FORT WORTH, Texas—Alcon, a division of Novartis and a leading global eyecare company, has launched its “See Near and Far” direct-to-consumer (DTC) campaign to increase consumer awareness of multifocal contact lens options and encourage them to visit an eyecare professional, according to an announcement earlier this week. The campaign includes a television spot that will run on ABC, NBC, CBS and ESPN, among other networks, throughout 2018. There also are ads planned for national print and digital media.

The new campaign is designed to reach presbyopes who may already wear reading glasses or who are just starting to experience difficulties with their near vision, the Alcon announcement noted. The campaign shares how Dailies Total1 Multifocal contact lenses can give patients clear, comfortable and seamless vision, near and far.

“This campaign exemplifies Alcon’s broader efforts to reach the millions of presbyopes who may not realize that they have options outside of everyday reading glasses, and get them into their eye doctor’s office to start the conversation,” Alcon North America president Sergio Duplan said in the announcement. “In this low-awareness category, we are aiming to educate patients about presbyopia and about the benefits of our differentiated contact lens portfolio.”

The TV spot features a couple at dinner who realize they forgot their readers, so the waiter brings them giant menus. The TV commercial highlights a common compensating behavior (oversized text) in a setting where presbyopes struggle (restaurants), and is meant to encourage patients to speak with their ECP about multifocal contact lens options.

The new campaign, Alcon noted, also extends its ongoing “commitment to educating patients about eye health and vision correction options, and giving ECPs an edge in meeting the needs of their patients and supporting practice growth.” For more details on the DTC campaign and Alcon’s efforts to educate patients, visit the website www.SeeNearAndFar.com.