Transitions Names Winchester Optical 'Lab of Year' at 14th Annual Transitions Academy
February 4, 2010 12:36 AM
ORLANDO—More than 1,400 people attended this year's Transitions Academy, held here Jan. 31 to Feb. 2, to see Winchester Optical named the company's Lab of the Year and hear Transitions executives outline plans for next month's launch of the new Transitions XTRActive photochromic lens.
The firm also unveiled a revamped consumer Web site and new TV commercials, as well as a new marketing tool designed to help encourage employers to offer managed vision coverage.
At this 14th annual Transitions Academy, Elmira, N.Y.-based Winchester was cited for achieving a 20 percent increase in sales of Transitions lenses during 2009. Brian Hauser, director, lens manufacturer and trade channel sales, for Transitions, said the optical lab "truly set the stage for excellence."
A key element of this year's Academy was the introduction of the XTRActive lens, designed to be darker than the current Transitions VI lens in outdoor conditions, and to provide "moderate" darkness behind a car's windshield.
Transitions will begin delivering the lens in the U.S. and Canada in March; the XTRActive—described by Transitions general manager Dave Cole as "the darkest photochromic lens you can buy"—joins the ongoing Transitions VI in the company's "everyday" lens segment.
To promote its growing family of lenses, Transitions has two new TV commercials for 2010, one using the tag line, "Ask your eyecare professional which Transitions lenses are right for you," the other highlighting the firm's link with the PGA Golf Tour. The company is also supporting its family of lens brands via a
revamped Web site designed to help consumers understand and explore their lens choices. A new trade portal will be added to the site during the first half of this year.
In addition, Transitions will support its brand identity as well as its Healthy Sight initiative by again sponsoring the Transitions Championship for Healthy Sight golf tournament, scheduled for March 15 to 21.
This year's Transitions Academy also saw the launch of the Healthy Sight Calculator, an online tool designed to help employers see how they could avoid some health-care costs by providing a managed vision plan and encouraging regular eyecare for their employees.