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Hot List: May 2010

1 Advertising Advantage

According to an Adweek Media/Harris Interactive Poll, here's what 2,136 consumers surveyed online said about what type of ads lead them to the best bargains.

23 percent believe that newspaper and magazine advertisements are where they can find the best bargains

18 percent chose online advertisements

12 percent say direct mail and catalogs

11 percent say television commercials

2 percent say radio

34 percent believe the type of ad makes no difference when they are looking for the best bargain

2 Oh Behave

A McKinsey Quarterly article on behavioral economics and marketing has this advice for retailers:

Offer a default. Presenting one option as a default increases the chance it will be chosen.

Avoid "choice overload." This makes consumers less likely to purchase.

Caution: Sometimes marking down a hard-to-sell item makes it less valuable in the consumer's eyes.

3 At Your Service

Optical retailers might take a customer service cue from the experts in this area. The NRF Foundation/American Express 2009 Customer Service survey tallied 8,600 votes for the top 10 retailers for customer service.

They are: L.L.Bean
Overstock.com
Zappos.com
Amazon.com
QVC
Coldwater Creek
HSN
Lands' End
J.C. Penney
Kohl's and Nordstrom (tied)

4 Hot Prospects

Guerilla marketing guru Jay Conrad Levinson offers daily tips on gmarketing.com. A recent one was:

"Do you want to compile a list of truly hot prospects? Create an ad or direct mail piece that is also a questionnaire. Anyone who takes the time to complete it and send it back is truly a hot prospect."

Vision Expo East
2010 Rings in Spring

International Vision Expo East 2010 rang in spring with celebrities, products, parties, education, and plenty of people.

Attendance rose four percent since 2009, according to preliminary unaudited attendance figures. Nearly 19,000 eyecare professionals and buyers, 40 percent of whom were first-time attendees, were registered for the show, held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City March 18 to 21.

Tom Loughran, vice president of Reed Exhibitions, which co-owns VEE with The Vision Council, said, "The excitement of the show, with its fashion appeal and celebrity appearances, spilled over into evening activities like networking events, Broadway shows, shopping, and more."

The festivities started with 275 continuing education courses, including new classes in e-technology and diabetes education, and courses by the Optometric Retina Society.

The 400-vendor expo, launched by a bagpipe band, featured product exhibits, celebrity appearances, fashion shows, keynote speeches on business and healthcare, networking, parties, and awards. Morel Eyewear's LIGHTEC Carbon received the Vision Choice Award.

1, 2. The Monaghan Pipe Band and crowds open International Vision Expo East 2010; 3, 4. ScienceBased Health and Paul Karpecki, OD, FAAO, who is also a wine sommelier, host a tasting at the Iroquois Hotel; 5, 6. Ron Blum of PixelOptics announces a multi-company partnership to launch emPower! electronic eyewear; 7. Eyes of Faith founders Amy and Jim Schneider are joined by their characters from new license, Veggie Tales; 8. Essilor hosts a press breakfast where officials from the Think About Your Eyes Coalition and Foundation for Eye Health Awareness announce that the groups intend to merge their messages; 9. Mike Daley of the Foundation for Eye Health Awareness speaks at Essilor's press event; 10. Shamir's (l to r) Matt Lytle, Hilaire van der Veen, and Raanan Naftalovich, announce a new lens development; 11, 12. Educational offerings include Frame Buyer Program courses, co-sponsored by Eyecare Business; 13. Brad Main emcees the raffle at the Hoya Vision Care booth; 14. The Optimus team debuts their new lens products at the Briot USA booth; 15. Gerber Coburn introduces Mr. Blue, a state-of-the-art, comprehensive edging system; 16. Joe Santinelli shows off the Diamaline edger, created in 1956; 17. Santinellli instructional workshops draw attendees 18-20. Safilo's Eden Wexler joins emcee Carson Kressley at Safilo's fashion shows; 21. Valerie Scott, International Vision Expo, is honored by the Optometric Center of New York, the campus-related foundation of SUNY College of Optometry, at the Eyes on New York gala; 22. Marchon's Al Berg (l) and Steve Wright with Barry Ballen of Gilbert Displays (center) at the OWA networking event; 23. Ilise Lombardo accepts Pfizer Ophthalmics' award at Eyes on New York; 24. Wendy Williams visits Revolution; 25. EyeRock, a concert benefitting OneSight, a Luxottica Group Foundation, rocked with Steve Santinelli; 26. The American Optometric Association's Randolph Brooks, OD, and Steve Wasserman at the AOA's event; 27. Ron Jaworski greets fans at A&A Optical; 28. Corinne McCormack (l to r), Andrea Praet, from Stylesight, and The Vision Council's Donna van Green at The Vision Council's trend presentation; 29. Viva International Group's Frank Rescigna, Roxanne Galari, and Jon Martinez at the Skechers launch party; 30. Daisy Fuentes with Zyloware's Robert Shyer; 31. Optical students from George Westinghouse High School in Brooklyn visit the Zyloware booth; 32. Diane von Furstenberg welcomes the Optical Women's Association's Pleiades Award party to her studio; 33. A model in Nina Ricci at Zyloware; 34. Corrine McCormack presents the Pyxis Award to Walman Optical's Lorinda Fraboni; 35. Essilor's Danne Ventura accepts the OWA's Pleiades Award; 36. The first Shamrock Fest was held on the show floor and featured traditional Irish music; 37. Safilo and ANFAO's Vittorio Tabbachi at the ICE and ANFAO's eyewear retrospective in Grand Central Terminal; 38. Peter (l) and David Friedfeld with ClearVision team members at the BCBGMAXAZRIA cocktail party

OLA's Annual Meeting Set

The Optical Laboratories Association annual meeting, "Tradition + Vision = The Future," will be held October 7 to 9, 2010, co-located with the exhibits at International Vision Expo West in Las Vegas. The OLA and VEW have arranged exclusive exhibit hours for OLA delegates, full access to the exhibit hall, and VIP lounge admission.

All of the traditional OLA events will be held in the meeting rooms. The OLA will distribute detailed information about the 2010 annual meeting throughout the lab industry.

INFO: www.ola-labs.org

Good Idea: Solving Advertising Puzzles

One ECP has dealt with the puzzle of advertising in a unique way—he created an ad that's a puzzle.

Dusty Bailey, optical lab manager at the Eye Center of North Florida in Lakeland, Fla., creates half-page ads that are Sudoku puzzles, and reports that response has been very positive.

"We look up an unanswered puzzle on websuduko.com, and use the puzzle and directions of how to play in our ads," he says. "We feature our business name and address at the top of the puzzle. The answer page is deeper in the publication, usually a quarter-page size, which again includes our name and address."

The ad is published in a regional monthly magazine in the area the practice serves.

Says Bailey, "Many folks mention the ad and how much they look forward to each month's new puzzle."

HOYA Splits Operations

HOYA Corporation recently split its operations in the U.S. into two divisions. HOYA Optical Labs of America principally serves and supports independent practitioners. Barney Dougher remains president of this division.

HOYA Lens of America was spun off into a new division to focus on the needs of independent distributors and chain retailers. Michael Ness was recently named the president of HOYA Lens of America.

Kids Win Out at Transitions Championship

Golf, games, kids, and vision marked the Transitions Championship for Healthy Sight in Palm Harbor, Fla., held at Innisbrook Golf Resort in March.

Amid the Pro-Am games leading up to the PGA Tour event, area students received vision screenings and free eyewear from Transitions. About 1,800 students from the Tampa Bay area received eye screenings.

1. Transitions' Pat Huot; 2. VSP's Rob Lynch (left) and Transitions' David Cole, cut the ribbon for the Mobile Eyecare Unit colaunched by the companies; 3. Carl Zeiss Vision is one of many companies displaying products in the Live Your Vision Pavilion; 4. Students pick out frames in the Mobile Eyecare Unit and receive a free pair of glasses made on site at Transitions; 5. Youth activities include miniature golf; 6. Luxottica's OneSight Foundation is on hand; 7. Transitions' Delwin Jackson explains Transitions SOLFX sunwear; 8. The Live Your Vision Pavilion is home to product demonstrations and displays; 9. Jennifer Frances is the founder of Bess the Book Bus, a mobile library for underserved youths; 10, 11. Volunteers administer vision screenings; 12. Transitions' president Brett Craig takes a swing during the Pro-Am

On The Town

Spring activities included: Safilo's CARRERA Escape drew celebrity attention at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas.

Brian Boxler Wachler, MD, greeted his former patient, Olympic U.S. bobsled driver Steve Holcomb, at the 2010 Olympic Games.

Prevent Blindness America visited Capitol Hill.

Kirk Originals in London is hosting the ArtHertz MIRRORBALL exhib at its flagship store.

(Clockwise from top): Adrian Grenier, star of HBO's "Entourage," and his band The Honeybrothers are among the celebrities visiting the CARRERA Escape at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas; Corneal surgeon Brian Boxler Wachler cheers on Olympian Steve Holcomb, who received treatment for his keratoconus at the Boxer Wachler Institute; Prevent Blindness America's Sherry Williams, Congressman Pat Tiberi, and delegate Jenny Camper visit Washington, D.C., for Eyes on Capitol Hill; Damian O'Neil and Terry Rawlings attend Kirk Originals' ArtHertz MIRRORBALL Exhibition in London

STAR Gazers

1. Five-time Grammy winner and performer Sir Elton John donned Safilo's Swarovski crystal-encrusted Armani-sunglasses while attending the 52nd annual Grammy Awards.

2. Actor/producer/environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio, renowned for his dramatic roles in "The Departed," and "Shutter Island," among others, is wearing Modo Eyewear's Federico sunglasses.

3. Movie and TV actress Katherine Heigl is wearing Ferragamo style FE 2165 by Luxottica. Heigl is starring in the action comedy film "Killers," due for release in June.

4. Jeremy Renner, star of the Academy Award-winning "Hurt Locker," is wearing Calvin Klein style 7739 by Marchon. "Hurt Locker" took home six awards at the 2010 Oscars. Renner also writes, performs, and records rock music.

Santinelli and Eyenovate Extend Agreement

Santinelli International and Eyenovate, Inc., have extended their business agreement through the end of 2011. Early last year, the companies began their formal business arrangement with the creation of Click Mode software and retail Click Kit bundling offers.

Click Mode software allows ECPs and labs to create customized Chemistrie Sunlenses on their Santinelli lens edger. The Success package for ECPs includes Click Mode software, a Chemistrie Sunlens starter kit, toolkit, P.O.P. display, and training and education.