Ashes cricket hero Shaun Marsh’s successful batting performances in Adelaide and Sydney have been linked to an illuminating Specsavers visit.
Last month, Australian Test batsman Shaun Marsh scored a match-winning century at the second Magellan Ashes Test, and last week, he backed up his 126 in Adelaide with a score of 156 in Sydney. News reports after the Adelaide Test suggested that the secret to his outstanding performance may have been improved vision following an eye test at Specsavers.
Former Australian Test cricketer Mitchell Johnson revealed in a Triple M radio broadcast that Shaun had worn contact lenses for the first time during the Adelaide test match as a result of the Specsavers visit.
“They [Specsavers] said his eyes were quite bad. He couldn’t really see the ball, I think he was just guessing,” Mitchell said. “He’s never worn contact lenses in his life, and he decided to wear them the day he got his hundred.”
The story subsequently went viral across the airwaves, in print media, and across social media. The radio segment can be found on the Triple M website.
Shaun’s eyes were tested as part of Specsavers’ partnership with Cricket Australia, which provides the Australian cricket teams and domestic umpires with access to regular eye tests and eyewear throughout the season. However, cricketers aren’t the only people benefiting from Specsavers contact lenses.
In the past year, Specsavers has delivered approximately 425 million contact lenses to patients across the world, including about 48 million lenses in Australia and New Zealand. As demonstrated by Shaun, contact lenses have the potential to provide significant lifestyle benefits as well as eye health benefits, including the option to play sports without glasses and offering spectacle wearers a way to change their look for a special event.
While some people may be reluctant to try contact lenses for the first time, all Specsavers optometrists and dispensers receive training that ensures a consistent patient education process, with each store emphasising its contact lens consultation, fitting and teaching service. Specsavers’ wide product range, which includes daily, fortnightly, monthly, toric and multifocal contact lenses, also ensures a variety of patient needs are catered for.
Specsavers’ online contact lens retailing system, introduced to Australia and New Zealand in 2012, allows patients to order contact lenses at any time, making it easy and convenient for them to organise delivery direct to their home or office without having to visit a store. This multichannel contact lens strategy led Specsavers to win the Australian Retailers Association Multichannel Retailer of the Year Award in 2014.
In addition, Specsavers’ free aftercare model ensures all patients – regardless of whether they ordered online or in-store – are comfortable with their contact lens prescription and confident in using the product.
With a more than 30% market share, Specsavers is the market leader in the prescription and provision of contact lenses across Australia and New Zealand. The business is continuously monitoring the market for new innovations while working with the world’s leading suppliers to design contact lenses that directly address customer needs.
