Strategy with Vision

Spectaris Trend Forum - 15-16 November Berlin

SWV attended the Spectaris Trend Forum in Berlin which kicked off with a social event at the Tausend Bar on the evening of the 15^th November. Only the week before Hilary Clinton and her staff had been at the bar, which is a famous music venue in Berlin. This chic and exclusive location provided a well organised function with plenty of opportunity to rub shoulders during a very animated, although noisy evening.

The Trend Forum itself was held at the Meilenwerkin Berlin. This venue is a must for anyone interested in classic cars. It is a forum for driving culture providing all things to do with cars. Shops, repair garages, insurance and car storage all under one roof. Visitors to the Berlin Meilenwerkin can view a huge range of fabulous classic cars which are stored in their famous glass boxes so that they can be enjoyed by everyone - but without touching! The meeting was well organised in terms of space and food.

Has the German Optical Industry come out of recession? 330 opticians and representatives of the Vision Care Industry voted: 53% thought that the crisis was over with 47% believing the industry is still in recession.

There were many different discussions in the conference hall. One of particular note was between Mister Spex, (an internet retailer of sunglasses and spectacles) which has sold 25,000 spectacles and sunglasses in the last 18 months and some opticians. Dirk Graber (Geschaftsfuhrer Mr Spex) and Lukasz Gadowski (the investor in the company) have a focused strategy and see the main advantage of their business to be the large range of frames (which can be quickly updated) as well as the convenience they provide for customers, rather than price and discounting.

For the opticians in this discussion, the growth of optical business on the internet focused their thoughts around more emotive issues such as the length of their studies and their ability to give the consumer advice. Price, product choice and convenience did not seem to enter their equations. However, they generally felt that the ability of the optician to personally advise customers is a strength of a visit to the optician and one which the internet does not currently and may never be able to match.