Interview: Seiko moves to Wrexham

Last week, the first group of Seiko Vision Specialist delegates walked through the Shoji screen-inspired doors of its training academy in Wrexham.  

What greeted them was the brand-new Seiko Training Academy, an embodiment of a £3.5m investment in the Seiko Vision brand. Alongside the academy, this cash injection will see Seiko lens manufacturing in Wrexham and a renewed push to grow the Seiko Specialist network of independent opticians.  

Leading that charge is the commercial director of Seiko UK, Jonathan Cohen, who has been at the helm of the business for the past two years. 

Known to many through his 10 years in UK optics, Cohen is clear about the task in hand and how he wants to be perceived. ‘Our position for Seiko is super crystal clear and we want to make the most of the Seiko brand and the value proposition for the independent channel. That is where we are really focusing our effort.  

‘We think there are 3,500 independents on the market. Today, we have roughly 250 that we call Seiko Vision Specialists (SVS). Our ambition in the next five years is to be towards the 500 mark.’ To do that, he is focusing on the top tier of independents. 

The nuances of niche versus exclusive are not lost on Cohen and he understands exactly where he wants Seiko to be. Seiko is an exclusive, but not a niche player in the market. ‘That is exactly what we want, actually,’ he says. 

‘What we are saying to independents is that you need to think really hard about your differentiation strategy. Differentiation might mean a different frame assortment; it might mean your clinical expertise and the equipment you have in your testing room, but also your lens choice and who you decide to partner with. Every single decision you make as an independent, in my view, needs to serve your differentiation strategy.’ 

This is important as the market changes, he adds. The multiples are strong, new channels are emerging and independents are gathering in groups to realise benefits of scale. ‘Now, more than ever, independents have to think about their differentiation strategy, that’s where we fit in,’ adds Cohen. 

With 250 doors, Seiko has around 6-7% market share, he adds. ‘That means we could be used as a tool by the independents to really offer something different to their community and their patients.’  

He says, at the moment, the likelihood is that any practice’s competition will be using one of the ‘big boys’, so Seiko offers that difference.  

Network benefits 

As well as using Seiko lenses, Cohen wants to recruit to the SVS network. This offers a full programme of product, business and practice support. As might be expected, the more commitment the practice shows to the brand, the more the practice gets from the supplier in return. The opening of the academy is a clear marker of intent, in order to obtain that commitment and create more SVSs, but Cohen accepts that this is part of a process. 

We are happy if the customer wants to use us as a secondary or tertiary supplier and if there is some commitment to spend, then we are happy to try to get them within the SVS concept.’ 

Cohen says the SVS concept is built on four things. The first is the brand, the second thing is product and services. To illustrate the third element, he points to the SVS wheel on the academy wall. ‘This goes above and beyond just supplying lenses. We constantly challenge ourselves to think about what else we could be doing to help our customers thrive in the market. The last leg of the SVS concept is the terms on which the lenses are bought.’ 

He says this will always be different, quickly adding: ‘Seiko can be surprisingly competitive.’ 

To build the SVS network, Seiko is going out to the market with a simple message. ‘It may sound like a buzzword but, in the context of a consolidating market, it’s not a buzzword; it’s that point of differentiation.’ It is the concept of ‘dare to be different’, he adds, creating a spark of curiosity among the customers who are not working with them to want to learn more. 

‘When we have a chance to sit down with independents and go through the SVS concept, we can go deeper on the brand, deeper on the product, deeper on the services and deeper on the terms. They tend to be convinced.’ 

He says Seiko’s success rate has been good in the past 12 months. ‘There’s nothing to say “no” to and they are invariably convinced. That’s how they tend to join us.’ 

When asked about how Seiko is targeting independents in such a tight and defined market, he says the current process is to identify the right practices. Seiko believes one such group of practices are those that have the aspiration to be different and position themselves at the luxury end.  

Seiko has its own way of targeting practices that feel their current supplier is not meeting their needs. Cohen says he is willing to work with any practices that are ‘willing to play the high-end game.’ 

To illustrate the point, he reels off the names of a host of top end practices in city centre settings, but says Seiko also has a strong customer base in areas with less affluent demographics. Another target for Seiko is the Irish market, which it has not worked in before. 

Wherever new customers come from, Cohen says differentiation is always the starting point. Seiko wants to be seen as specialist, but it is not all about specialist product. 

‘We definitely don’t want to be a niche in a niche. That’s not our position. We want to get to about 500 [customers] in 2027 – that’s 8% market share. As stage one, we would be very happy with that.  

‘It’s totally achievable. We have a very wide product portfolio. That is one of the benefits of being part of the Hoya Vision Care organisation. Our portfolio is as rich as anyone else’s.’ As well as a range of indices, it has various varifocal designs, coating, photochromics and one of the widest ranges of tints on the market. Definitely not niche. 

The link to Wrexham immediately begs the Hoya question. Globally, Seiko is part-owned by Hoya, the two are sister companies with totally separate brands and product portfolios. Picking up the point on being part of Hoya Vision Care, Cohen explains that the two have different value propositions and narratives to the market and distinct product designs, support and sales force. The commercial strategy is definitely to have two propositions to the market and address different needs. 

Independents looking to differentiate themselves will decide which brand strategy suits them and all the values that go along with it. He also makes another interesting point about scale. ‘Many independents still want to partner with smaller organisations with a smaller sales team and more agile teams; the computer never says “no”. The kind of thing they would experience with a small independent lab.’  

He says a lot of independents make their decisions based on that. ‘It is the “people buy people” scenario.’ 

Cohen elaborates: ‘The beauty of Seiko is that we have the absolute best of both worlds. We are a small team, so can interact with customers in an agile and close way but, at the same time, we deliver because we have the muscle of the Hoya Vision Care organisation behind us.’ 

The brand 

It is impossible to talk about Seiko without mentioning the brand. It is a huge global name that has massive unprompted recognition, so how can that be harnessed?  

‘For me, it’s a massive untapped opportunity,’ says Cohen. There is a strategy, he says, but perhaps not angled quite right or implemented to the best effect. ‘I think it’s something where we have to up the ante ourselves.’ 

He says some independents see that power and are great advocates for Seiko, but others might not see it. Either way, the most important brand is the name over the door of the independent practice. Ultimately, the Seiko brand is a tool independents can use and Seiko has to do much more to get that across.  

‘The challenge we have is to bring the independent optician on that journey with us.’