Strategy: Bausch & Lomb Juices Eye Drop Unit With New Tag, More Ads, Geek Item

Bausch & Lomb will sharply boost spending on its eye drop products next year and unveil a pithier advertising tagline as the company restages its current portfolio and introduces a new entry aimed specifically at computer users.
The No. 2 eye drop marketer will shortly roll out Bausch & Lomb Computer Eye Drops, a lubricant which promises to "revitalize" tired eyes and alleviate "computer vision syndrome." The product contains 1% glycerin, compared to 0.3% for most other eye drops.
B&L will also begin promoting two new sub-brands: Moisture Eyes and All Clear. The brands will incorporate a range of existing products that were previously marketed under different names, including Duo-Lube and Dry Eye Therapy. All of the products now feature packaging that unifies the line according to function.
The company will begin advertising the lineup next year with the tagline, "See How It Feels," a pithier alternative to the existing slogan, "The relief your eyes have been looking for." Agency is Warwick Baker O'Neill, N.Y.
"We've gone through the entire franchise and reinvented it," said Jeff McLean, director of marketing for general eyecare at B&L. "The new tagline will be everywhere, in all TV and print executions. It provides the cornerstone for all of our consumer communication." He said it was too early to provide details of specific creative executions.
Computer Eye Drops will debut this week at Comdex, the mammoth personal computer trade show in Las Vegas frequented by geeks who spend too much time staring at computer screens. B&L is also launching a Web site this week (www.bauscheyecare.com) de-signed to promote the drops, which skew predominantly to young adult males. The site will be updated through next year to provide information on other B&L eyecare products.
McLean wouldn't reveal a budget, but B&L spent about $6 million on ads last year and is on a similar track so far this year. Most of the support has gone to Opcon-A, the company's allergy relief drops, as momentum in the estimated $325 million category continues to move away from simple redness relief to antihistamines.
For the year ended Oct. 12, Bausch & Lomb eyecare products, including contact lens solutions, recorded sales of $183.5 million, according to scanner data tracked by Information Resources Inc.
B&L was No. 2 in eye drops, behind Pfizer.