Medication naming for a world leader in eye care

Presbyopia is a progressive type of vision loss that reduces the eye’s ability to focus on near objects, and almost every adult over the age of 40 experiences it. That’s 128 million Americans (nearly half the US adult population) who need readers to use their phone or read a restaurant menu.

Allergan, a world leader in eye care, developed an eye drop solution to address this condition. The daily prescription eye drop improves near and intermediate vision without impacting distance vision in as little as 15 minutes and lasts up to 6 hours. Because Catchword had helped Allergan in the past with eye care product naming, Allergan turned to us again to develop a name for this first-of-its-kind product (and for its fast-acting pH-sensitive ingredient technology, which we named pHast).

Catchword worked closely with the client team to identify brand fundamentals and create naming parameters to support brand objectives. Given the extreme competition in the eye health and OTC medication spaces and all the other hurdles, we developed more than 2,300 names. Vuity was the clear winner.

Vuity instantly conveys the solution’s ability to improve viewing acuity while recalling the phrase “View it.” As a gentle coinage, it is both familiar and intriguing. The name is easy to spell and say (no small feat in pharmaceutical naming) and works equally well for English-speaking and international audiences. The name’s smoothly voiced opening “V” and easy cadence make the word sound friendly yet elegant.

In October 2021, the FDA approved Vuity as the first and only eye drop to treat presbyopia. The story was covered by major media around the world. In December, the company announced the product was available by prescription. Excitement has continued with stories online, in print, and on television explaining the eye drop’s life-changing effects.

Award Winner
MarCom Awards, Platinum, Brand Naming
Hermes Creative Awards, Gold, Brand Naming
MUSE Creative Awards, Gold, Brand Identity
Transform Awards, Silver, Naming Strategy
Creative Communications Award (C2A), Honorable Mention, Brand Naming