Essilor 2017

Abstract

Essilor is the world leading company in the ophthalmic lenses industry with €7.1 billion in revenues in 2016. Since the 80s, Essilor has followed an internationalization strategy by expanding its activities in Mexico, Brazil, Thailand. Following this, under the leadership of Xavier Fontanet who was CEO of the group from 1996 to 2010, Essilor started to shift its strategy toward emerging markets and design the company’s current mission: Bring good vision to everyone, everywhere. The company has set itself the goal of equipping the 2.5 billion under-served people on earth who suffer from vision disorders or diseases that affect their daily life. A few years after the group entered the Indian market in 1998, Essilor started an ambitious strategy to conquer a segment that is too often ignored: the base of the pyramid, that is to say, the poorest users in India. To do this, Essilor created two units in charge of elaborating, deploying and testing inclusive business models in rural India, the BoP Innovation lab and the 2.5 NVG unit. Three inclusive initiatives were launched in India since 2008, they all address the same challenges which characterize the BoP market in rural India: the lack of awareness about eye care, the remoteness of the population from optical centers located in urban areas and the lack of affordability of the equipment offered. From mobile refractive vans setting up eye-care camps in rural India, to projects that empowers local population to spread awareness or to create their own business, Essilor has already proven that it was possible to find innovative and sustainable solutions that benefit to both the company and the local population. Meanwhile, Essilor is developing its activities in this strategic market to secure its future and is planning to expand operations in new emerging markets.

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