STYLE: Sunwear Collections 2009 Sun Outlook: Bolle and Serengeti Per Dani LaGace, Global Director of Eyewear Product Development By Marge Axelrad Friday, January 16, 2009 4:00 PM RELATED CONTENT Rx Sun’s Bright Opportunity 2009 Sun Outlook: Carl Zeiss Vision Sunlens 2009 Sun Outlook: Intercast/NXT 2009 Sun Outlook: Kaenon Polarized 2009 Sun Outlook: Maui Jim 2009 Sun Outlook: Oakley 2009 Sun Outlook: Vision-Ease Lens 2009 Sun Outlook: Younger Optics 2009 Sun Outlook: Essilor Lenses 2009 Sun Outlook: Rudy Project US 2009 Sun Outlook: Wiley-X What, specifically, are the challenges and opportunities for Rx Sunwear business given our current economic climate and what is predicted for the economy going forward? Certainly, selling frames at higher price points and lens add-ons to increasingly price-conscious consumers will be difficult. There will – however – be opportunities for ECP’s who possess the marketing skills to communicate the quality, durability and aesthetic advantages of premium frames, as well as the clear patient benefit to lens coatings and other technologies found in higher-priced products. Challenges: Up until recently, many the consumers purchased two rx frames - sun and non-sun. Today, those same consumers are much more likely to purchase only one. Also, sun frame design will have to move quickly to less fashion and more function and in terms of competition, everybody is in every game. Opportunities include: Refractive surgeries may be trending down … so RX sun business might very well trend up. We are seeing increased Transitions/photochromic sales and multi-function product is a future key. What should ECPs keep in mind about your company’s involvement in/dedication to Rx sunwear? The Bolle B true, our exclusive prescription program demonstrates our commitment to leading RX technology, with superior RX cosmetics. By partnering with Zeiss we are able to offer ECPs premium optics and our widest array of frame styles ever. For two of the most important considerations: price and turn time, we are more competitive than ever. Which specific categories of Rx Sun lens products – polarized, high-base wraps, PALs, single-vision, mirror coatings – or others you’d like to mention – do you feel offer the biggest ‘upside’ business opportunity for optical retailers and ECPs this year? Why? We see polarized and non-polarized single vision wraps with moderate head curve as the products that offer the optician, thus the customer, the most options. Flexibility in terms of lens base, material used and the coating applied allows for a number of very strategic price points. There is a significant opportunity to increase sales in high-base wraps for Bolle, with more frames offered that can be processed using Zeiss’s patented Spazio technology. In which of your company’s specific product lines are you putting the most sales and marketing support during 2009? Which products and programs are ongoing from 2008 and which will be new? Our extended sport collection with 2009 introductions King, Formula and Origin (King and Formula are 8 base, Origin 6 base). King and Formula are extremely RX friendly and are reachingmarket in time to be launched with the new national program. We will also use some of our marketing resources to support our new 6 base sport metal program. Again, a sporty profile, functional sun frame with a very open range of RX options. The sales and marketing effort is focused on a new plastics collection that includes the King, Formula, and Origin. All three are RX-friendly offered in the new national Bolle RX program. What can you review with ECPs/optical retailers about how you are managing your 2009 Bolle and Serengeti RX Sun programs? The 2009 Bolle RX program has improved to include Zeiss labs across the country, allowing ECP’s to place orders directly with these labs.