Owned by private equity firm Warburg Pincus, The B+L brand had a high recognition factor but its relevance was unclear to consumers, and associations were dated. Due to the dominance of a huge range of product brands, the B+L brand had low visibility in product marketing and packaging. Internal audiences needed a shared vision to align around. The newly-installed management team engaged Straightline as strategic brand advisors, with a goal to reinvigorate the brand and reclaim a leadership position in eye health, to support realization through sale / IPO.
Following a two-year brand building program, a refocused and elevated Bausch + Lomb brand was acquired by Valeant Pharmaceuticals for two-and-a-half times its previous purchase price.
Valeant retained Bausch + Lomb as the umbrella brand for all its ophthalmology businesses.
The brand platform has continued to deliver that focus through the Bausch + Lomb IPO.
Straightline began with internal qualitative research, including 50+ interviews with Bausch + Lomb employees in 10+ countries. An external quantitative study revealed that high brand awareness was not translating into high product usage – a gap that can signal a brand out of step with key customers. We led a process to articulate a new B+L brand vision and promise. The new brand promise “Helping you see better to live better” worked with the tagline “See Better. Live Better.” to express a vision that united employees and customers. We recommended and created an endorsement system to raise the profile of the B+L brand across all product advertising and marketing.
What we provided:
- Qualitative study
- Quantitative study
- Core idea definition
- Brand platform
- Tagline
- Brand guidelines
- Marketing communications