Galileo aims at the historic advantage of its lenses
It’s a difficult moment for everyone but the hope is that things will get better in the months to come. During Mido this was how Celeste Boerci, managing director of Galileo (Italy’s historic ophthalmic lens company), assessed the situation of the eyewear sector in the light of the global economic crisis.
“At the moment”, Boerci commented, “Galileo is perfectly in line with a market that is experiencing a downturn of 10 to 15%. We hope that things will get better in the second half of the year, but until then it’s going to be difficult”.
As far as the company’s future projects are concerned, Boerce said that “the Galileo brand’s added value could be of fundamental importance. Generally, when there is a reduction in demand, consumers who find a reliable brand and product are more likely to stick to it. Galileo is a recognizable brand and this could be an extra weapon with respect to our competitors”.
Commenting about the innovations presented by Galileo at MIDO 2009, Boerci said that there were “basically two important innovations: the first is the new catalog, which has been given a completely new form and graphics thanks to the communication agency GWC World, and the second is the Galileo Club”.
The restyling of the product catalog aims at making it more pleasing, easier to use and more practical, whereas the objective of Galileo Club membership (free) is to foster an increase in the sale of ophthalmic lenses and improve contact with the reference audience.
Returning to more general topics, the managing director of Galileo stated that as far as his company was concerned, holding Mido in March wouldn’t alter anything: “we are absolutely indifferent”.
And his answer to the recurring question about using testimonials for promotional campaigns was the same as that given by many other operators: “we thought about it in the past, but our final evaluation was to aim more at the historic advantage of the Galileo brand rather than associate it with a testimonial”.
