1. TODAY’S PRACTICE
Marketing Mishaps
Removing the
Fine Print
How asterisks and miniscule fonts in LASIK print ads continue
to hurt the refractive surgery market.
BY SHAREEF MAHDAVI
For the first time in a long while, things
are looking up in refractive surgery. Cus- “My challenge to every provider who
tomized procedures are gaining accept- uses the low-price tactic to attract
ance, safer alternatives to traditional patients is simple: Get rid of the
microkeratomes are proving their
worth, and the first accommodative asterisk. Delete the fine print.”
lens implant (albeit as a replacement for
cataract surgery) has been approved. That’s the good per eye. But those providers whose advertising leads
news. with the low price in LARGE BLOCK TYPE hide behind
All is not rosy, however. The bad news is that the en- a veil of reasoning that says, “If I do a few cases at this
tire refractive surgery industry continues to live with low price, then that’s the price I can advertise.”
the stigma of low price as In a recent review of 50
the means by which con- ad clippings from last fall
sumers view refractive (provided by Refractive
procedures. Despite a AdWatch of Memphis,
clear lack of correlation TN), I counted that near-
between price and the ly half of the ads touted
demand for refractive low price as their main
procedures (except per- feature, and all but one
haps for an inverse corre- of those had an asterisk
lation), many providers (*) right next to the
out there continue to price. That asterisk ap-
“tease” consumers with parently is intended to
low-price advertising. inform the consumer
that not everyone will
THE TRUTH qualify for that price. But
ABOUT LOW-PRICE when the exception be-
ADVERTISING comes the rule, we’ve got
Let’s be honest. No- a problem. It’s time to
body is doing procedures remove the asterisk and
with prices averaging the fine print that goes
$149, $299, or even $499 along with it.
per eye. Undercover news
reporters have verified H O N E S T PR I C I N G
that one of the largest My challenge to every
touters of “$299 LASIK” provider who uses the
in reality quotes $1,799 low-price tactic to attract
60 I CATARACT & REFRACTIVE SURGERY TODAY I FEBRUARY 2004

2. TODAY’S PRACTICE
patients is simple: Get rid of the asterisk. Delete the fine deal. All but a small percentage of the population want
print. Perform every one of your cases at the price you a bargain. They don’t want to feel that they are overpay-
advertise. Turn the confusion in the market into a sim- ing. Savvy service providers know that they cause tur-
ple, easy-to-understand proposition for the consumer. moil by advertising their fees (much less broadcasting
Your staff won’t have to hem and haw when explaining their desire to discount them). If ophthalmologists had
fees to consumers or try to educate them on the mean- never taken the low-price path, it’s fair to say that my
ing of dioptric power and astigmatism. friend would not have that price anchor in his mind. He
You see, every refractive surgeon and industry mem- wouldn’t have had a direct benchmark that caused him
ber is suffering from the low-price seeds planted in the to feel the stated price was “expensive,” whatever that
minds of the consumer. Doctors are surprised that means.
prospective patients shop among various providers;
many confess privately to despise having been put in
the role of salesman. This is exactly the cost of the privi- “Many surgeons have awakened to
lege of advertising low prices. Furthermore, the asterisk the fact that higher fees for cus-
used in print advertising has only made matters worse.
That icon—as small to the eye as the numbers preced- tomized and all-laser procedures
ing it are large—has created a perception similar to the have attracted more interest, not
weight-loss claim, “individual results may vary.” What less, and consumers associate those
that phrase says to most people is, “this product won’t
work for real people like me.” In the world of LASIK, the improved fees with a better proce-
asterisk and its associated fine print say to the con- dure and better outcomes.”
sumer, “there must be some catch to this thing.” And
they don’t trust it.
This mistrust has a big effect on the vast majority of TRENDS FOR 2004
consumers who don’t respond to this particular adver- The trends in procedural pricing and volume in the
tising tactic. Believing that the offer will get even better past 6 months are encouraging: both are going up.
the longer they wait, they sit on the sidelines. These trends are healthy for the industry and all its par-
ticipants. Many surgeons have awakened to the fact
LOW- PR I CE CO N SU M E R I S M that higher fees for customized and all-laser procedures
Personally, I find low-price advertising and the associ- have attracted more interest, not less, and consumers
ated fine print embarrassing and degrading to the pro- associate higher fees with a better procedure and better
fession and the procedure. I witnessed their effects outcomes. But these arrows on the chart will continue
recently when a good friend of mine was discussing to move upward at only a moderate pace until the
LASIK and debating whether or not the fee being insanity of low-price advertising is long behind us.
charged by the surgeon was worth it. The profession has unwittingly performed it’s own
Friend: “So, is this customized wavefront really worth A-B-A experiment (with A representing higher pricing
the extra $500?” and B being lower pricing), as evidenced by statistics
Me: “You bet. Even with your low prescription, there monitored and reported by MarketScope (St. Louis,
seems to be a lot less halo and glare, so it’s safer.” MO). Isn’t this evidence enough to help the discounters
Friend: “Yeah, but the fee he’s charging is already change their behavior?
expensive.” Finally, a note about the economy. It’s improving, and
Me: “Expensive? Relative to what?” some will point to that improvement as the cause for
Friend: “Well, I keep seeing those ads for $499 an eye.” increasing refractive volumes. Although the economic
The exchange continued, and I had the opportunity upswing is indeed a factor, it’s not THE factor, and nei-
to tell my friend the truth: nobody really gets the low ther is price. Fear continues to predominate the psyche
price. And if they do, their eyes probably didn’t need of the ammetropic consumer, and all that fine print out
correcting in the first place. there only serves to feed that fear. ■
That scene probably occurs all the time. My friend
had heard many great stories about LASIK. He knew the Shareef Mahdavi offers marketing counsel to refractive
procedure worked, and he asked me for a referral and surgery providers and medical device manufacturers. He is
then acted upon it. But in the back of his mind was an based in Pleasanton, California. Mr. Mahdavi may be
“anchor” that convinced him he wasn’t getting the best reached at (925) 425-9963; shareef@sm2consulting.com.
FEBRUARY 2004 I CATARACT & REFRACTIVE SURGERY TODAY I 61