Think About Your Eyes, a campaign to educate consumers about eye health, will resume nationally later this year. (L to R) The Vision Council’s Ed Greene; Think About Your Eyes’s Rick Holt; and the AOA’s Barry Baressi, OD.
NEW YORK—Think About Your Eyes, L.L.C., a non-profit organization now under The Vision Council, announced here last month that it is launching a national public awareness initiative, focused on increasing the importance of overall vision health, in the mid to late summer of 2013. With support from the American Optometric Association (AOA), the Think About Your Eyes (TAYE) campaign will also be reaching out to optometrists and other industry leaders around the country to join this public eye health initiative.

Originally piloted in May 2010, in nine test markets, the TAYE initiative focused on educating the public about the benefits of eye health and the importance of getting an annual comprehensive eye exam. The campaign reached about 25 percent of the U.S. and demonstrated the ability to motivate and change public behavior when it came to vision health. Overall, eye exams grew by 7.9 percent, translating to 120 incremental eye exams per practice, per year in those markets.

“On the heels of a very successful pilot, we are excited to expand our efforts and deliver this message, alongside the AOA, to millions of Americans,” said Ed Greene, CEO of The Vision Council. “The first Think About Your Eyes campaign resulted in more than 3.4 million incremental eye exams in our test markets and more than 367,000 previously undiagnosed cases of eye disease were discovered. With results like that, imagine the impact we can have on a national scale as we combine the strengths of the Vision Council, the leading industry association, and the AOA, the leading professional association.”

Along with raising awareness among consumers through TV, print, online advertising and social media, the new effort will focus for the first time on engaging support from the eyecare community as a whole, with a goal of enabling Think About Your Eyes to become a long-term sustainable program.

“Never before has it been possible to motivate preventive health behavior on a large scale like Think About Your Eyes has been able to do, and we are thrilled to join The Vision Council and others in support of this program as it takes off with a national launch,” said Barry Barresi, OD, executive director, AOA.

In 2013, once the program goes national, all advertising will direct patients to visit the Think About Your Eyes website at www.thinkaboutyoureyes.com in order to locate a local TAYE eyecare professional. ECPs can become a member in the program by enrolling in a basic or premium membership and their practice will be listed on the ECP locator. ECPs are also being urged to sponsor Think About Your Eyes advertising in their respective local markets. Advertising options include online display, online video, print advertising or TV network located in MD offices.

In order to become a member in the program when it launches, ECPS are encouraged to sign up at https://enroll.thinkaboutyoureyes.com/ by June 30, 2013, according to a spokesperson from TAYE. Those who sign up after the launch will be included “shortly after.”

The premium subscription for $500 includes a basic listing plus preferred position listing, inclusion of photo, insurance accepted, color highlights, practice special offers and a link to the practice website. The premium plan also includes an extensive in-office merchandising package as well as online appointment setting.

The basic subscription for $250 includes a locator listing with practice name, address, phone and e-mail; geo-coding positioning on the locator and a link to the Think About Your Eyes website. An in-office merchandising package is also included.

Added Marty Bassett, CEO, Walman Optical and board member, The Vision Council, “With Think About Your Eyes, we have found a solution to motivate the general public and our entire industry, and we say special thanks to Essilor of America and Luxottica for initiating this effort through their generous support.”

For more information about the program, contact Rick Holt, director of Think About Your Eyes, via e-mail at rholt@thinkaboutyoureyes.com or by phone at (703) 548-6504.  ■

maxelrad@jobson.com