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June 18, 2020June 18, 2020

CooperVision Names Simon Seshadri to Lead Global Marketing

CooperVision has named Simon Seshadri as Senior Vice President, Global Marketing, effective immediately. He is responsible for executive leadership and management for the company’s Global Marketing organization, including driving product pipeline innovation and advancing standards for inbound and outbound marketing functions.

Seshadri was most recently CooperVision’s Vice President of Marketing, North America, where he also led commercial activation across key customer groups. He joined the company in 2014 as Senior Director, Global Brand Marketing for frequent replacement products, and was instrumental in introducing the Biofinity Energys^® and Avaira Vitality^™ contact lens brands. Prior to that, he served in international marketing roles with GE Healthcare and Bausch & Lomb, as well as working for Philips Consumer Lifestyle in Japan and North America and Boots Healthcare in the United Kingdom and Japan.

“Simon has worked on multinational brand programs within eye health, as well as outside the category with highly respected healthcare products including Sonicare, Clearasil, and Strepsils. These all required precise navigation of the business-to-provider-to-consumer model and an intimate understanding of healthcare professionals’ and consumers’ varying needs. His globally influenced vision and experiences will strengthen our partnerships with the eye care profession and spark additional market growth,” said Jerry Warner, Executive Vice President and President, Americas and Commercial Functions at CooperVision.

Seshadri earned his MBA from the London Business School and a Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing) from the University of British Columbia. He resides with his family in Pleasanton, Calif. and remains based at CooperVision’s headquarters in San Ramon, Calif.

He succeeds Guy Whittaker, who earlier this year was promoted to the position of CooperVision’s Senior Vice President, Global Strategy and Lifecycle Management.

Click HERE for the full press release.

June 17, 2020June 15, 2020

Mood Eyewear Redefines Its Work Methods

The team at Mood Eyewear has worked since mid-March to define new internal guidelines and for external visits at optical offices. Hygiene, protection and disinfection of materials is key. Here is the action plan:

At the distribution centre:

– Superior hygiene measures to ensure safe handling of products.

– Social distancing in the office to prevent transmission of the virus.

– Employees will work at alternate times to respect social distancing measures requested by various levels of government.

– Scheduling visits in advance if a client needs to come to the office.

– Changes to returning goods to further protect employees.

During future visits to locations, the representatives will:

– Move to appointment-only visits.

– Respect and follow all health and safety protocols from each location.

– Wear a mask and ask that the client also wears one.

– Wear gloves if the representative is unable to wash their hands at the location.

– All people handling frames will be asked to wash their hands before touching the frames.

– Disinfect each frame before and after it is tried on.

– Be as efficient as possible.

– Offer enhanced billing terms, for a limited period, to allow locations to restart sales.

– Schedule virtual meetings to show collections, if preferred.

Click HERE for the full press release.

June 16, 2020June 15, 2020

CooperVision MiSight® 1 day Success Helps Our Children’s Vision Achieve Its 2019 Goals

As pediatric myopia increases globally in prevalence and severity, CooperVision remains committed to supporting programs, such as Our Children’s Vision implemented by the Brien Holden Foundation, that prioritize children’s eye health. Over the last three years, CooperVision has donated a percentage of its MiSight^® 1 day contact lens sales to the program. This continued support alongside others has helped Our Children’s Vision meet and exceed significant milestones over the past year.

In its recently released Annual Impact Report, Our Children’s Vision outlined recent achievements. The program:

Provided vision services such as screenings and referrals to 5,158,556 children in total – 2.1 million more children than its annual target.
Gave low cost or free spectacles or low vision devices to 468,978 children – 68,000 more than its annual target.
Delivered specialty optometrist training to 1,138 students and other supporting staff in countries where they have emerging optometry school residents.
Finalized the Child Eye Health Teacher Training Manual to inform partners and supporting staff engaged in delivery of services to children.
Established child eye health working groups in Australia and Vietnam.
Advocated for policy change to include school eye health in the national health plan of targeted countries, including Cambodia.

“From the newly issued report, it’s clear that Our Children’s Vision is reaching more children and providing greater access to eye health services in underserved communities than ever before,” said James Gardner, Vice President, Global Myopia Management, CooperVision. “We are proud of their achievements, made possible in part through our financial assistance from MiSight^® 1 day contact lens sales. We look forward to continuing to support the program as we all band together to help manage the myopia public health epidemic.”

CooperVision has contributed more than US$300,000 from its global MiSight^® sales to Our Children’s Vision to date.

Click HERE for the full press release.

June 15, 2020June 15, 2020

New Look Vision Announces the Completion of New Financing Arrangements

New Look Vision Group announced the finalization of new financing arrangements for $40 million.

With an initial investment in 2013, Fonds de solidarité FTQ (the “Fonds”) reaffirms its confidence in the Company by investing an additional $40 million. The credit facility granted to New Look Vision is part of the Fonds’ plan to support Quebec businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Antoine Amiel, President and CEO of New Look Vision, stated: “Our rapid response to the crisis was centered primarily on the safety and well-being of our employees, associates and clients. This additional investment is part of the financial arrangements we made early in the crisis to ensure our financial autonomy and our ability to resume external growth as early as possible.”

“New Look is well positioned for economic recovery despite the many challenges caused by these exceptional circumstances. The credit facility granted by the Fund provides the Company with the necessary leeway to ensure its growth,” continued Daniel Hinse, Vice-President, Investments, Entertainment and Consumer Products of the Fonds.

New Look Vision showed its solidarity towards healthcare professionals during the coronavirus crisis by launching the “Guardian Angels” program, providing hospital personnel the opportunity to replace broken eyewear quickly. Several thousand pairs, mainly in the greater Montreal area, were distributed including safety glasses.

The gradual store reopening started on May 4 in line with local and professional regulations. Ahead of reopening stores, the Company issued stringent health and safety procedures, undertook extensive training in the form of in-store rehearsals and is providing each location with prescribed PPE.

Click HERE for the full press release.

June 15, 2020June 15, 2020

The Vision Council Promotes National Sunglasses Day on June 27

The Vision Council is promoting the importance of ultraviolet (UV)-protective eyewear through the celebration of National Sunglasses Day, taking place Saturday, June 27. The annual day of recognition reminds consumers that wearing sunglasses is not only fashionable, but also a health necessity to protect the eyes from long- and short-term damage from the sun’s harsh UV rays.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt the lives of millions, a recent Google Community Mobility Report indicates that activity in outdoor places like national parks, public beaches, dog parks, plazas and public gardens is up 52%, which means it is more important than ever to promote the importance of protecting one’s eyes from exposure to harmful UV rays.

The Vision Council encourages members the industry at large to participate in National Sunglasses Day by posting on social media channels using the official hashtags, #SunglassesSelfie and #NationalSunglassesDay, and tagging @TheVisionCouncil on Facebook and Instagram and @OpticalIndustry on Twitter. The Vision Council has created downloadable marketing assets, including sample social media graphics and posts, web banners, posters, logos and more. For access to the materials, visit nationalsunglassesday.com.

The Vision Council also encourages eyecare providers to engage their patients in discussions about healthy vision maintenance including the impact of UV eye exposure and the breadth of UV-protective eyewear options that are available. Additional information regarding UV eye protection and sunglasses is available on ThinkAboutYourEyes.com.

“As practices around the country are staring to reopen, National Sunglasses Day is a great way for eyecare providers to engage with patients in a positive way,” said Ashley Mills, CEO of The Vision Council. “By providing resources like shareable social media posts, we hope to make it easier for eyecare providers to connect with their patients and reinforce the importance of eye health.”

Source: The Vision Council