Think About Your Eyes launches breakthrough commercials to encourage patient action

Think About Your Eyes' (TAYE's) new creative campaign will tug at Americans' heartstrings in a pair of primetime television commercials that celebrate the gift of sight and all that it brings to people's lives.

Launching July 31 on major broadcast and cable stations, the new commercials target parents with a focus on kids' vision health, and a broader adult audience with a message that reinforces the importance of vision health and annual, comprehensive eye examinations. Following the theme, "Seeing is a Gift," the commercials feature life's recognizable visual moments—welcoming a new baby, a wedding and children playing—to encourage good vision and eye health.

"Think About Your Eyes has propelled eye and vision health by educating Americans with optometry's singular message—the importance of getting a comprehensive eye examination," says Christopher J. Quinn, O.D., AOA president. "The AOA and our member doctors of optometry are excited to take that message to the next level and engage even more patients than ever through these new, breakthrough advertisements."

TAYE, a national public awareness initiative in partnership with the AOA, has aired public service announcement-style ads since 2007 with a goal of bolstering patient education around eye care, yet these newest commercials take a different tack. The commercials are the culmination of market research and creative testing into how strongly emotional response was tied to behavior change.

"We saw an increasing need to reach patients on an emotional level with our message about annual eye exams, and thus the opportunity to develop a new creative campaign to change their behavior around their vision health," said Jon Torrey, TAYE campaign executive director, in a news release.

Specifically, these new commercials will debut in primetime on NBC's "America's Got Talent" on Aug. 1 and Aug. 8, with ads running on 27 total cable networks, including USA, Comedy Central and FX.

Want to catch the Think About Your Eyes ads?

What: "America's Got Talent" on NBC
When: 8-10 p.m. ET, Aug. 1; 8-10 p.m. ET, Aug. 8.

What: Major League Baseball on ESPN
When: 7-10 p.m. ET, Aug. 2; 8-11 p.m. ET, Aug. 6; 8-11 p.m. ET, Aug 13.

AOA steps up support for 2017 campaign

TAYE's new, strategic commercials were made possible by the addition of new industry partners and increased contributions from existing partners, including AOA, that expanded the campaign budget by more than 60%. In announcing AOA's increased campaign support earlier this year, AOA Past President Andrea P. Thau, O.D., told affiliate leadership that  TAYE is working to drive home its eye health message.

Last year alone, 1.15 million more eye examinations were conducted and attributed to the public seeing or hearing a TAYE advertisement, while the campaign also shortened the examination cycle by 45%. These impressive results affirmed the campaign's viability in meeting specific goals of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicare report, "Making Eye Health a Population Health Imperative: Vision for Tomorrow," namely as a means to help alleviate the public health burden of preventable vision loss through greater public awareness. The AOA House of Delegates went as far as adopting a resolution to support TAYE as a worthwhile strategy already in place.

Moreover, those patients are accessing the more than 19,000 doctors of optometry—including 100% of doctors from 39 leadership state affiliates and the Armed Forces Optometric Society—listed on TAYE's online search tool.

"Together, we can truly make this initiative better and further improve patient eye and vision health," Dr. Thau told affiliates at the 2017 Presidents' Council.

Now, midway through the 2017 campaign, TAYE's commercials are more visible than ever with a projected 1 billion-plus ad impressions. Many of those patients will visit TAYE's campaign website to learn more about eye and vision health, and connect with a doctor of optometry nearest them. Therefore, make sure your practice is listed on the TAYE doctor locator; here's how:

• Go to thinkaboutyoureyes.com/partner/american-optometric-association
• Enter your AOA member ID
• Choose either a basic or premium listing to customize your visibility

See what TAYE means to a pair of doctors in Los Angeles and Michigan.