Industry News
Interview with Maui Jim at VEE
At the recent Vision Expo East in New York, held at the end of March, eyesmart.com.au had the opportunity to conduct an interview with Maui Jim management.
Maui Jim was represented by Diego de Castro, Global Director Brand Strategy, and Craig LaManna, Marketing Director Ophthalmic.
eyesmart.com.au (ES): What is Maui Jim's strategy especially with regards to the Australia/NZ market?
Maui Jim (MJ): On the global side MJ has three main areas:
- North America (Canada/US/Mexico) is about 60% of business
- Europe
- APAC with a basis in Australia but it also includes Saudi Arabia, Emirates, Vietnam, China, South Africa, (Asia Pacific)
On the prescription side, MJ has a lab in the US and Germany (opened just last year). These labs serve all MJs markets for prescriptions. There is no lab in Australia. Australia is served from the US lab. MJ sees a lot of room to grow in Australia. This is in contrast to the US which is more a mature market for MJ. In the US people know the brand and technology of MJ which results in a strong base. Regarding Australia, it is about bringing awareness of the MJ brand and technology such as UV protection. Basically, it is about growing the brand in Austalia. It is still a small volume. Our communication in Australia focuses on why MJ is different and better.
ES: More and more digitalization is happening in the marketplace. How is MJ positioning itself regarding this?
MJ: MJ sells only plano (no prescription) online. Most buyers already know the brand before they place an online order. MJ believes in the digital world but wants to drive traffic of prescription glasses to the independent optical retailers.
ES: how do you communicate this to the market? Do you use traditional media and/or social media?
MJ: We do social media. We had some major effort last year in Australia but for some strategic reason, MJ has decided not to do it this year.
What we are proud of in our communication is that it is different. For MJ it is more important how you see through the frame rather than how you look with the frame on your face. MJ wants to keep communication as simple as possible.
ES: Do you have any new development going on with for instance photochromic lenses?
MJ: No. MJ has its own technology on the sun with polarized lenses and own coatings. Every MJ sunglass has the same technology. MJ believes you should have one frame for indoors and another for outdoors giving the user the best experience. However, the company has patents on photochromic lenses.
ES: on the e-commerce side, MJ is using Sunglass Hut in Australia.
MJ: yes, one of MJ´s biggest accounts is Sunglass Hut
ES: Sunglass Hut is also a competitor for MJ. So why do you think Sunglass Hut is using your sunglasses?
MJ: That´s mainly because consumers are asking for our products. We have strong branding in the US. This is not yet at the same level in Australia but it is pretty strong. It is the third most important market for MJ after the US and Canada. Our APAC marketing team is located in Australia.
We always try to be ahead of the competition regarding the optical performance for the patient with for example new lens materials and new mirrors. MJ just launched the green mirror lenses for instance. The main push is on the ophthalmic side or clear lenses. For the optical frames, about 70% of the jobs that come through MJ labs have requested for a MJ logo on the lens. The sunglasses have always a MJ logo on the lens. There are about 80 styles of optical frames and 120 styles of sunglasses.
ES: It seems that MJ is more a solution provider rather than a fashion provider with its product offerings. Is that right?
MJ: Yes, that's correct. It is more about best optical experience first such as performance, quality, what you see through the lens rather than a fashion statement with our products. MJ is the only brand that is gender neutral as we have a 50/50 split in our product range offerings with most of the styles unisex.
Maui Jim will have a booth at next month's O=MEGA19 trade fair at stand H05.
