HOME | January - February 2005

Venus Eye Design Employs a ‘Revolutionary’ Strategy

By Paddy Kamen

Mike Christiansen asks, listens and responds. What could be simpler?

Mike Christiansen just might be turning frame design on its head. He begins by asking the retailer what sells, to whom, and for how much. He asks what is wrong with the eyewear that doesn’t sell. He listens when retailers tell him what their customers like, what they don’t like and exactly how much they will pay.

“It’s basic market research,” says Christiansen, founder and president of Edmonton-based Venus Eye Design. “By listening to the account and to the end consumer in the dispensaries I get ideas about what will work. I give my accounts collections that they can sell.”

Venus Eye Design is a unique company. Christiansen is the designer as well as the lead sales rep. He began working in the optical sector as a sales rep for another company, back in 1993 “They gave me the smallest territory and I took it from $32,000 in sales to over one million in five years. I enjoyed selling but then they wanted to move me into management. So I took on that challenge and learned a lot.”

As a manager, Christiansen learned what not to do. “That company was very unresponsive to their customers. I would have customers complaining about billing or product quality or sales reps or policies and 99 per cent of the time the company would not respond. They weren’t flexible and didn’t act as if their customers mattered to them.”

Venus was launched in August 2001, with its first collection based on ideas Christiansen garnered from retailers he knew in the business. “Our first collection was in laminates and this was at a time when all the big players were saying that plastics were done. But my sources were saying that people still wanted plastics but that they often didn’t fit correctly; the bridges were too wide for the average consumer. So I developed some unique colours and designed with smaller bridges and they have sold very well.”

One of Christiansen’s priorities was creating frames for progressive lenses. “This is a huge market that cannot be ignored because more than 60 per cent of the Canadian population falls within this demographic. I create eyewear for this group that really stands out on the board as trendy but is still saleable. The vast majority of consumers won’t buy crazy styles. They want something different but simple.”

The Venus Flat collection is a perfect example of Christiansen’s responsiveness to consumer buying patterns. “I’ve been able to create a wonderful flat metal collection out of aluminum. It’s still hypoallergenic and lightweight but can retail within the magic price range of $160 - $180. I have found this price point dominates the market all across Canada.”

The colour palette is very carefully considered for each Venus collection. “I believe that colour makes a frame,” says Christiansen. “I emphasize the importance of colour by naming them, for example, chocolate mandarin, cotton candy, green apple, nanaimo bar. When I apply the right colours and mix interesting colours together I can create a frame different than everything else on the market. I carefully follow the fashion industry for colour trends. By combining the fashion colours with what people are actually wanting in terms of size and shapes I have developed an incredible, and saleable, product.”

The latest collection from Christiansen, Venus X, came to market this past spring with minimalist designs in thin stainless steel. “These are very thin but with incredibly vibrant colour,” explains Christiansen. “They’re a lot more colourful than most products on the market right now and the feedback I’ve received is just unbelievable.”

Beginning with 15 models (and a further eight coming later this year), the Venus X collection features some innovative shapes. The most popular piece to date has a square lens supported by a flat wire on the bottom and rimless on top. “The wire comes part way up the sides and then zig-zags before moving into the temple. It looks as though the lenses are suspended,” says Christiansen.

Consistent with Christiansen’s marketing strategy, the Venus X collection is designed to fit progressives.

In less than four years Venus Eye Design has established accounts from coast to coast in Canada. Their commitment to customer service is key to this success. “We like to think that our company embodies small town values,” explains Christiansen. “We treat our customers like our friends and neighbours and there’s no chain of command when it comes to getting things done.”

Christiansen’s wife, Brandi, has been working with him as operations manager since the company’s inception. “She is very pro-active and makes everything as simple as possible so that doing business with Venus is easy.”

“We don’t treat our customers like a lot of the box companies do and we never will,” Christiansen explains. “One’s attitude is very important and we treat everyone according to that tried and true formula: as we would want to be treated.”

Producing the right product for the market continues to be key for Venus Eye Design. “There’s so much potential for us here in Canada and we will be growing internationally as well. Right now my biggest challenge is to convey to optical accounts who don’t yet know me that I am actually the designer of the frames and not just another sales rep. They’re so inundated with sales reps that sometimes it’s a challenge to get that first few minutes with them.”

With sales growth at over 400 per cent annually, Christiansen is enjoying astounding success. He’s most delighted by word of mouth support for his products among opticians. “I often hear from people that someone they worked with in the past is having great success with my products and has called them and said they have to try it. The feedback is that they are dispensing more of my product than any other company and that is absolutely mind blowing. This is one thousand times better than what I expected and for a product designed in Canada, for Canadians, it is really very encouraging.”