Serengeti Launches Rx Sun Program
Through Zeiss Lab Network
Bushnell Outdoor Products’ Serengeti unit has formed a partnership with Carl Zeiss Vision to promote a national prescription sunglass program throughout the Carl Zeiss Vision laboratory network. The exclusive agreement will enable both companies to offer a variety of customized prescription sun eyewear and to employ patented wrap lens technology, featuring the new exclusive NXT Polar PhD RX lens by Serengeti. NXT is a brand of Intercast Europe.
The national program will be offered through all 18 Carl Zeiss Vision labs and will include VSP orders. Carl Zeiss Vision already provides authentic original equipment glass prescription lenses for Serengeti eyewear.
“We are extremely excited to be named the exclusive provider of all Rx lenses for the Serengeti brand,” says Claude Labeeuw, vice president of marketing and business development for Carl Zeiss Vision North America. “Partnership with a leading sunglass brand like Serengeti aligns perfectly with the benefits offered by our lab network, including state-of-the-art lens designs, proprietary customization and manufacturing technology, practice-building and marketing support, and fast, reliable service.”
Dani LaGace, Serengeti's product and marketing director, adds, “The most important result of this partnership is giving key optical retailers exciting new products with clear aesthetic, performance and quality advantages.It helps that those new products are coming from two of the best-known and respected brands in the business.”
In a related move, LaGace says Bushnell has named Intercast Europe as the exclusive lens supplier for Serengeti’s NXT Polar PhD Global Prescription Sunglass program.
Serengeti is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bushnell Outdoor Products, based in Overland Park, Kan. NXT is a brand of Intercast Europe, a wholly owned subsidiary of PPG Industries.
Hoya, Cleinman Create Optometry
Student Grant Program
Hoya Vision Care, North America has created an optometry student grant program in conjunction with Cleinman Performance Partners, a business consultancy for large optometry practices.
Through the $250,000 Hoya/Cleinman Graduate Connections Grant Program, each of the 19 schools of optometry will receive an opportunity to present a unique workshop to students that will better prepare them for future ownership of private optometry practices. In addition, select third and fourth year optometry students will have the opportunity to participate, alongside the leaders of many of North America’s largest and most successful optometry practices, in Cleinman Performance Network (CPN), a division of Cleinman Performance Partners. CPN provides a unique long-term business development experience for the owners of large optometry practices. Twice per year these leaders meet in facilitated groups to exchange knowledge and develop new ideas about strategic, management and financial issues pertaining to their practices. The students who win a Graduate Connections Grant will receive the opportunity to experience a CPN meeting and will be introduced to the leaders of large optometry practices who are seeking associates, partners and successors. In addition to the student grant, a special education program will be delivered at the participating schools of optometry designed to prepare graduates for their involvement in leadership positions in private practice.
“Hoya is committed to the success of private practice and, in spite of the current economic climate, we are continuing our support of the Schools of Optometry with this significant investment. Our objective is to help to better prepare students for the business of optometry,” says Barney Dougher, president of Hoya North America.
Alan Cleinman, president of Cleinman Performance Partners, adds, “Through our 20 years of working with the leaders of
North America’s largest optometry practices, we have developed a deep understanding of the succession requirements of optometry practices. Critical to the succession process is identifying and recruiting optometrists with a unique combination of acumen and skills, both clinical and business. The Graduate Connections Grant Program will share our knowledge base with students, provide selected grant winners with the opportunity to learn directly from the leaders of large optometry practices and connect them to specific ownership opportunities.”
Transitions Plans
Contest for ECPs, Consumers
Transitions Optical launched a “Live Your Vision” promotion last month, designed “to create dialogue about the importance of eye health and the vital role vision plays in every day life,” according to the company. Transitions also plans a “Take Your Shot” game to reinforce the benefits of its lenses post-sale.
In the “Live Your Vision” contest, running through October 31, consumers and eyecare professionals illustrate how healthy eyesight allows them to realize their dreams by uploading a photo and caption to www.Transitions.com/liveyourvision. The photo should exemplify how they live their vision in their professional or personal lives.
Online voting will be used to identify the top 15 entries in both consumer and eyecare professional categories, which will move on to the judging phase. Judges will select one grand prize winner and four finalists in each category, based on the photo’s demonstration of how the entrant “lives their vision,” not just on photo quality alone. Grand prize winners receive a $10,000 prize and will choose a charity to receive a $10,000 donation from Transitions; finalists get $1,000.
“This program should encourage consumers to think about how important their vision is and ultimately talk to their ECP about ways to protect and keep eyesight healthy,” says Rose Wallace, Transitions’ marketing manager, channel marketing.
To continue the dialogue about healthy sight once a patient has made a purchase, Transitions is sponsoring “Take Your Shot,” an instant-win game open to participants with a valid Certificate of Authenticity (COA) from Transitions. Consumers who register their Transitions lenses using their COA can play an interactive instant-win game offering $100 daily prizes. Additionally, each time an ECP location or a customer registers for the promotion, a donation will be made to a charity supported by the Transitions Healthy Sight for Life Fund.
