When Hoyalux iD MyStyle won the optical product of the year a resounding cheer rang through the ballroom of London's Hilton Hotel.
While the volume was boosted by the Hoya table it was also clearly a popular choice among the assembled opticians in the room. It also wasn't the first time they had lent their support to the winning product.
Judging the Optical Product of the Year Award has become a notoriously difficult job. Open to all types of products, the shortlist invariably includes lenses, frames, contact lenses and ancillary products. This year that task was made easier by the array of nominations and testimonials provided by practices for Hoya's winning lens.
That support came in the form of praise for the way in which iD MyStyle was presented and promoted, the customer support provided, but most of all by the performance of the product.
Those letters of support carried eulogies from wearers whose expectation has been surpassed and from practitioners who said the lens took away the fear factor in prescribing something new. Ease of adaptation comes as a great comfort to practices who have opted to offer premium lenses and simply don't want to take risks with their customer relationships.
To understand where that confidence comes from you have to look at the lens.
Paul Bullock, professional services manager, Hoya Lens says Hoyalux iD MyStyle is the most advanced and individual progressive lens that Hoya has ever designed and is part of the Hoyalux iD FreeForm family.
'Utilising true freeform design technology, Hoyalux iD MyStyle is created from a complete blank, a puck of lens material, free-forming both sides of the lens, incorporating different elements of the progressive design onto both surfaces and integrating them together to achieve the best characteristics of both front surface and rear surface progressives,' he says.
iD MyStyle was developed to match patient needs and takes its starting point from the lifestyle needs, previous lenses worn plus other measurements. 'Objective measurements such as monocular PD, back vertex distance, pantoscopic angle, dihedral angle as well as other precisely defined measurements are taken into account,' says Bullock.
'To make it easier to define the right personalised design direction, we have developed the MyStyle iDentifier consultation and selection programme. This is an online consultation tool that helps the optician to select the optimal personalised Hoyalux iD MyStyle progressive. The bespoke experience for the consumer emphasises the strong focus on individuality and differentiation.
'Within the MyStyle iDentifier is a complex algorithm, which calculates the most suitable design direction for the patient taking into account the patient's lifestyle requirements, previous wearing history, success of previous wear as well the prescription and the parameters of the frame. Once the direction has been calculated this serves as the foundation for the final tailormade result. It is combined with the optician's measurements to produce the definitive FreeForm Hoyalux iD MyStyle design, fine tuned for each personal prescription with unlimited variations.
'This comprehensive approach to personalisation is then manufactured using the latest in freeform lens production and polishing methods with iD FreeForm Technology resulting in an exceptional product.'
Managing director Martin Batho said: 'For some years we had been promoting our independent customers by sponsoring the Independent Optician of The Year Award and in doing so have encouraged our customers to enter. Having witnessed other suppliers using this great opportunity to raise their company profile with customers, and given that one of Hoya's core strengths is our commitment to continued innovation and new product development, we felt that entering Optical Product of the Year was a perfect platform to highlight our great strengths as a company.'
Hoya, he said, was encouraged to enter because of the positive feedback it got from customers about the product. 'Opticians and patients alike had either prescribed Hoyalux iD MyStyle or were wearers of the product, and in some cases both, with many opticians choosing to wear Hoyalux iD MyStyle as their first choice progressive lens design.'
Hoya has also capitalised on its success said Steve Kneen, marketing manager. 'Hoya's premium individualised freeform lens is now supported with enticing display material promoting the Optical Product of the Year message. Since winning Hoya has seen sales of this premium option rise by 30 per cent as practitioners recognise the benefits that it brings to patient satisfaction and practice loyalty. The new display shows that by putting ourselves in the patients' shoes we can create a personalised progressive for every individual.'
The handmade trophy has become a centrepiece for a display at Hoya's headquarters and has also been on tour at meetings across the UK. Entering and winning is also an experience Batho would encourage others aspire to. 'Having an award-winning product has helped to drive sales within all customer channels, with many customers wanting to dispense and be associated with the Optical Product of the Year. I can say with some certainty that Hoya will certainly nominate its products and services again at this great event and I would encourage others to do so.' ?