Align Technology will expand its brand experience program by adding eight locations in the fourth quarter of 2018 to address the rapidly evolving consumer market for clear aligners and connect consumers with Invisalign doctors in their communities, according to the company.
“Doctors have always been essential to Invisalign treatment, and 21 years later, a doctor’s prescription based on an in-person examination remains the only way to deliver Invisalign treatment to a patient, even if a consumer learns about the Invisalign brand through new or different ways,” said Joe Hogan, Align Technology president and CEO.
“To reach those consumers, we need to connect with them where they spend their time online and offline, and Invisalign Experience locations are a new way to do that,” Hogan said about these facilities, which are based in high-traffic mall or outdoor shopping environments.
“When we first launched the interactive Invisalign Experience pilot program, we thought of these locations as stores because we were leveraging familiar retail environments,” said Jennifer Olson Wilk, Align senior vice president, doctor-directed consumer channel.
“But we’ve learned a lot over the past year and the fact that we’re not selling orthodontic treatment directly to consumers is really important for us to emphasize,” said Olson Wilk.
We’re providing a brand experience that informs and engages consumers with Invisalign treatment options in hopes they will choose to start treatment after we connect them to a local doctor’s office,” Olson Wilk said.
The addition of an Invisalign Experience location can have a significant positive impact on overall Invisalign patient growth in the surrounding area, the company says, even among doctors that aren’t directly participating in the Invisalign Experience pilot program.
Align also notes that more than 10,000 consumers have visited its first four Invisalign Experience locations in San Francisco and San Jose, California, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and Bethesda, Maryland, so far, with 80% of those who had the complementary iTero intraoral 3-D scan scheduling a follow-up appointment in a local Invisalign doctor’s office.
On average, the company continues, participating doctors in the Invisalign Experience network have received dozens of scanned consumers, with some receiving more than 150 patient leads. Align further says that its locations far surpass network doctors’ other sources for leads.
“The Invisalign Experience pilot program has been extremely beneficial to my practice, delivering new patient leads that would not otherwise have visited my practice and adding nearly half a million dollars in incremental revenue this year to date,” said Dr. David Boschken, an orthodontist with practices in Los Altos and San Jose, California.
Invisalign Experience locations feature interactive touchscreens that consumers can browse while asking staff questions about treatment. Complimentary iTero intraoral 3-D scans and visual simulations what consumers’ smiles might look like after treatment also are available. The new locations will include:
- October: Woodlands Mall, the Woodlands, Texas (Houston area)
- October: Westfield Old Orchard, Skokie, Illinois (Chicago area)
- November: Scottsdale Fashion Square, Scottsdale, Arizona
- November: Park Meadows, Denver, Colorado
- November: Stonebriar Centre, Frisco, Texas (Dallas area)
- December: The Domain, Austin, Texas
- December: Town Center at Boca Raton, Boca Raton, Florida
- December: Natick Mall, Natick, Massachusetts
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