news

By EB Staff

Hot List: May 2009

1 GENERATION

Trendwatching.com reports that a new type of consumer has emerged: Generation G (the G stands for generosity). The organization says generosity is growing as a societal and business mindset as consumers have become turned off by greed and how it has affected the economy. Businesses should take heed and follow this shift away from narcissism and toward more magnanimous behavior.

4 TARGET MARKET: "INFLUENCERS"

According to retail marketing firm SmartReply, a recent study by Microsoft, Mindshare, and Ogilvy Chicago showed that 16 percent of women online are influential "digital divas," with 86 percent of them passing along information about interesting things they find to others.

For a business to find—and market to—its own group of influencers, SmartReply suggests searching databases for customers who are in your top 10 percent of key performance indicators, then building a unique relationship with them through their preferred type of media.

Miyachi Named Charmant CEO

Charmant Inc. announced that Masao Miyachi, formerly the company's executive director, became the president and CEO of Charmant Inc., the global sales and marketing company of the group, effective April 1.

Junji Horikawa, the former president and CEO, will remain on the board and assume the post of vice chairman, a newly created position.

Kaoru Horikawa, the founder of the Charmant Group, will maintain his active role as the group's chairman. In addition, he will continue as a member on the board of directors.

Masao Miyachi, who joined the company in 1980, spent 29 years in sales, marketing, and product planning and development. The core principles of the group will remain, says Miyachi. "In today's increasing competitive environment and global recession we need to focus on our strength," Miyachi states. "In addition, we must take another step to develop our unique position with differential products and services in the industry."

License Lineup

Luxottica Group and Stella McCartney Limited have signed a new long-term, exclusive license agreement for the design, production, and worldwide distribution of sunglasses under the luxury lifestyle brand Stella McCartney. The agreement is for an initial term of six years and is automatically renewable for an additional five-year term. In addition, Luxottica Group and Donna Karan International Inc. announced a five-year extension of the license agreement for the design, production, and worldwide distribution of prescription frames and sunglasses under the Donna Karan and DKNY brands. The new agreement will run through December 2014, with an option for a further five-year extension.

The McGee Group announced the extension of their license agreement with Vera Bradley to design, manufacture, and distribute ophthalmic frames, sunwear, readers, and cases for three years.

On the Town

Gladys Simo of Transitions, a member of George Westinghouse high school's optical advisory council, assisted in the recent vision screening training of the high school's vision technology students.

At ClearVision's National Sales Meeting in January, the ClearVision Optical sales team presented Fred and Mimi Friedfeld, ClearVision's founders, with a special anniversary photo signed by everyone in attendance to commemorate the occasion.

Prevent Blindness America recently held its Fourth Annual Eyes on Capitol Hill event, with participants from all across the country. PBA arranged for U.S. government leaders and staff to hear from their constituents who are currently affected by vision loss issues.

Steve Lesetz of the Lions Club of Long Island recently accepted a donation to the Eye Bank of Long Island from the Opticians Alliance of New York's Anthony Rebaldo and David Cohen. The OANY assists the Lions Club in raising money for the Eye Bank of Long Island.

Proenza Schouler's Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez are nominees for the Council of Fashion Designers 2009 Accessories Designer of the Year for designs including sunglasses from L'Amy.

Essilor's Optical Art Tour

Essilor of America, Inc., recently completed a unique visual arts tour celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Varilux lenses and partnership with eyecare professionals.

The traveling tour featured an interactive art gallery that displayed and explained the specifics behind each of Essilor's lens brands as well as the Varilux Experience booth with the Varilux Experience 3-D theatre, an eight-minute adventure highlighting the history, current applications, and future of Varilux PALs.

The traveling exhibit began in Boston on March 31 and showed in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Houston, Tampa, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Seattle, and San Francisco before ending in Los Angeles on April 30.

Mido Wrap-Up

While there were fewer Americans walking the halls at Mido, the event made the best of a challenging year with new dates and a revised exhibit plan.

"The international economic situation at this Mido was definitely one of the most difficult we have ever dealt with," said Vittorio Tabacchi, president of Mido and Anfao.

Visitor attendance fell by nine percent over 2008, bringing the total attendee figure to almost 42,000, notes Dan Emanuel Levi, vice president of Mido and Anfao, who adds: "We are very pleased with the increase in Italian visitors at plus three percent, while the numbers of overseas visitors fell, especially from Asia, by an average 18 percent, due to the global economic crisis and the fact that the exhibition was being staged almost simultaneously with other international exhibitions that have not changed their dates yet."

The exhibition area occupied 10 percent less space than in 2008, which set a record in the history of Mido at 54,000 square meters. The next Mido, the event's 40th anniversary, is set for March 5 through 7, 2010. INFO: www.mido.it

Transitions Tourney a Win-Win

Transitions Optical spread the healthy sight message last month and scored an industry first when it sponsored the Transitions Championship for Healthy Sight golf tournament at Innisbrook Golf Club. Participating in the televised tournament, which was won by Retief Goosen, were 30 top-ranking pros, including Tom Lehman, who lost by one stroke to the South African golfer.

With Transitions banners abounding, a Live Your Vision Walk and Pavilion, and a Youth Wellness Day, fans of all ages were struck with the importance of healthy sight. Some 500 people participated in the Live Your Vision Walk, resulting in a $20,000 contribution to Prevent Blindness Florida. In the Pavilion, several organizations—including the AOA, VSP, and Vision Council—sponsored vision education booths that were frequented by more than 2,500 spectators, as well as over 1,000 local grade school students. Nearly 500 VIPs were outfitted with Transitions lenses and the new Transitions SOLFXT sun lenses.

On the lighter side, actor Erik Estrada, aka Ponch, wore his uniform from 70s television classic "CHiPs" and handed out "Sight-ations" to attendees who were guilty of such offenses as not wearing sunglasses.

The healthy vision message definitely got to the media, as one broadcaster admitted live that he hadn't had his eyes examined in years and was going to as soon as the tournament ended.

Vision Expo East: New Look, New York

Vision Expo East's new show layout received a warm reception from attendees, and this year's show saw its share of celebrity appearances, including Paris Hilton (supporting the launch of her eyewear line with Gripping Eyewear), actor Mickey Rourke, "American Idol" judges Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi, and football legend Ron Jaworski, a spokesperson for A&A Optical's XXL line.

Although attendance was down at this year's Expo, exhibitors found that those who made it to the show were there to buy, not just to browse.

"While preliminary attendance figures indicate that we are down approximately 12 percent in our attendance, we were very pleased to hear positive feedback from both attendees and exhibitors at the show," said Tom Loughran, event director for Reed Exhibitions.

The new Visionomics conference program was also a success, with over 300 eyecare professionals attending the track's nine sessions. The program focused on strategies ECPs can use to identify business opportunities, increase efficiencies, and build customer loyalty.

Visionomics featured two keynote speakers from the business world: Paul Tiffany of the Haas School of the University of California, Berkeley, and Jack Sims, former president of Alcone Marketing, a nationally ranked company. Mark Wright, OD; Jay Binkowitz, licensed optician; Carole Burns, OD; and Craig Thomas, OD, also spoke.

Teka Eyewear received the Vision Choice Award from the New Product Showcase, and Elizabeth Overton, a certified optician from Garland Vision of Darmstadt, Ind., won a $500 show shopping spree for voting in the Vision Choice Award.

Next year, International Vision Expo East will take place at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City from March 18 through 21. The March/April timeframe at the Javits Center will continue, with dates confirmed through 2012.