With Marchon President Nicola Zotta

The Marchon leader sits down exclusively with EB Editor-in-Chief Erinn Morgan to share an inside look at how the company has engineered new programs and initiatives to help eyecare professionals navigate the Covid-19 crisis.

Please tell us about the past few months at Marchon during the pandemic.

Nicola Zotta: We saw how complicated it is to actually shut down a business. By the second week of March, the entire European operation of Marchon was shut down. We grounded the sales force and shut down the distribution center. All employees started to work from home.

A week later we did the same thing in the U.S. [In mid-April…] we started to think about reopening.

I’m very proud of how, as a team, we’ve been able to cope with a completely new situation—how quickly we have adapted and the amount of flexibility that we’ve been able to show.

Business has reopened and business is coming back. The worst is behind us. I think we’re in a good spot and I’m very optimistic about the picture going forward.

How has Marchon pivoted to help ECPs navigate this difficult time?

Zotta: It’s certainly incredible times for our doctors out there, and I think they’ve done an amazing job. Their ability to keep trust high with their patients and deliver care has just been phenomenal.

Our goal as an organization and as part of VSP is to help our doctors take care of their patients. We have launched several resources [to assist them]—and we keep on listening to what is needed.

We’ve expanded our e-channel and communication lines to be able to give doctors the ability to contact us quickly and easily to be able to share their needs—like, in some cases, postponing a delivery. We understood pretty quickly that cash flow was going to be a concern.

We’ve also tried to give more space to Altair, which is a phenomenal program, because it’s a consignment-based model. So, we have the ability to ship those products out and bill only when they are sold.

And, we joined forces with VSP for a number of activities. We delivered PPE to all VSP network doctors in the U.S. We created and expanded education programs with topics and content that resonated—for instance, how to leverage social media channels and connect with patients in times of crisis.

How is Marchon innovating on the product side to assist ECPs?

Zotta: We continue to look at how to expand the competitiveness of our designs—the right brands and the right price point as well as the quality of the service that we provide.

It’s very important to continue to innovate. With Flexon, for instance, we’re introducing new features with memory metal that is utilized in plastic frames. At Dragon, we are introducing an upcycled collection that’s made of recycled water bottles.

It’s not enough to create products—you have to connect with the consumers in a way that makes sense.

Will we see a change in the way consumers buy in terms of pricing?

Zotta: Yes, I think there will be an expanded demand on opening price points, and that’s an area that we are currently tackling.

We have a huge offering in licensed brands, but we’re significantly strengthening our proprietary brands portfolio. We just launched a new line at Altair, Lenton & Rusby, that will be our lowest price point in our entire offering. We do believe that there will be expanded demand for opening price points, and we are trying to answer to this anticipation, creating a line that I think will meet the taste and demand of the end consumer.

What is your view of how the eye-care market will recover?

Zotta: I think that we are already observing a recovery, which is great.

It’s an amazingly resilient industry that starts with a clear need with a consumer out there—and if that consumer needed prescription eyewear pre-Covid, that consumer is going to need prescription eyewear post-Covid. So, I think that is a component that makes our industry more strongly positioned compared to many others.

How is vision care evolving through this crisis?

Zotta: The key point that we have observed is the acceleration around how the industry is embracing technology and, in particular, digital tools.

We have definitely seen [the growth of telemedicine]. We also see doctors engaging with their patients virtually before they go to a store to purchase products.

I think that the integration of technology in the way we do business is something that would’ve happened irrespective of Covid, but it maybe would have happened two to five years from now.

I think we are making the patient journey more effective and more efficient because of these innovations. If we want to find a silver lining in the crisis, that’s definitely one.

This is a tragedy. But I think we can get out of this stronger as an industry, and I think we can try to capitalize on the learnings and the investments we are making and continue to thrive for years to come.

We are definitely convinced of that here at Marchon. We will definitely be there supporting the ECPs out there for a long, long time.