Chrystel Barranger, president, Transitions Optical, and president, EssilorLuxottica Wholesale EMEA, announces the launch of Transitions Gen S.

  
PINELLAS PARK, Fla.—Transitions Academy kicked off Sunday, Feb. 11, in Orlando, welcoming over 1,300 attendees from around the world. In addition to training, education and networking, this year’s Academy was dedicated to the worldwide announcement and debut of Transitions Gen S, the newest and most innovative Transitions lens that adapts faster than all previous generations and offers a host of stylish colors alongside the traditional shades. Transitions Gen S will be available in the U.S., Latin America, France and Italy starting April 2024.

The launch of the lens will be a focus of EssilorLuxottica’s presence at Vision Expo East in March, with education on Leonardo available for ECPs as well, Chrystel Barranger, president, Transitions Optical, and president, EssilorLuxottica Wholesale EMEA, and Fabrizio Uguzzoni, president of EssilorLuxottica North America, told VMAIL exclusively. Uguzzoni told VMAIL, "From here we take [Gen S] into the market starting with the communication plan, which is going to be highest at Vision Expo." He also stated, "Leonardo will have a full session dedicated to Gen S."

Barranger described Gen S as “a modern solution,” telling VMAIL, “we should leave static for dynamic… sunglasses are the stars of the glamour… it’s time to change that. Glasses help us to see, so they deserve a bit of a pleasure and glamour booster. I think this is what Transitions is doing… elevating the pleasure and bringing confidence to people.”

 
 
Discussing the Gen S technology, Uguzzoni told VMAIL, “I believe calling this a ‘game changer’ is giving justice to what this product is. It’s not an improvement on the technology, it’s not better than what Gen 8 was; it’s totally a game changer in terms of the performance it can deliver… style with performance... that’s what this product is.”

All attendees at Academy 2024 will be given their own pair of frames equipped with Gen S so they can fully experience the new technology. Barranger explained to VMAIL, “[The ECPs] are in power… I think it is the moment. They are the best ambassadors, so if they wear [Gen S] it’s going to change everything.” Uguzzoni agreed: "I believe the chair time of the patient with the doctor is the most valuable time... I know they already have to talk about a lot, there is a lot to be said, but I believe there is a moment where the doctor could also invite the patient to evaluate the Transitions lenses."

Jerome Butez, vice president, global marketing, Transitions, discussed Transitions’ marketing plans for the Gen S launch with VMAIL. He told VMAIL, “We’re going to do mass media awareness, we’re also going to do drive to store.” This will involve window displays and glorifiers, along with other POS materials to help kick-start the conversation around Gen S from the beginning of the frame-purchase process.

Digital tools including VTO and Leonardo education will be available to support the ECP as well. On the consumer side, Butez told VMAIL, Gen S will be supported with influencer campaigns as well as traditional consumer campaigns.

In regard to supporting the ECP in this new development, Ken McInerney, global engineering and technology platform director at Transitions Optical explained to VMAIL, “Some of the technical people [at Transitions] have made the move across into commercial marketing. We have a couple of Ph.D. scientists who started their careers in the early stages in Transitions, now they’re part of the commercial organization. What that’s doing is helping to translate the real scientific message to the commercial team. They’re then able to bake that into the training material that we’re providing [to the ECP]… that mutual understanding is a key part of the message we have to deliver.”

The launch prioritizes three pillars: Gen Speed, Gen Style and Gen Smart. As reported at Transitions Academy 2024, Transitions Gen S is the fastest dark lens in the clear to dark photochromic category. The fully clear lens darkens in seconds outdoors, reaching category three levels of darkness in 25 seconds and fading back in less than two minutes. Gen S is available in eight colors, including the brand-new Ruby tint. All have been optimized to be true to tone at all stages, offering vibrant tints in any light, while fully clear indoors.

Finally, Gen S offers better vision quality faster to ensure a continuous visual experience in varied and changing light environments. It provides 39 percent faster vision recovery from intense bright lights versus clear lenses and during fade back tests have shown a 39.5 percent improvement in contrast sensitivity and 40 percent faster vision recovery versus the previous generation. Gen S blocks 100 percent of UVA and UVB rays and filters up to 32 percent of blue violet light in the clear stage and up to 85 percent when activated.