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June 12, 2023June 9, 2023

Transitions Academy 2023 Showcases “Lights on Tomorrow”

Transitions Academy 2023 brought together over 1,100 industry experts from 50 countries around the world at the J.W. Marriott Grande Lakes in Orlando, Fla. The three-day event themed “Lights on Tomorrow” provided industry professionals with the opportunity to expand their knowledge through expert presentations, inspiring guest speakers, and Transitions^® product and professional development workshops. The winners of the 2022 Transitions Innovation Awards were also announced during the event.

“Transitions Academy is always such an inspirational, high energy and happy moment bringing together forever fans and first timers from all over the world,” said Chrystel Barranger, president, Transitions Optical, and EssilorLuxottica Professional Solutions EMEA. “Today, the change acceleration is so fast, the tech disruption is so impressive that we wonder what tomorrow will be made of. That’s why we have chosen to put a light on tomorrow, to see the possibility and best foresee our next moves.”

Transitions and industry experts shined “Lights on Tomorrow” exploring the latest in the science of light, new color attitude, style avant-garde with the perfect pair, the future of phygital technology and learning and focused eyes on the planet and sustainability. Other speakers included:

Federico Buffa, director, R&D and Product Development, EssilorLuxottica
Brian O’Neill, vice president, Global Innovation, Technology & Operations, Transitions
Coralie Barrau, innovation manager, R&D Light Management, EssilorLuxottica
Jérôme Butez, vice president, Global Marketing, Transitions
Tod Schulman, creative director, Pantone Color Institute
Fahem Ben Messaoud, vice president, Global Digital, Business Innovation, E-commerce and IT, Transitions
Denis Cohen-Tannoudji, senior vice president, Emerging Technologies, EssilorLuxottica
Chris King, director, Education, Global Marketing, Transitions
Isabelle Dekker, director, Business Development, Transitions
Adrian Gleeson, director, Global Operations, Transitions

Throughout the two days, breakout courses were offered including:

Transitions Glow Up: Lights on Customer Experience, Brooke Carrasco, O.D., EssilorLuxottica; Bidisha Rudra, Ph.D, M.A., senior managing director, Transitions commercial sales; Stephen Tackett, director, NAM channel, Transitions. This course showed how to Glow Up a practice by providing a complete picture of the education/training, in-store and digital merchandising tools that Transitions offers to create an elevated customer experience.
Transitions Light Expert: Lights on Vision, Joshua Hazel, instrumentation technical services manager, Transitions; Pete Kehoe, O.D., Kehoe Eye Care; Lucie Laborne, global associate director, innovation marketing, Transitions. Attendees gained a deeper understanding of how light affects patients’ visual experiences, the underlying science behind these interactions, and how Transitions provides the innovative light management solutions your patients need.
Transitions Stylist: Lights on the Perfect Pair, Chris King, marketing director, global education, Transitions; Jean-Gabriel Causse, writer, artist and designer, international specialist in color; Agnieszka Dubas, global brand experience manager, Transitions; Lucile Van Deuren, global associate director, brand activation & events, Transitions. Attendees explored how colors influence our daily lives and discovered the power of Transitions as the center of the perfect pair—combining color, vision experience, protection and style—learning how to become a Transitions Stylist—an expert on creating flair for the perfect pair.
The Transitions Brand Experience immersed attendees in Transitions products, the latest technologies, in-store experience and educational resources.
Lights On Data: Making Numbers Come Alive, Shawn Devine, senior and master facilitator, Training Edge, explored the importance of understanding what data means and how to create an “audience-centric” story to make numbers come alive.
Lights on Building an Effective Team Dynamic, Rebecca Armacost, executive coach, expert facilitator, and senior faculty member, Leadership Development Institute at Eckerd College. This session explored what it means to “play to our strengths” and to learn what is right with us. The process of identifying strengths is the smallest thing we can do to make the biggest difference in productivity and fulfillment for individuals, teams and organizations.

Monday’s session concluded with a keynote “Light the Future: The Age of Infinity,” from disruption strategist Shawn Kanungo. Kanungo provided an optimistic roadmap for the future. He explored how we can take unexpected approaches to innovation, leveraging it to transform the way we communicate, collaborate, and revolutionize our industry.

Transitions Academy opened Tuesday morning with Chrystel Barranger hosting a talk with industry leaders including:

Ernesto Diaz, president, Wholesale LATAM, EssilorLuxottica
Sherianne James, chief marketing officer, senior vice president, Wholesale North America, EssilorLuottica
Igor Loshak, vice president, International Sales and Marketing, Younger Optics
Fabrizio Ugozzoni, president, Wholesale North American, EssilorLuxottica

Anne-Sophie Carena, brand director, Global Marketing, Transitions and Rose Harris, senior director, North America Marketing, Transitions continued the general session by sharing key consumer and eyecare insights, showing how Transitions can be a strong partner to unleash the endless possibilities of the future.

Jacob Mann, director, National Retail Sales North America, Transitions, along with Transitions Academy host Miriam Isa, brought those insights into focus with personal stories and best practices from eyecare professionals from around the world in a talk show session “Lights On You,” featuring:

Laurent Dosseville, commercial director, Europe, Transitions
Didier Rosset, opticien, Rosset Opticiens, France
Dr. Keith Smithson, optometrist, Norther Virginia Doctors of Optometry, and co-founder and partner, Sports Vision Pros, U.S.
Chiara Pastorelli, Pastorelli Ottico, Italy

Camelia Hammiche, New Look, Canada

Tuesday’s curriculum concluded with a keynote from Michelle Poler, entrepreneur, brand strategist, author and founder of Hello Fears. Poler’s keynote, “Fear Less, Do More,” changed perceptions of fear and inspired action by learning how to prioritize and negotiate with our needs. Later that evening, Drew Smith, senior director, North America Channels Transitions and Miriam Isa lead the 2022 Transitions Innovation Awards ceremony, where the winners were announced.

Click HERE for the press release.

June 12, 2023May 10, 2023

Contact Lens Pricing Strategies for Today’s Consumer

By Dr. Trevor Miranda, OD

The modern consumer is egocentric. By that, I mean that they generally make purchases based on what is best for them, not what is best for the retailer.

A wise Optical Owner once told me that I wasn’t magic! How dare he dash my dreams of one day becoming a magician?! “You can’t make people buy from you.” He continued, “people will buy if they think it’s in their best interest to buy from you, so go ahead and take your shot by making your pitch.”

The Current Reality

Today’s contact lens consumer is bombarded with online offers to purchase contact lenses directly. Clearly Contacts and other online retailers invest heavily to attract your contact lens patient into their online channel. At Kits, the online retailer’s fastest growing retail segment is a contact lens subscription that is taking your patient out of your purchasing channel for an average of 10 years (extrapolated based on European stats). Canadian studies have shown that a contact lens patient makes 2.9 purchases per year. Is this consumer using their friendly neighbourhood ECP, a convenient Big Box store, or online retailer to fulfill these purchases? Another industry statistic shows that less than 25% of patients in an optometrist office purchase annual supplies of contact lenses and the redemption rate of massive consumer rebates is less than 50%.

Contact Lens Pricing Strategies:

The Annual Supply: Many contact lens companies offer rebates and train our teams to recommend annual supplies of contact lenses. This allows the consumer to tap into “the lowest price after rebate.” There are quite a few flaws in this strategy:

Most patients do not require or want to buy an annual supply of contacts.
Rebates are a hassle factor and are not universally redeemed. The sticker price is artificially high and can be a shock and disincentive to purchase, rebates also require the patient to do some math to figure out if it is a “good deal” or not.
Many Optometrists are compensated on a percentage of gross sales basis. The inflated price is overly expensive to the clinic owners, as that initial higher dollar amount paid potentially reduces overall profitability to the clinic.
The rebates change, often quarterly, and the office staff needs to constantly update price quote sheets to keep up to date pricing.
Pricing is often tiered so smaller purchase increments are not competitively priced.

Per Box Pricing: The easiest way for a consumer to understand and compare pricing is on a per box basis. It is challenging for ECPs to flat price per box because of better incentives to sell larger amounts resulting in better pricing to the owners and thus better profit margins. There are, however, ways to implement this strategy in a way that is staff and consumer friendly:

Negotiate with your Contact Lens Manufacturers for instant rebates or no rebates with better wholesale pricing on the lenses.
Consider a small contact lens inventory where you buy “smartly” in increments that give you the best pricing and thus enabling flat per box pricing without reducing your margins.

Subscription: Studies have shown that many Canadians view contact lenses as an unaffordable luxury purchase. The sticker price keeps them from taking the plunge into full time contact lens wear. The world has moved to subscription: Services such as Netflix, gym memberships, wine clubs and, I have even heard of subscription toilet paper, are now the norm and accepted by the modern-day consumer. This allows contacts lens purchases to be considered as “sunk costs” thus making available money to purchase other items such as sunglasses or multiple pairs of glasses. Here are some advantages of subscription contact lenses:

Affordable consistent monthly payments that reduce sticker shock.
The ability to consolidate a receipt to tap into insurance coverage.
Auto-preparation for rebate submissions.
“Stickiness factor” – On average a patient stays on contact lens subscriptions for 9.9 years in Europe.

Web Stores: The pandemic drove many ECPs to develop an e-commerce strategy. While allowing the convenience of shopping at your clinic/store 24/7 is great, it has also led to some unintended consequences for some offices. Here are some e-commerce tips:

Your online store offering should mirror your in-office offering. If you offer a sale online ensure you promote it in store.
Inform your current patients of this convenience. Unless you spend money to elevate your search ranking, the bigger online players will appear first. You might be unwittingly pushing your patient to be crawled by bots on the Internet and potentially taken out of your channels by Clearly and other online players.
Make it easy to navigate and order online.
Offer direct to patient delivery. Many manufacturers are still offering free delivery.

The Secret Sauce:

Keys to Successful Contact lens Sales:

The doctors and ECPs need to approve the wearing of fitted contact lenses. Let the patient know that you have great pricing on contact lenses before the hand off to the optician or dispenser. A confident word from the doctor that buying from your practice goes a long way and is in the best interest of the patient.
Ensure that per box pricing is competitive. Be aware that patients will Google the brand and immediately compare pricing from online retailers.
Consider fitting brands that are ECP exclusive or “channel protected”
Partner with manufacturers that give you the best margins while also making future purchases from your office more likely.
Everyone approved for contact lenses should leave with a contact lens quote even if they are determined to buy from another source. The quote should include a per box price and a per month subscription price.

Good luck prescribing contact lenses and retaining your patients!

Check out Dr. Miranda’s article in the May-June issue of Optik Magazine!

June 8, 2023May 10, 2023

A Shady Past: The History of Sunglasses

By Sarah Bureau, RO

The earliest known sunglasses were crafted by the Inuit people by carving a slit into a piece of bone and fastening it tightly in front of their eyes using leather strapping. Soot and gunpowder were often rubbed onto the bone to further reduce reflections. This creation both shielded their eyes from the bright sun and the snow’s reflected light and sharpened their vision as they scanned the horizon during hunting.

We’ve come a long way since this very early invention, with lenses designed for nearly every function we can think of, advances in technology, and even the recent addition of electronics!

Between the 13^th and 18^th century, eyewear fluctuated between being a symbol of disability to an indication of wealth and stature in the Renaissance period. The craftsmanship of opticians also evolved from using natural materials like horn and tortoiseshell to rolled metals and from basic reading lenses to more complex optics such as multifocals.

The history of sunglasses includes The Roman Emperor Nero who was said to have worn polished gemstones to reduce sunlight while viewing Gladiator matches and 12^th century Chinese magistrates who chose to wear tinted panes of smoke tinted quartz to hide their expressions during court proceedings.

As we entered the 18^th century, eyewear began to take the shape of what we now dispense daily, with lenses mounted into metal chassis with wire extending over the ear to hold them in place. At this time, a man named James Ayscough speculated that coloured lenses would help with specific visual impairments and began experimenting with green and blue tinted glass as a way to improve the wearer’s vision. The first examples of tinted lenses being prescribed for therapy were in the 20^th century when yellow and brown lenses were recommended to patients suffering from photophobia caused by syphilis.

Our modern use of sunglasses, and the fashion and status symbol they now represent, really came into vogue when celebrities started sporting sunwear as Hollywood became the epicenter of film making in the 1920s. With beautiful weather nearly year-round, Hollywood celebrities needed to protect their eyes from the sun during their film shoots. With the paparazzi publishing photos around the world of the actors on set, this became the perfect marketing tool for sunglasses to have their shining debut in the fashion world.

Innovation in motorcars and airplanes began to expand in the 20^th century and the need for protective eyewear to be used in open cockpits and convertibles at these new high speeds emerged. Eyewear became larger in size and incorporated protective side shields. As technology advanced with enclosed cockpits, the need for side shields to protect the eyes was no longer necessary and the U.S. Army Air Corps introduced the first iteration of the aviator sunglasses in 1941, a style which is just as popular worldwide today as it was then. These sunglasses became a symbol of heroism during the Second World War and were proudly worn by the public as well as the armed forces. Before the War, plastic eyewear was made of celluloid which had many drawbacks, including its lack of durability and potential to explode with heat. As materials such as rubber became more scarce, new technology in plastic production became necessary. Previously, eyewear designers focused on making the celluloid material look like the traditional horn and tortoiseshell patterning of the past, but the new use of plastics for a wide variety of manufacturing ushered in a new era of fashionable colours and patterns being embraced.

The end of the Second World War heralded the beginning of sunglasses being the fashion accessory they are today. As the world rebounded from the depression, poverty and shortages the war created, the public began to celebrate by embracing little luxuries in their lives. Simultaneously, as the hairstyles of modern women began to change, the need for ornate hair combs diminished. The artisans who crafted the beautiful hair combs of the past transitioned their skill set into creating stunning and ornate eyewear with elaborate designs and contemporary colours. Inexpensive sunglasses also became accessible to the masses as they started to be sold in local shops and pharmacies. It was at this time that marketing geniuses introduced collaborations with fashion houses to conceive branded eyewear that paid out a percentage of sales in exchange for using the fashion house’s name with their designs. The development and success of those early partnerships are the backbones of what has become the massive market that proliferates the industry now.

A special thanks to the research and publication of “Eyewear A Visual History” by Moss Lipow. I recommend this gem of a book to any optical nerd like me!

Check out Sarah’s article in the May-June issue of Optik magazine!

June 8, 2023June 7, 2023

HOYA Vision Care Announces Promotions of Sherry Klassen and Christina Ferrari

HOYA Vision Care announces the promotions of Christina Ferrari and Sherry Klassen within the company. Their extensive experience, unwavering dedication, and exceptional contributions have led them to ascend to the positions of Director of Western Canada and Director of Eastern Canada, respectively, solidifying their roles as integral members of HOYA’s sales organization.

With an impressive tenure at HOYA, Christina Ferrari has made significant contributions to the optical industry, showcasing her analytical expertise and strategic methods. Christina advances to the role of Director of Eastern Canada, where she will leverage her wealth of experience to drive strategic initiatives, strengthen customer relationships, and position HOYA as a leader in the eastern region.

Sherry Klassen is considered by her customers as a highly regarded partner for over two decades. Since joining HOYA Vision Care in 2005, Sherry has consistently demonstrated her resourcefulness as a Regional Sales Manager, spearheading numerous successful initiatives and driving exceptional sales results. Her outstanding performance, coupled with her natural leadership abilities, has earned her promotion to the position of Director of Western Canada.

Steven Haifawi, President of HOYA Vision Care Canada said, “Christina and Sherry have continually gone above and beyond in their dedication to serving both our valued customers and fellow colleagues. Their commitment and year- over-year successes have not gone unnoticed. Their promotions will empower them to have an even greater impact. We congratulate them and look forward to their continued contributions to both our customers and HOYA.”

Click HERE for the full press release.

June 7, 2023June 6, 2023

CORE Shares Myopia, Dry Eye, Contact Lens Comfort, and Foundational Research at BCLA Conference

A team of researchers and educators from the Centre for Ocular Research & Education (CORE) will present multiple insights this coming week at the 2023 BCLA Clinical Conference. Spanning 11 lectures, paper presentations, and scientific posters, their findings and guidance will include topics such as myopia, dry eye, and contact lens comfort.

The 2023 BCLA Clinical Conference and Exhibition takes place from June 9-11. Nearly 1,000 attendees from around the world are expected to attend.

“CORE’s participation in the BCLA this year exemplifies how we collaborate with sponsors and peers to advance biosciences, clinical research and education—work that is not only intriguing, but has real application with practices and patients,” said Lyndon Jones, FBLCA, CORE’s director.

Myopia management has dominated conference proceedings of late, and it’s the same at this year’s BCLA. CORE Lead Clinical Scientist Debbie Jones, FBCLA, will moderate a panel discussion on managing a myopic patient’s contact lens journey, then present a paper on young adult acceptance of a dual focus soft contact lens.

CORE Head of Clinical Research Jill Woods, FBCLA, joins her to offer a hands-on, 90-minute workshop that will review multifunction instruments for myopia management. Posters on new software for ortho-k fitting success and visual performance of myopia control soft lenses will be presented by CORE Senior Clinical Scientist Doerte Luensmann and CORE Data, Statistics & Website Manager Sarah Guthrie, respectively.

Lyndon Jones is delivering six lectures across all three days, co-presenting with industry sponsors and academic peers on comfort opportunities, clinical myths, presbyopia, and lifestyle impact on the ocular surface. Alongside Professors Jennifer Craig and James Wolffsohn, he will demonstrate the new Dry Eye Wheel, developed in conjunction with the World Council of Optometry.

Dr. Jones will close out BCLA with a discussion of CORE’s fabrication of a microfluidic chip for drug delivery and ocular cytotoxicity evaluation—a breakthrough that attracted substantial attention at the recent ARVO meeting in New Orleans.

Source: Centre for Ocular Research & Education (CORE)