Branding a profession

Not only do consumers routinely confuse Opticians with Optometrists and Ophthalmologists, but many perceive Opticians as people who only sell glasses, not recognizing them as professionals who have the significant technical skills and knowledge that help people see the best they can.

To solve this problem, Outsidein Communications and our creative partners Bau+Wow Design were engaged by the Opticians Council of Canada to create a national brand for the Opticianry profession to clarify its role for the public and raise awareness.

The Brand: After much research, we differentiated Opticians as the professionals who make you see better. To reinforce that Opticians were trained and regulated professionals, we positioned them as “Licensed” Opticians. The tagline “Vision refined” speaks to the distinctive value proposition of an Optician. The visual logo reflects a contemporary, confident and intelligent profession.

Raising Awareness: We created and executed on a strategy for an integrated awareness campaign directed at both the 6000+ Opticians across Canada, to engage them in the brand and awareness process, and at the general public. We told the Opticians story through a brief multi-media clip. We used direct mail to tell Opticians about the campaign and to drive them to the Licensed Optician website where they could access tools and get involved. For the public, we created educational material, a Find-an-Optician online tool, as well as a TV ad targeted at women 35+ years.

Results: Already many Opticians have signed up via the website to engage in the campaign. Website traffic for the public to find an Optician is growing and Youtube, where the ad is available, is showing very encouraging stats.  This is the first wave of a long-term campaign strategy. 

Building a client-focused website for BC Safety Authority

Websites are like gardens. Without careful planning, weeding and pruning they become unmanageable.

As a busy, growing and complex organization, the BC Safety Authority knew its website needed an overhaul. Without a clear website strategy or a way to govern content, the website had become hard to navigate and unmanageable. Because clients couldn’t find the critical information they needed they resorted to calling Customer Service. Outsidein Communications and our web partners, Domain7, were engaged to do an overhaul.

We started with internal and external research to determine the organization’s shared vision for the website and what clients would find helpful. Based on that, we created a long-term web strategy so the website could grow with the organization. We took a client-focused (outside-in) approach to the site map and created a content strategy to re-write, reduce and re-organize information. We added strategically useful functionality such as notifications and sign-ups. To keep content consistent, current and relevant we developed a governance strategy, content and website management process that would ensure that the evolution of this large and complex website would always support the strategic goals of the organization. Check out the new website here.

Results: The new website was just launched in May and although activel promotion has just started, in its first month the BC Safety Authority has had a significant number of clients sign up for notifications. Google Analytics also show that the most popular page is now one that is key to BC Safety’s business success indicating that clients have begun to return to the site and find the information they need quickly and easily.