ReNu brand renewed; SofLens debuts online

Key Points

Rochester, NY-Bausch & Lomb Vision Care (B&L) is reintroducing its ReNu line of eye-care products to consumers and eye-care practitioners in an effort to both meet customers' needs and rejuvenate its product line.

The company recently unveiled ReNu Fresh Lens Comfort and ReNu Sensitive Eyes, the first designed to provide customers with a daily "fresh lens feeling," and the latter designed to tackle the challenges associated with sensitive eyes. The products formerly were known as ReNu Multi-Plus and ReNu Multi-Purpose, respectively.

To support the push, B&L has mustered both a dedicated U.S. lens care solution and eye-care product sales force tasked with engaging the medical community. A consumer-focused marketing campaign includes two Web sites- http://www.renufresh.com/, which allows consumers to vote for their favorite fresh image of the day, and http://www.renu.com/, which gives customers tips and eye information-free-standing advertising inserts, in-store shelf talkers and banners, and an online advertising and keyword search campaign.

The company will tout its new line through a dedicated Web site, http://www.soflens.com/, online advertising, site sponsorships, and special promotions. Web site features include a free trial, a practitioner locator, and a video demo.

SofLens daily disposable contact lenses feature ComfortMoist technology, which combines a moisture-rich packaging solution and a thin lens design to provide all-day comfort, according to the company.

Also, the results of a recent survey may be encouraging to B&L and the company's hopes for high interest and adoption of its Lo-Torque brand.

The survey, conducted by Decision Analyst, a consumer marketing research and consulting services firm, showed that two-thirds of respondents with astigmatism who have never worn contact lenses and nearly half of respondents with astigmatism who have worn contact lenses in the past would be interested in soft toric contact lenses if their eye-care practitioners recommended them.

The issue, however, is that when a soft toric lens is rotated or moved off axis, which are common occurrences during lens insertion or eye-rubbing, rapid rotational recovery to the lens resting position is compromised, creating the potential for variable vision or loss of visual quality. Those issues could lead to patient dissatisfaction, up to and including dropping out of lens wear. Thus, the right toric design becomes critical.

B&L plans to provide information and clinical research related to toric stability-including insights on the strong rotational recovery and vision performance of its Lo-Torque design versus other toric designs, as well as practitioner perspective on the importance of lens stability, in particular rotational recover-soon.