Laser eye clinic Ultralase starts agency trawl for national assault

Ultralase, the laser eye clinic, is searching for an advertising agency to take its marketing to a national level, in line with company expansion plans.

The AAR is overseeing the selection process on the &£2.5m account. The review will not affect media planning and buying, which is handled by Brilliant Independent Media Specialists in Leeds.

Ultralase marketing manager Robin Jones says: “We are looking for an agency to move with us. We have an extensive expansion plan and want to take our marketing that way too. The market is growing rapidly and we see the appointment of an agency as a key part of our plans.

“There is a great deal of misinformation about what is involved. The role of the advertising will be educational while reinforcing the Ultralase brand in consumers’ minds.”

Ultralase opened the UK’s first laser eye-treatment centre as The Corneal Laser Centre in Cheshire in 1991. The company now has five clinics using the LASIK technique and plans to open another three this year, and ultimately one in every major city in the UK.

A network of consulting rooms is to be set up in the meantime where patients can be assessed and attend follow-up appointments locally, instead of travelling to the nearest treatment centre. Consulting rooms have been set up in Manchester, Liverpool and London.

Boots the Chemist has also opened a high street laser eye clinic at one of its London branches.