According to Specsavers research, a quarter of the Canadians who don’t wear glasses or contact lenses haven’t had an eye exam in at least 10 years. Now, the brand is looking to change that with a new campaign.
The campaign, which was developed by the eye-care retail chain’s internal team The Agency, launched on Aug. 7 and is anchored by a playful TV spot focused on optical coherence tomography (OCT) – a technology that helps optometrists with early detection of sight-threatening health problems such as diabetes and glaucoma.
“If I could wave a magic wand, all Canadians would know what OCT is. But it’s not that simple,” explains Catherine Walsh, director of marketing at Specsavers. “It’s a sight-saving technology that can truly make a difference in peoples’ lives. We think it’s so important that it’s included in every [Specsavers] eye exam.”
In the spot, several people struggle to pronounce the name of the tech, which Walsh concedes is “a mouthful,” before voiceover states that while not everyone can say it, everyone can have it at no additional cost when they book an exam with Specsavers.
The campaign follows the Canadian debut of the retailer’s 20-year-old global brand positioning, “Should’ve Gone to Specsavers,” from earlier this year. While that campaign was more retail-focused, this effort zeroes in on the importance of regular eye exams to Canadians’ health, particularly because 75% of vision loss is preventable or treatable.
It follows an earlier effort by the company to get Canadians out to the optometrist that took the form of an open letter, published as a full-page ad in major print outlets this past June.
“Not everyone gets as excited about eye exams as we do,” says Walsh. “But our hope is this campaign brings awareness to the importance of having a regular comprehensive eye exam.”
Along with the TV spot, the campaign is running across OOH (including transit), radio and digital in B.C., Alberta and Ontario, with influencer support and will be in market through to Sept. 18.
Media Experts handled the media buy, while FleishmanHillard HighRoad handled PR.
