B&L launches public relations initiative for PureVision brand

The move, which was timed to coincide with the start of National Eye Week on Monday, follows four months after the company launched to the profession at the British Contact Lens Association conference (News, May 28,1999). A consumer awareness campaign will promote the PureVision brand through a series of interviews with national publications and broadcast organisations. This week Nick Atkins, B&L's professional marketing and clinical affairs manager, dismissed claims that the public relations initiative had been brought forward. 'Our figures are tracking very nicely for what we originally planned. It's been a massive education and communication exercise for us, and we are pleased that there are a lot of practitioners out there who are listening to what we are saying.' Mr Atkins added that he hoped increased consumer awareness and knowledge of continuous-wear lenses would counteract negative media coverage. Comments by ophthalmologist John Dart on the safety of the new-generation extended-wear lenses were widely reported in the press (News, July 23). 'We wanted to wait until the effects of The Lancet paper had died down, and come back with a more positive story,' Mr Atkins said. He confirmed that B&L had no plans to launch a consumer advertising campaign until next year. - See Debate, page 17. academy's British chapter celebrates anniversary US-based Professor Jerome Sherman delivered this year's Lord Charnwood Memorial Lecture to the conference of the American Academy of Optometry's British Chapter. The event, held at Eynsham Hall, Oxford, last weekend, was also an occasion to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the chapter by Lord Charnwood of Castle Donnington and optometrist Eric Bateman. Professor Sherman is pictured with a commemorative plaque bearing the Charnwood family's coat of arms.