Transitions Drivewear campaign

The Challenge

Glasses Direct, the UK’s leading online glasses retailer, partnered with its sister brand, Transitions, to launch its innovative “light intelligent lenses” to create its “Drivewear” range. Specifically designed to driving, the lenses seamlessly adapt to changing light situations, with the lenses changing from clear to dark when you experience sun glare and when going from outdoors and back to clear when you return inside - a world-first polarised sun lens for driving with colour and light adaptation, thanks to advanced photochromic technology. . The Highway Code states that glasses wearers must always use glasses when in control of a vehicle, however, just 1% of sunglass sales worldwide are sold through qualified Opticians. Glasses Direct enlisted ADPR’s support to create a engaging campaign to educate the public about the Drivewear launch, and its benefits of optimal vision experience and colour contrast whilst driving, reacting to both UV and visible light. The brand wanted to also highlight how driving glasses can be a fashionable accessory to showcase your personality and accentuate your style, whilst the Transitions lens reduces glare when at the wheel.

The Solution

ADPR worked closely with Glasses Direct to plan an exciting and informative launch. The team managed the research and planning with both the client, and Transitions, to develop an impactful launch of the Drivewear collection. Tied into Road Safety Week, ADPR sourced a celebrity talent to drive the launch campaign: Dr Alex George – the perfect match for the Drivewear target audience, particularly as a glasses wearer himself and as the UK’s Youth Mental Health Ambassador. ADPR negotiated various deliverables including media interviews and a broadcasting day, to highlight world-first features of the collection and key brand messaging, along with timeline and content production. In further social media promotion, ADPR enlisted the support of renowned car enthusiast and glasses wearer, Mat Watson, founder of industry-leading YouTube channel CarWow, and Mat Watson Cars.

Dr Alex George promoted the Drivewear range, advocating for Transitions lens’ health benefits, and styling new designs to his young audience. This involved orchestrating a media day with press and broadcast interviews, interviewing Dr Alex George as the face of the campaign, discussing the importance of eye health and wearing Drivewear glasses whilst on the roads, to improve visibility and driving performance.  To further support the launch, we designed an insightful survey as a newsworthy hook, around (what topics/data), alongside asocial media campaign, to maximise impact across all owned, earned and social channels.

Mat Watson supported the launch of Drivewear, through delivering an engaging YouTube video testing Transitions lenses comparatively to his normal glasses, reviewing performance and visibility at the wheel of a vehicle.

The Results

The campaign launch was fantastically received by both media and consumers, generating vast reach and results for Glasses Direct. The media day generated a total of 64 pieces of coverage, and a reach of more than 323 million across national publications, including print, digital, broadcast and social.

Radio coverage was secured with the BBC, TalkTV and Gateway.fm. Each interview with celebrity spokesperson, Dr Alex, harnessed key messages, product information and consumer survey statistics to grab the attention of more than 1.27 million radio listeners.

Digital media coverage was achieving in leading online titles, including Yahoo! News, producing a combined online audience readership of 320 million. Print coverage was secured in national newspapers, such as Daily Express and Daily Star, generating results of print circulation figures in excess of 662,000. Overall, Glasses Direct’s and Transitions partnership for its Drivewear launch and campaign was a huge success, thanks ADPR’s management of a multi-facet campaign.

Social media coverage of Drivewear in a lap-time track challenge comparison YouTube video on Mat Watson Cars’ channel generated more than 146,000 views, an audience reach of 898,000, 4,300 likes and 242 comments.