Vision correction

After some initial short-sightedness, eye-care companies opened consumers' eyes to the market for coloured contact lenses

A couple of youngsters gather around the optics counter at Amarsons, a departmental store in the Mumbai suburb of Bandra. They are here to check out shades of cosmetic eye lenses.

In the recent past, salesmen at the store have been used to dozens of such inquiries, especially from college students.

How many of them actually buy cosmetic lenses? Considering that the store has not advertised the availability of imported cosmetic lens, sales are quite encouraging. Every week, Amarsons sells an average of five pairs of coloured lenses.

This may not be an eye-popping number, but it is certainly a new outlook for a business that hadn't exactly caught the consumer's eye.

Today, the market for contact lenses roughly covers nine lakh users and is growing at 20 per cent annually.

Yet when optical solutions company Bausch & Lomb first launched its coloured lenses in 1995, potential Indian customers were far from starry-eyed with the idea.

That was partly because the use of contact lenses even for prescription purposes was low "" there were hardly 1.5 lakh contact lens users in India at the time.

Significantly, one of the main drivers for the current growth has been the introduction of disposal contact lenses.

In particular, it has been the disposable coloured lenses that have helped broaden the user-base to customers who don't need lenses for vision correction.

Says J P Singh, managing director, Bausch & Lomb, "At least 60 per cent of coloured lens users don't have vision problems. They wear them only to look trendy."

For instance, at Rukmann Optics in Khar, a Mumbai suburb, 18 to 20 customers walk in to buy coloured lenses in a week, up from just one or two purchases just three years ago, and most of these buyers don't need vision correction.

Moreover, disposable contact lenses (soft lenses that last for a month) are available for Rs 1,000 to 1,500 "" almost half the price of conventional lenses (semi-soft or hard lenses that last for six months to a year).

So far, Bausch & Lomb and Cibavision "" the erstwhile opti-care division of pharma major Novartis "" have been the main competitors in this segment. Both companies have played a major part in growing this niche segment after hitting several blind spots.

Bausch & Lomb, for instance, faced a basic problem. In the mid-nineties, customers were less than willing to try out coloured lenses.

"Customers were not even willing to switch to lenses from spectacles," recalls Singh.

The company initially attempted to induce trials at optician outlets, by offering free trials. But free trials at optician stores weren't tempting enough.

Plus, companies like Bausch & Lomb and then Cibavision "" which launched its Freshlook cosmetic lens brand in 1999 "" were also targeting the 30 to 40 age group.

Internationally, this age group is referred to as the "revitalisation group" because it is a captive audience for cosmetic lenses. Overseas, adults in this age group tend to go for make-overs to look younger or different.

However, companies couldn't apply this tenet to the more conservative Indian market. In India, coloured lenses were perceived as a bold and fashionable product that 30- or 40-year-olds wouldn't be seen dead trying out.

"So we turned all attention to the 15 to 25 age group, which would be more receptive in terms of trying out new stuff like coloured lenses," says Singh.

In 1997, the company roped in some opticians in its network to conduct promotional activities in colleges with the objective of inducing trials.

The company targeted 50 to 60 colleges across metros the first time. The promotion revolved around the theme of a "confident look pageant".

Participating students answered questions about themselves and wore a chosen colour of lens and posed in front of the camera. The pictures were taken against the backdrop of a poster resembling the Cosmopolitan magazine cover.

"The promotion got a lot of college-goers to try out cosmetic lenses "" even male students, who were difficult to convince," says Singh.

One of the course corrections that the company had to adopt was to allow extended trials (five or six hours) rather than one-time wear.

"This allowed users to check not only their comfort levels but also get feedback on the campus which led to faster buying decisions," says Singh.

The company says the promotions resulted in a conversion rate of close to 20 per cent. Encouraged by the initial success, the company has extended the promotion to about 100 opticians in nearly 15 cities.

Bausch & Lomb also held a nation-wide contest: "Face of the year". The "best looking" teen who wore lenses with elan got the face of the year award. To attract entries, the campaign was advertised in newspapers across cities.

If initiatives like these helped Bausch & Lomb to propel trials and conversions, small issues remained at the trade level. Companies retailed their lens brands through optician outlets.

In the early days, customers needed to be counselled about how to wear and maintain lenses.

But in most cases, opticians were reluctant to devote time needed for contact lenses because they considered it a loss-making proposition.

Clearly, something needed to be done to make it worth the optician's time. "We had to make cosmetic lenses an additional stream of revenue for the optician," says Sanjay Pillay, country head, Cibavision India.

So companies had to launch a barrage of trade incentive schemes "" like offering a pair of cosmetic lenses free with every pair of prescription lenses "" at least three times a year. "Such schemes have managed to increase retailer involvement," says Pillay.

But companies still bump into a glass wall when it comes to expanding their distribution reach. As Sonia Pall, director - client service, ACNielsen ORG-MARG, points out, "The retail structure makes it difficult to optimise contact with more pertinent consumer segments."

The only retail channel for any kind of contact lens remains the opticians' network. This is because contact lens trials need to be supervised by an optician.

"The biggest limitation is that coloured lens are not retailed at non-optician stores selling cosmetic items," says Pillay.

So recently, Cibavision pilot-tested a solution for Freshlook: it launched a gift certificate to target buyers who didn't frequent optic stores.

The company used its network of opticians in six metros to leverage trade relations among other retailers.

"Any retail outlet, irrespective of whether it sold grocery or leather goods or cosmetics, was given a try," says Pillay.

These retail outlets would sell gift certificates from the local optician, specifically for Freshlook brands at their outlets.

Gift vouchers for Freshlook at a neighbourhood chemist instead of the conventional optician outlet have increased sales of coloured lens by 20 per cent, claims the company.

Plans to extend the gift certificate for Freshlook to national retail chains like Shopper's Stop are in the pipeline.

At the same time, companies also had to readjust their product to market requirements. Shades like hazel brown, brownish green and greys has to be made readily available rather than dramatic blues, emerald green or violet.

To take the lesson further, Cibavision has also launched a range called Radiance that claim to add sparkle and depth to the eye rather than dramatising the eye colour.

Launched only a few months ago, this range is already contributing to 10 per cent of Cibavision's sales, claims the company.

For all this activity, cosmetic lenses remain a niche segment. In 1995, only 4,000 out of 1.5 lakh contact lens users were cosmetic lens users; today that number is up to 50,000, which is still small in percentage terms.

Still, the cosmetic lens market is attracting new players like Johnson & Johnson which recently extended its soft, disposable contact lens brand "" Acuvue "" into the coloured lens market.

Customers have clearly taken a re-look at coloured contact lenses. For companies, the question is whether they'll consider it a fad or a long-term vision statement.