Another Brand Name Mismarketed

[For-Life]

http://www.signatureeyewear.com/

Check out the Hummer Line.

Very good looking frames. Popular brand name. However, this is not a case of 1+1=2. Instead this is a case of a company not looking at the target market of the brand before creating its frames.

Tommy Hilfiger did the same when it was first brought back by Viva when they introduced frames for males 45-65, instead of the regular Tommy market.

We had a debate about Ray Ban doing the same with its Ophthalmic.



This is not a case of if brand names sell or not. Nor this is not a case of if the frames are nice or not. This is a case of if the brand is targeted properly (which I could only see a few of them that are).

[chip anderson]

As long as we are here. Anyone ever wondered what genius runs Harley~Davidson opthalmics. These frames are designed for preppie rich kids. They should have chains and sprockets, Ride to live and stuff like that.

When they were first coming out I called and asked: "How many of these to I have to sell to get a hog?" The expert technical sales person on the other end of the line answered: "What's a Hog sir?"

Last year I made another complaint about the wimpiness of the design/construction. Suggested that the send some of their designer's to the five days of Daytona, or Sturgis or something. No one at H~D frames had a clue what either was or why they should send a designer there.

Chip

[For-Life]

Lol.

They had some nice sunglasses, but you are right.

There is something in our industry about mismarketing that drives me nuts.

Like you get a magazine and it has a photo of the old, big plastic frames that are clear with colours. Who would you get to wear it? I would suggest a kindly, older lady, almost grandma like. Who do they get? An attractive 40 year old women.

The problem is two things.

1. The factories already know what they are making so they just stamp the name on without looking (Still waiting for Cover Girl for men ;)

2. Everyone wants to sell to the young people (mainly women) and have their line look youthful without realizing that there are other segments of the market, segments that are very, very profitable.

[drk]

But, 70-year-old ladies want to see themselves as the 30-something that is pictured!

Think about it: who doesn't like a photo of an attractive, younger, woman?

"Beauty" (in the cosmetic sense) is fleeting, but women 20-40 are iconic representations of the very best in beauty. Think of the great artists!

When we worship beauty, that's where we go!

P.S.: Even a doggie frame will look good on a pretty model!

Signed,
Mr. Marketing.

[For-Life]

But, 70-year-old ladies want to see themselves as the 30-something that is pictured!

Think about it: who doesn't like a photo of an attractive, younger, woman?

"Beauty" (in the cosmetic sense) is fleeting, but women 20-40 are iconic representations of the very best in beauty. Think of the great artists!

When we worship beauty, that's where we go!

P.S.: Even a doggie frame will look good on a pretty model!

Signed,
Mr. Marketing.

When a lady comes into your practice wearing that frame she is not thinking beauty. She is thinking comfort. There is a reason why you can never move them out of that style and it is because that is what is comfortable to them. The size is comfortable, the plastic is comfortable, and most of all, the lack of change is comfortable.

I am not saying that the advertisement should depict something ugly, but it should depict something of comfort.

[Jason Carruthers]

This thread is calling my name so here I go. Line extention thinking is pervasive in all consumer product categories. Every company wants to figure out a way to milk a brand name for a few dollars more. Along with the milking comes an erosion of the integrity of the brand (what the brand means in the consumers subconscious mind).

What is a Hummer?

a) a midsize SUV. (Like an Explorer)
b) a fullsize SUV. (Like an Expedition)
c) an oversize, military-style off road vehicle. (Like nothing else)

The answer is (c). The ad slogan "Like nothing else" helped Hummer become a big success in a short time. But even GM is trying as hard as possible to destroy the brand name. The new H3 is a midsize SUV about the size of an Explorer. This vehicle does more damage to the Hummer brand than Hummer Eyegear, but still, the ophthalmic frames are a bad idea. Same for Harley Davidson frames. They never learn.

[For-Life]

Jason, having a marketing degree it drives me nuts.

I think the main problem is the difference between marketing and selling.

Marketing is saying, well who is our customer, and then designing everything around that target.

Selling is, how are we going to sell this product? And forgetting about matching the product to the customer, but instead the customer to the product.

So the factory has frame designs and gets the Hummer contract, and they paste it on the sides of the frames and now you have Hummer frames.

[Jason Carruthers]

For Life, I like that description. I think its bang on. They are "using the name" to SELL more frames. "Using the name" is not a way to build or maintain a brand. It only results in an over-used name.

Its ironic that only when a company doesn't have a name to 'use' that it resorts to marketing. It should be the other way around. The best brand names are not second hand, but first hand.

[Spexvet]

But, 70-year-old ladies want to see themselves as the 30-something that is pictured!

Signed,
Mr. Marketing.

And when the 70-year-old lady puts on that frame, doesn't she look 30-something? And slim? And athletic? And rich? etc...

[For-Life]

Don't you love frame advertisements when the models are holding the frames, wearing them on his or her's head or with no frames at all.

I will make sure to stock up on those.

[Spexvet]

Did you notice in the Varilux Liberty ad (where the woman is selling her lined bifocals at a yard sale) that she looks thirty-something - not like someone who has worn bifocals at all, let alone lined ones?

[For-Life]

Did you notice in the Varilux Liberty ad (where the woman is selling her lined bifocals at a yard sale) that she looks thirty-something - not like someone who has worn bifocals at all, let alone lined ones?

Yeah, that was funny.

However, I have to give it to Essilor for that lens. I do not like it, but I bet it is converting a lot of lined wearers.

[spartus]

We're finding it a great lens for first-time presbyopes, actually. We told the Essilor rep about our success and she shook her head saying, "Oh, no no no," but we've had almost no nonadapts (fewer than Panamic, certainly), and everyone seems to quite like it.

I put one of our docs in it--moved him from a Panamic--and he claims it's just as good or better than the Panamic was for him. I let him wear it for three or four hours before I asked him how he liked it--he hadn't noticed the change.

Which, I guess, is both good and bad, huh? Anyway, three months or so later, and he says it's perfect for him. He's only at a +1.50 add, though, so maybe his opinion will change in a couple of years.

The other thing that it's worked well for (to the rep's additional horror) is as a premium computer lens--something to move up from an Interview or Access. We don't do it often, but people seem to enjoy that as well.

It's also interesting that Essilor's British site markets the Liberty as a budget PAL, instead of primarily a bifocal-conversion lens.

My feeling these days typically with regards to switching bifocal wearers into PALs is: don't. This, of course, varies with where you're at. When I worked in St. Louis, probably upwards of 60% of presbyopes were in lined bifocals, and merely bringing up a PAL practically made them clamp their hands over their ears. In Southern California, practically the only lined wearers are 65 and older, and most of them are upwards of 75. A lot of those 43-year olds in STL could have used a PAL, but they really didn't seem all that interested. It's working in optical where I learned why they call it the "Show-Me" state.

Me: But... it's better! Lots better! Here's some diagrams! You'll thank me later.

Them: (blank stare) I'll just get what mom's got.

[chip anderson]

Try Laurenettes and show them the difference.

[spartus]

That would have been helpful! Sadly, I worked at a fairly low-end chain, and they weren't really generous with useful sales tools.

We did have monogrammed shirts, though. That's got to count for something.