CooperVision Inc. named Jerry Warner as President, North America, responsible for determining the strategic direction of North America, the company’s largest region, driving sustainable business growth and deeper customer relationships in the United States and Canada. The company confirmed to VuePoint that Tom Konstantas, General Manager, Cooper Vision Canada reports to Mr. Warner in his new position.

Mr. Warner joined CooperVision in 2012, and most recently held the position of Senior Vice President of Global Marketing.  Prior to joining CooperVision, he spent 17 years with Bausch & Lomb in various marketing positions in the contact lens and lens care areas with both global and North American responsibilities. Earlier in his career, Mr. Warner served in a variety of sales, marketing and trade marketing roles with Bristol Myers Squibb at the territory and sales management levels.

“Jerry has extensive vision care experience, having spent the past two decades working hand-in-hand with eye care practitioners, retailers, researchers, educators, field sales teams and others in global and regional roles,” said Dennis Murphy, Executive Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing at CooperVision.

“CooperVision has always enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship with prescribing practitioners, and I look forward to extending and deepening that bond as we grow together.” said Mr, Warner.

Mr. Warner earned an MBA from the Simon School, University of Rochester, and holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Villanova University. His primary office will be in Fairport, N.Y.

Luxottica Group and Prada have announced a 10 year renewal of their exclusive license agreement for the design, production and worldwide distribution of prescription frames and sunglasses. The partnership between Luxottica and Prada Group illustrates a deep and on-going commitment to true Italian excellence based on creativity, craftsmanship and innovation, according to the announcement.

“We are extremely proud of our collaboration with Prada Group and the beautiful and innovative frames we are creating together,” said Adil Khan, Luxottica’s CEO of markets.”

Patrizio Bertelli, Prada CEO, added, “We are very pleased to announce the renewal of our co-operation with Luxottica which, thanks to its leadership in the international markets, is the ideal partner to boost our brands’ identities.”

Source: http://www.luxottica.com/en/luxottica-group-and-prada-group-renew-eyewear-license-agreement

Coastal Contacts Inc., the world’s largest online eyewear retailer has announced a rebrand of ClearlyContacts.ca to Clearly™. The rebrand marks one year since Essilor acquired the Canadian founded eyewear brand.

“We are now the largest online eyewear retailer in the world and in a lot of ways, we simply outgrew our name.” said Roy Hessel, CEO of Clearly. “The name Clearly aligns with our overall mission to help people see clearly.”

In an interview with VuePoint, Hessel said the new brand direction is more than a name change, “When we acquired Clearly a year ago, we gained an amazing platform and an outstanding team. We knew we had a business that had the potential to go beyond selling just contacts and frames at an affordable price to one that could join the fight against poor vision worldwide. This year, we have expanded our focus to include educating our customers about vision health and have made greater investments in the eye care industry. We made some significant changes to our platform and the way we interact with our customers. We believe the safety and best correction of our customers is paramount, and we provide products that meet these criteria.”

Hessel told Vuepoint that Clearly is looking to build relationships and collaborate with eye care professionals in Canada, “By working together to address unmet needs in vision care access and education, we can affect positive change while growing the market for the benefit of all stakeholders. We have stepped up and shifted the purpose of our company from selling product at a discount to championing proper eye health. This begins with a comprehensive eye exam through eye care professionals.”

“We recommend consistent comprehensive eye exams and believe a proper Rx starts with an exam by an ECP,” says Hessel. “As leaders in vision correction, we share a common goal with eye care professionals to ensure access to better eye health education. The need is great and there is a role for each of us to play.”

With the rollout of the rebrand, customers will notice a wider selection of lenses to choose from, including KODAK BlueReflect Lens. With the expansion of lens offerings, Clearly will also integrate lens education throughout its order process allowing customers the chance to choose which lenses they’d like to purchase for their particular needs. Additionally, Clearly has launched a style service where by appointment, vision ambassadors will make frame and lens recommendations based on a customer’s prescription, photo, style preference, and sizing.

For more information visit: www.Clearly.ca