As an industry, we can advertise, drive more consumers into the doctor's office and then compete on the merits of our products."
Vistakon plans to start another multimillion-dollar campaign this month to introduce two enhancements: ultraviolet blocking and the addition of an inside-out mark on its lenses.
WJ endorses cosmetic lenses
According to Tom Steiner, vice president of marketing at Wesley Jessen, a clear indicator of the industry's commitment to consumer advertising is the number of dollars expended. He said data from an advertising agency show the total amount being spent currently on contact lens advertising in the United States by all manufacturers is approximately $40 million.
For its part, Wesley Jessen will spend in excess of $15 million to market its lenses this year. This includes a media budget of about $6 million in addition to promotions, cooperative advertising in local TV markets, point-of-sale materials, consumer rebates, posters and literature explaining the products.
"There's a very clear correlation in the industry indicating that you see growth in new fits in a particular category relative to the extent manufacturers advertise," he said. "When other manufacturers advertise, it helps everybody and just lifts, in general, the interest in contact lenses."
Wesley Jessen's consumer campaign is currently confined to its cosmetic contact lenses — the FreshLook disposable and DuraSoft colors lines. The company has advertised both products continuously since their launches in 1994 and 1987, respectively.
Primarily using national fashion magazines, such as Cosmopolitan, Glamour and Mademoiselle as its vehicles, Wesley Jessen's advertising targets women aged 15 to 35, the buyers, Mr. Steiner said, of 85% to 90% of cosmetic contact lenses today.
"We've found national magazines have a more focused audience, which we're trying to reach, and it also provides us the right environment to get across what is essentially the fashion message of these products," he said.
Well-known fashion model Christy Turlington headlines Wesley Jessen's print campaign, which encourages people "to consider eye color change as an everyday fashion alternative," Mr. Steiner said.
Wesley Jessen no longer publishes a toll-free number in its ads, he said, because the overwhelming response to a coupon for free trial lenses in 1994 indicated it was not cost-effective to track the responses. Current print ads encourage people to see their local eye care practitioners and include pull-out rebate cards that serve as a reminder.
Mr. Steiner said the success of consumer campaigns has helped the industry and eye care profession in terms of public awareness, education and interest.
While, historically, eye care practitioners may have felt that direct-to-consumer advertising usurped their power to recommend a particular lens, the reality, Mr. Steiner said, "is that advertising triggers an interest in a generic category of products, and the doctor finds it very easy, after evaluating patients, to switch them to whatever product is most suitable. The net effect is that advertising increases traffic."
History also shows, he continued, that the greatest spending periods in consumer advertising occur when there is new product activity — a pattern supported by this year's heavy rotation of print and television campaigns.
The key for practitioners, Mr. Steiner said, is to take advantage of all advertising aimed at contact lens wearers. "Nobody loses, and everybody wins," he said. "The trend of advertising will continue and, clearly over the long term, companies are committed to this as a necessary and effective way to grow the business."
For Your Information:
- Alcon is located at 6201 South Freeway, Fort Worth, TX 76134-2099; (817) 293-0450.
- John Hennessy may be contacted at Bausch & Lomb, 1400 N. Goodman Street, P.O. Box 450, Rochester, NY 14692-0450; (716) 338-8129.
- Dave Sanderson may be contacted at Ciba Vision, 11460 Johns Creek Pkwy., Duluth, GA 30155-1518; (770) 476-3937.
- Jim Callahan may be contacted at Vistakon, P.O. Box 10157, Jacksonville, FL 32247; (904) 443-1000.
- Tom Steiner may be contacted at Wesley Jessen, 333 East Howard Avenue, Des Plaines, IL 60018-5903; (847) 294-3000.