Your voice in the media
Our key campaigns and media coverage highlights
Through our national and regional media campaigns, we aim to ensure that the voice of our members is heard on important issues impacting the profession.
Set up in 2017, our annual Voice of Optometry insight survey which invites members to share their experiences, has been instrumental in helping us to do this. Using our Voice of Optometry findings we’ve launched public awareness campaigns on a range of topics including driving and vision, children's eye health and lifestyle choices.
Media coverage highlights 2019
On 2 July 2019, we launched our first national smoking cessation campaign, Stub it out, which included a media launch, digital campaign and outdoor advertising on posters and buses at locations in London, Glasgow and Manchester where there are the highest levels of smoking in the UK. During the first week of the campaign, 22 broadcast interviews took place reaching seven million listeners and over 60 online articles, with a combined reach of 30 million.
Coverage highlights included BBC news, Sky News Radio and STV in Scotland. Sky News Radio reached three million people and BBC News reached 801,000.
Further 2019 highlights
- The truth behind eye health vitamins, Raconteur, The Times
- Wearing mascara every day is bad for your eyes, The Sun
- Eye tests, Mental health apps, Chlorine on food, You and Yours, Radio 4
- How to help our children look after their eyesight, The Herald
- How could A.I save your sight, REFORM
- Keep the road in your sights, SAGA Magazine
- Older drivers: Is age a factor behind the wheel?, BBC News
Media coverage highlights 2018
A B See
Our first A B See campaign, which launched on 22 August 2018, shone a spotlight on the risks of children missing out on, or delaying, sight tests. Capturing the nation’s attention were the Voice of Optometry findings. These revealed 74% of practising optometrists had seen children in the past year who had vision problems that could have been treated more successfully if they had been diagnosed at an earlier age.
The campaign was featured extensively on both national and local TV and radio, including an interview on BBC Breakfast. Our message was widely covered online and in the printed press, with the importance of children’s sight tests discussed in the Huffington Post, Daily Mail and ITV News among others.
Don't swerve a sight test
Our second Don’t swerve a sight test campaign was also widely reported when it launched on 7 November. During the first week of the campaign 27 radio interviews, six articles in the printed press and 185 online articles helped to promote our message about the importance of regular sight tests for drivers, to millions of members of the public.
Highlights included coverage in the Daily Mail, Metro and Telegraph and interviews on Capital FM, BBC Radio 2 and TalkSport.
Our Don’t swerve a sight test message and member survey findings also gained attention in September 2018, when a police initiative saw four forces carry out roadside sight checks on all drivers stopped. In total our campaign was included in over 250 media outlets.
Further 2018 highlights
- Fancy a swim? There are new rules, The Times
- 11 Things Contact Lens Wearers Should Never Do, Mental Floss
- When is it worth paying more at the opticians or dentist, Which Magazine
- AOP highlights the need for improved eye health services for patients with learning disabilities, NHS Networks
- How to clean your glasses – without damaging them! Good Housekeeping
Media coverage highlights 2017
In 2017, we increased our media coverage by 174% on 2016 using statistics from the Voice of Optometry survey. Through the thoughts, opinions and experiences of our panel members, on eye health topics, we achieved coverage across national, international, online and trade media.
Don’t swerve a sight test
Our primary campaign in 2017 related to vision standards for driving. Our inaugural Don’t swerve a sight test campaign achieved 159 broadcast hits, reaching over 111 million listeners when it launched on 14 November.
The BBC Breakfast and BBC News programmes reached a combined total of over 2.5 million. It was also covered by national newspapers, including The Telegraph and The Times, online by BBC News, Huffington Post and Yahoo!, and on the radio by Sky News and LBC.
Further 2017 highlights
- Why you should never wear your contact lenses in the shower: The unexpected ways you could put yourself at risk using them, The Daily Mail
- Novelty contact lenses 'can cause sight loss', BBC online
- Are screens hurting my child’s eyes? Dads.info
- Surgeons remove 27 contact lenses from woman's eye, BBC online
- Summer loving... how to spend wisely on fashionable shades and free your inner film star, The Daily Mail
- How to work out in a heatwave, The Times