Annual review Specsavers Annual Report LR Proof | Page 46

Australian cricket team members take part in a special testing session at our Rundle Mall store .
Reaching more customers
We continue to seek creative and impactful ways to promote our brand and retail offer . Working hand-in-hand with our partners to keep Specsavers front of mind helps attract more and more customers every day .
Sponsorship , with a particular emphasis on sport , plays a key role in our marketing strategy . We were official sponsors of the DHL New Zealand Lions Series 2017 match officials , and supported the New Zealand Super Rugby referees for the second year . As the official eyecare and eyewear provider to Cricket Australia for the 2017 season , we sponsored the ball tracker technology and provided eye tests to team members at our Rundle Mall store in South Australia .
Last year , eye health ambassadors such as Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe and British TV presenter Anne Robinson proved influential in raising public awareness of eye health . Olympian Ian Thorpe fronted a campaign to promote the importance of regular eye tests to the 10 million Australians who don ’ t currently have one .
We continued our partnership with the Royal National Institute of Blind People ( RNIB ) and took part in a unique television campaign that enabled viewers to watch a commercial break through the eyes of people with sightloss conditions . In conjunction with National Eye Health Week , different visual filters were applied to the adverts to illustrate five of the most common eye conditions in the UK : macular degeneration , cataracts , diabetesrelated conditions , hemianopia and glaucoma . We also
Specsavers co-founders Dame Mary and Doug Perkins with RNIB Vice President Lady Penny Lancaster-Stewart .
joined forces with the RNIB to take a sight-loss simulator , Eye Pod , on a national tour . By demonstrating sightthreatening eye conditions in a real-life context , the Eye Pod proved to be an innovative , engaging way of helping educate members of the public about the importance of eye health .
‘ Our partnerships with the RNIB and the International Glaucoma Association are about transforming eye health – educating the public on the importance of eye examinations and what optometrists are capable of in helping to diagnose and manage sight-threatening conditions . Equally important , therefore , is to ensure that as many optometrists as possible are fully confident and competent to deliver the range of enhanced services that patients , wherever they live , will gradually come to expect from their high-street optician .’ Doug Perkins , Specsavers co-founder
22