Building Local Brand Awareness
“Your brand starts with yourself,” says Dr. Shawna Vanderhoof, who opened Focus Eyecare in Murfreesboro, Tennessee in July of 2016.
Murfreesboro, about 40 miles outside of Nashville, is growing “exponentially,” explains Dr. Vanderhoof, which was why she chose that location to open her optometry practice. “We’re in an area with new families in my age group with young kids. I connect with that.”
“My average patient is 30 to 40 years old, and they’re looking for something different,” Dr. Vanderhoof says. “So I feel people are coming here to experience something fresh. It goes along with our theme, that we try to show patients a different experience, not only with the frames we carry but also with the time and care we give them during the exam.”
Focus Eyecare, which operates with three people on staff (comprising Dr. Vanderhoof, an optician and a front desk administrator), makes an ongoing effort to get involved in the community by participating in events and supporting other local businesses when possible.
“One of our patients has a child with kidney disease, so we sponsored a fundraising 5k as well as participated in the Live Your Kidneys walk/run last year,” explains Dr. Vanderhoof. “And we donate to all the local schools, including cheerleading teams in our local middle school and high school.”
“And we do hire locally,” she adds, which means her husband, a designer, was also hired for Focus Eyecare’s branding. “All of our dispensing tables are handmade, and the wood used to make them is sourced locally.”
