| Optician is Not an Option | Campaign to promote eye check up for Kids | | Dahisha Saint Franc | 12/2/2013 |

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Case and Situation
The vision council of America is a trade group representing the optical industry. Its 2 core membership groups are ophthalmologists, opticians and optometrists. The group has decided to launch a consumer education program after research reveals a reluctance to take children for eye exams because parents rely on free in-school screenings. Research shows that 80% of learning before age 12 is accomplished through vision, yet traditional in-school vision screening miss between 70 and 80% of children’s vision problems.
Introduction
Our PR firm was hired to organize a campaign that will educate the public about the importance of eye check up or consultation from a credible person such as an optician. Through research parents are reluctant to take their children to see an optician because they rely on in-school vision screening. Part of our campaign is to target the area where the problem is more persistent. For example through research our campaign will localize the target public such as parents and their income. Also the cause behind why parent depends on the in-school vision screening. Our mission or ultimate goal is to get more parents to bring their children to a professional eye doctor. In order to reach this goal, our campaign will display and go through different objectives.
Problems
The main problem in this case, is that parents are not taking their kids to see a professional eye doctor for vision test. Instead they accept the result from the vision test done in school. Another problem is that the people, who are responsible for the in-school vision screening, are also not credible. According to the American Optometric Association (A.O.A) “Often times a vision screening is conducted by administrative personnel or volunteers who have little training. While well intentioned, these individuals do not have the knowledge to competently assess screening results.” Therefore having someone who is not too knowledgeable about this area determines the vision capacity of the child cannot always be reliable. Also according to A.O.A “Many vision screenings test only for distance visual acuity. While the ability to see clearly in the distance is important, it does not give any indication of how well the eyes focus up close, or work together. It also does not give any information about the health of the eyes.”
Objectives
There are two different types of objectives that we will be using in this campaign. The first objectives are the informational objectives. The informational objectives are there to inform to inform the public about the purpose of the campaign and also to share some data and information that will influence the audience into making some change. For example with the informational objectives we will promote our message and our slogans. The message that we will “It is important that parents do not solely rely on in school vision screening because there are more factors to having a better vision than just reading letters at a distance.” The other types of objectives that we will use are behavioral objectives. The behavioral objectives are there to influence the behavior of the target audience. For example in through the behavioral objectives our campaign will use tactics that will encourage the parents to take their kids to a professional eye doctor.
Audiences
The primary audience that is to be addressed is the parents and the guardians of each student. They are the primary audience because they need to be informed about the necessity of taking their child to see a professional eye. The secondary audience is school administrators. The school should also encourage parents to set up further appointments with opticians to secure the health and conditions of their child’s vision. If the school also encourages the parents to do so, then there will be an increase the rate of a child being consulted by a professional. Another audience that we will address is the media. They are the key people that will allow us to share and inform the public about this campaign. Releasing news letter to the news reporters can help and also make a news story. For example we will have chance to work with PBS network. What PBS allows us to do, is to create public announcements to encourage parents to get on board with this mission.
Strategies and Tactics One of the actions that we will take throughout this campaign is to share the news. In order to share the news and promote our message we need to use communication devices such as radio, television and internet. It is important that we get this message across throughout the local town by using these media devices. Another action that we will take is gatherings of the Lowell residents and informing the community about the need secure the eye health of children. Through the gathering, such as PTA (Parent Teachers Association) meetings, we will share the plan and apply tactics that will persuade the audience to take part in the project. For example encourage them to participate by spreading the word to others, especially parents can talk to other parents. Budget and Timeline
This campaign will cost anywhere between $10,000 and $30,000. The 40% of cost will go towards campaign, 25% will go towards researchers, 5% will be transportation, and 10% for miscellaneous and 10% will be for the firm. However with the help of benefactors and fund raising, this cost can be deducted. We have 1-3 years per town to accomplish our goal.