Specsavers makes a visit to Neighbours' Ramsey Street
Specsavers has launched a new sponsorship campaign to raise awareness of Home Visits, its comprehensive eyecare service for people who can’t get to a Specsavers store unaccompanied
Taking on the title sponsorship of C5’s Neighbours, this is the first time the company’s domiciliary business has been promoted at scale and is part of a projected £5m marketing investment in the service during the next year.
Specsavers’ Home Visits business has gone from strength to strength in the last 18 months. With an ageing and increasingly housebound population, Specavers estimates the market to be made up of at least 1.2 million people, although general awareness of the service is still relatively low. Specsavers’ ambition is to grow turnover to £100million in Home Visits by 2025 and to become the leading provider in the UK, enabling more people to access potentially life and sight-saving eye care in their own homes.
Breaking this week, the Neighbours sponsorship delivers substantial reach and affinity among the Home Visits core audience: 60% of which are ABC1 55+ adults, 35% of which are 75+ and long-term loyal viewers. Capitalising on this warmth and nostalgia, the cheeky idents show one of the Specsavers Home Visits team providing friendly eyecare expertise to classic Neighbours characters, including Harold and Madge.
For the 15, 10 and five second spots, vintage Neighbours clips have been carefully intertwined with newly shot footage to create the illusion of amusing conversations between the Specsavers expert and her Neighbours’ customers.
The work was created by Bertie Rapkin and Jon Morgan at The Agency, Specsavers’ in-house creative agency, and was directed by Ollie Parsons through Another Film Company.
Sarah Lawrence, head of marketing - Domiciliary & Audiology, said: ‘We are delighted to be working with Neighbours as it is a fantastic opportunity to highlight our Home Visits service and support our ambitious growth plans. Moreover, we know that increased awareness of Home Visits has a positive impact on the overall Specsavers brand and really helps to highlight how we care for our customers.’
Richard James, creative director, The Agency, added: ‘Neighbours is the perfect vehicle for us to reach our audience. The team have done an amazing job of leveraging the nostalgia and affection for these seminal characters, to deliver our message of care, quality and compassion in a warm, light-hearted way.’
The Specsavers Home Visits service provides a free NHS-funded eye test, a great selection of glasses and high standards of care – all from the comfort of your own home. To check if you or someone you know is eligible click here.