Nov
2005

Up Front

Lord of the Eyes
Persol and Ray-Ban shared equal billing in the new action/adventure flick “Lord of War” that was released in theaters early fall. Starring Nicolas Cage, Jared Leto, Bridget Moynahan and Ethan Hawke, the Luxottica brands were selected to help support each of the characters’ individual style. Nicolas Cage sports Persol PO 2679S sunglasses in both black and tort, the Ray-Ban Predator Wrap (RB 2027) and the Ray-Ban Wayfarer (RB 2113) both in black. Ethan Hawke wears Persol PO 2140S and Persol PO 2679S both in black while Bridget Moynahan wears Persol PO 2694S in black. Jared Leto wears the Ray-Ban Aviator (RB 3025 in gold).
—Jackie Micucci

 
 

Eyewear for Life

Building on the success of its “Change Your Look, Change Your Life” Titan Minimal Art promotion, Silhouette is kicking off a new promo: “change your look. win for life,” which began last month. Eyecare professionals, including store owners and staff, are eligible to win an all-expense-paid trip to either Austria, home of Silhouette, or the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Consumers entering the contest can win Silhouette eyewear for life. The promotion runs through March 15, 2006.

To be eligible, ECPs and staff may either give their customers an official entry form or direct them to the www.silhouettestories.com web site to enter. Entrants must submit a story based on their experience with or knowledge of Silhouette Titan Minimal Art glasses. They will be judged on creativity and originality relating to an experience with the glasses, an explanation of the relationship they have with their eyewear and/or an explanation of the benefits and capabilities the entrant has experienced with their eyewear. Photos of the entrant with their eyewear may be submitted but is not required and will not affect judging. Only one submission per consumer is valid. ECPs will be entered for each time one of their customers participates.

To support the promotion a number of merchandising materials are available including in-store posters, countercards, promotion buttons for staff, postcards for consumers, entry forms and business cards.
More info is available at www.silhouettestories.com or by calling Silhouette at (800) 223-0180. —JM

 

 





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TV party— Sàfilo shades were among the goodies being given to celebrities at the Emmys in the HBO Luxury Lounge. Sporting their new sunglasses are: Emmy winner William Shatner (1) of “Boston Legal” in Valentino 1150; Mariska Hargitay (2) of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” in Ralph Lauren 907US; “Six Feet Under” stars Freddy Rodriguez (3) in Marc Jacobs MJ 022S and Kathy Bates (4) in Stella McCartney 27S; and comedian/political pundit Bill Maher (5) in Burberry B9441S… Super girl — Kate Bosworth (6) as Lois Lane wears Oliver Peoples’ Damone in the latest Superman flick due out next summer entitled, “Superman Returns”… Desperate Woman — Felicity Huffman (7) , who recently won an Emmy for her character in ABC’s “Desperate Housewives,” wears MICHAEL by Michael Kors, M2412 from Marchon… Transformer — Here is Willem Dafoe (8) being transformed for his role in the movie, “American Dreamz,” a satire about American politics and show business. Dafoe’s character will be wearing Izod 326 from ClearVision throughout the film, which also co-stars Hugh Grant. The movie is set to be released in late 2006… Heads up — Rosanna Arquette (9) with a pair of Christian Roth sunglasses, style CR14228 from Charmant perched on top of her head… Eye Canada! — Celebs at the Toronto Film Festival received sunwear courtesy of Sàfilo at the Solstice Sunglass Boutique in the Luxury Lounge. Among them: Melissa Leo (10) in Kate Spade Kinsey S, Alan Cumming (11) in Alexander McQueen 4002S and Keira Knightley (12) in Ralph Lauren 906S. —JM

   
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  Le Voyage Fantastique

 

 

 
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It was six days of sightseeing, wine, food and fun for some 400 guests hosted by Essilor of America for its “Picture Paris!” promotion award-winners and their guests in the City of Lights.

One hundred ECPs, representatives from 50 independent labs and 50 Essilor winners were among those enjoying the sights, sounds and landmarks of Paris and the neighboring region. Guests took boat rides on the Seine, toured the Loire Valley and Versailles castle and topped off the trip with a lively masquerade ball, complete with period-style costumes provided to the winners.

To win, ECPs set growth goals and received points for sales of Varilux products including: Varilux Panamic, Varilux Comfort, Varilux Ellipse, Varilux Liberty and Crizal and Crizal Alizé. Along with the trip to Paris, award points were redeemable in a special “Picture Paris!” prize catalog. In addition to the trip winners, more than 1,700 participating ECPs won other prizes, such as Sony DVD Camcorders and Nike CPR Combo Golf Sets.
1. Essilor’s PJ Downes in the midst of many “Napoleons” at the costume ball. 2. Essilor’s Bob Colucci, center, with Picture Paris winners, Dr. Tom Annuziato and wife, Dr. John Coble and wife and Dr. Craig Hughes and wife. 3. Essilor’s Mike Daley, with his wife, Kathy, right, and Essilor’s Diane Gillis, left. 4. On a tour of the French countryside, Bob Colucci, left, takes a moment with Luzerne Optical’s Jack Dougherty and his wife, Lorraine. 5. Outside Paris’ Luxembourg Palace, from left: JulieAnne Sas-Szmczak, Essilor Brand winner (2nd from left) with Wendy Shoman, Central Optical and
Dr. Dorothy Bell, ECP winner and guests. 6. Some guests chose to bike through Paris… 7. At the Cordon Bleu school, from left: Tim Steffey (Sunstar Optical), Scott Fong (Phelps Optical), Chris Schultz (ELOA), Steve Bailey (ELOA) and other guests test their cooking skills at the famous culinary arts institute.

 
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  Taking Care of Business

Business was booming in the Suites and Galleria during Vision Expo West in Las Vegas. The setting seemed to be appreciated too, by the participating vendors. But don’t take our word for it… “This kind of hybridized convention style has been very successful for us annually and this year was no exception,” says Katie O’Connell, international sales director for l.a.Eyeworks. “The suites are a great opportunity to be with our clients in a more intimate setting. We can spend more time and be more focused on each sales meeting. We love that… and that we can share our favorite music.” Next month, 20/20 is paying special attention to this “suite” success in a cover feature devoted to this growing segment of the eyewear mix.

—JM


In the Galleria, Silhouette’s Christie Rudolph and Carol Norbeck, with Danielle Scott and Krystal Lawrence both of Clarkson Eyecare of St. Louis.

Alain Mikli’s Gloria Maccaroni is flanked by Arnie and Marvin Freeman of Vegas’s own Davante.

The desert sun was the perfect backdrop for Sama’s David Drummond to show off the latest sun offerings to Dawn Lerner and Mark Jensen of Edward Beiner, with locations in Florida.

 


  In-Klein-Nation

Some strategically designed eyewear (and a touch of the right makeup) can certainly make an age of difference. Just study the designated look from these two photos as designed into the visual message from Marchon’s CD/Image presentations for Calvin Klein and CK. The “medium” of this “message” is “HOT”… a pure case of timely-yet-timeless eyewear marketing at its best.

—James J. Spina




  By George

Silhouette welcomed about 100 independent optical retailers to the Sagamore Resort in Upstate New York last month for an intensive, two-day optical symposium. Set against the beautiful autumnal backdrop of Lake George, participants were treated to an interesting mix of medical and marketing advice from a team of international experts specially selected by Silhouette. In his opening remarks, Arnold Schmied (below, center), president of Silhouette, referred to the weekend participants as “entrepreneurs and our business partners dedicated to excellence.” He said one of the symposium’s goals was “to create an understanding and excitement about the opportunities available to today’s ECPs, ranging from the huge customer potential of 78 million Baby Boomers needing eyewear [including sunwear] to the need to protect eyes from more than just UV light.” Presentation highlights included: “Guiding Principles for Practice Excellence” by Manfried Schmidt of the Institut fur Markentechnik in Geneva, “Compelling Scientific Evidence Affecting Patient Care” by Dr. James Dillon, Columbia University and Dr. Andreas Wenzel, Zurich and “Retail Marketing” by Prof. Gino Ossel of Belgium. Evening activities included dinner and a wine tasting featuring an Austrian vintner as well as an appearance by astronaut Marsha S. Ivins, who gave a presentation about her experiences aboard the space shuttle.
The weekend symposium was only the first step in a continuing program that Silhouette hopes to expand upon next year.

—Mary Kane



  Mysterious Ways

Mystery and intrigue should not be a part of the eyecare practice. To help ECPs evaluate how patients truly view their level of service, Examine Your Practice has introduced the concept of “mystery shoppers” to the medical community. Long used as a way to evaluate retail customer service, Examine Your Practice takes an in-depth look at a practice through the eyes of the patient from the first phone call to make an appointment through the entire exam process to follow up. “Sixty-eight percent of patients who leave a practice say it’s because of poor service, usually at the front desk,” says Jodi Manfredi, president and founder of Examine Your Practice, which has been operating since January. “Our mystery shoppers evaluate such things as ambience, cleanliness, friendliness, knowledge and waiting time.” The mystery shoppers are employed by Examine Your Practice, trained in observation skills and come from a variety of demographics. “We have a database of more than 600 shoppers,” notes Manfredi. Manfredi, whose background is in the dental and medical industries, says she came up with the concept after speaking to a dentist who confessed his practice was losing patients and he just couldn’t figure out why. “I couldn’t believe no one in the medical community was offering a mystery shopper service,” says Manfredi. “I Googled it to death and found nothing.” Thus, Examine Your Practice was born.

—JM



  Lens Marketing

It’s New From Seiko: Dispensing Mat, Web Site — Seiko Optical Products of America is introducing a new lens thickness comparison dispensing mat for its 1.67 lens product line. “With this dispensing aid, eyecare professionals can show their patients how attractively thin the edges of a Seiko high-index lens will be when placed in a selected frame,” says Craig Fahan, Seiko’s advertising manager. “The new dispensing mat reinforces Seiko’s ‘Perfect Pair’ ad campaign, featuring an image of an attractive model wearing Seiko’s popular Lithe T463 rimless frame.” In addition, Seiko and its Pentax Vision division have launched a new and improved integrated web site at www.seikoeyewear.com. Site features include a “what’s new” page to announce new products, features and promotions for all divisions. Each product page provides pop-up technical information on products, as well as downloadable literature in Acrobat PDF format. The “Free CE” page now offers 13 free continuing education courses.

Indy Labs to Produce CZV Teflon Lenses — Carl Zeiss Vision (CZV) is significantly expanding distribution of its Teflon Clear Coat lenses to include independent wholesale labs. The company has authorized four labs to produce the lenses in-house: Expert Optics of Shorewood, Ill.; Cherry Optical of Melvindale, Mich.; Three Rivers Optical of Pittsburgh and Robertson Optical of Loganville, Ga. This follows the recent launch of Teflon Clear Coat lenses at CZV-owned Northeast Lens in Newton, Mass. CZV, in conjunction with these labs, recently hosted launch celebrations at Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, Mass., Adler Planetarium, Chicago; Roostertail Entertainment Complex, Detroit; Sheraton Station Square, Pittsburgh and the Academy of Medicine, Atlanta. At each event, the audience was treated to dinner, refreshments, entertainment and a presentation about marketing plans for Teflon Clear Coat lenses. CZV is supporting the launches with local consumer advertising, including television and print, depending upon the market. The four independent wholesale labs join CZV-owned labs Laser Optics in Tempe, Ariz., Great Lakes Coating Lab in Troy, Mich and SOLA Technologies in Hebron, Ky. as on-site producers of Teflon Clear Coat lenses.

 





 

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