Females Keep an Eye on Super Bowl Sunday

Females Keep an Eye on Super Bowl Sunday

ATLANTA, Feb. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- For the second consecutive year, women comprised nearly half of the 86 million people who tuned in to watch the Super Bowl.(1)

This is proof positive for marketer CIBA Vision(R), which bet on reaching its female demographic, as well as men, by airing a new, specially-edited spot during the game for O2OPTIX(TM), its revolutionary breathable lens that delivers up to five times more oxygen than the leading soft contact lens.

"The high impact of Super Bowl made it an ideal vehicle to introduce O2OPTIX(TM) to a broad range of viewers -- especially women, who represent about two-thirds of contact lens wearers," said Karen Gough, CIBA Vision's President of Americas. "Our Super Bowl spot was just one piece of an integrated O2OPTIX(TM) campaign designed to reach our core female demographic via various touch points throughout the year."

And, according to a recent survey conducted by Reprise Media Scores, a company that specializes in search engine marketing, CIBA Vision's integrated efforts are already starting to pay off. CIBA Vision received top scores for high visibility online by providing easy to access O2OPTIX(TM) information on major search engines, thus driving traffic to the product Web site. CIBA Vision has cited an increase of 117% over the current average visitation to the site, and a 58% increase in free trial downloads over the average since the launch of the campaign, with more than 60% of these requests coming from females.(2)

Karen Gough, a formidable marketer who has experience working with big brands at other companies, such as PepsiCo, Coca-Cola and Earthlink, is available to comment on this bold marketing direction for the brand.

To schedule an interview, please contact Bridget Conroy at (212) 537-8079.

About CIBA Vision


With worldwide headquarters in Atlanta, CIBA Vision is a global leader in research, development and manufacturing of contact lenses and lens care products. CIBA Vision products are available in more than 70 countries. For more information, visit the CIBA Vision web site at http://www.cibavision.com/.

CIBA Vision is the eye care unit of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS), a world leader in pharmaceuticals and consumer health. In 2003, the Group's businesses achieved sales of USD 24.9 billion and a net income of USD 5.0 billion. The Group invested approximately USD 3.8 billion in R&D. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis Group companies employ about 80,000 people and operate in over 140 countries around the world. For further information please consult http://www.novartis.com/.

Super Bowl is a trademark of the National Football League.

The National Football League is not affiliated with or a sponsor of O2OPTIX advertisement.

1. Nielsen Media Research Fast National

2. CIBA Vision data on file for February 6, 2005


Source: CIBA Vision

CONTACT: Bridget Conroy of CIBA Vision, +1-212-537-8079

Web site: http://www.novartis.com/
http://www.cibavision.com/


-------
Profile: intent