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Meet Allē, Allergan’s Upgraded Patient Loyalty Program

Allergan’s Brilliant Distinctions customer loyalty program is getting a facelift in honor of its second decade.

The program is smarter, faster, and now goes by Allē.

It’s much more than a new name, shares Carrie Strom, Allergan’s Senior Vice President of U.S. Medical Aesthetics, in an exclusive interview with Modern Aesthetics® and Practical Dermatology® magazines.

Everything counts toward points—even non-Allergan aesthetic products and services.

“Patients can come in for a laser treatment and earn points for their next Allergan product. It’s an all-in-one loyalty program,” she says. “This is the hallmark enhancement from a program standpoint.”

A lot has changed digitally over the past decade, and as a result consumers and doctors want more from their apps—and Allē delivers. “Allē is much more streamlined and faster,” she says. “All coupons and offers are built in to the customer profile.” The offers are not just cosmetic in nature. Allē also offers other deals based on interests such as vacations and theater tickets.

It’s a seamless check-out process, Ms. Strom says. “Doctors no longer need to hire an employee to work exclusively on Brilliant Distinctions,” she says. “Check-out takes less than a minute, which is a huge time savings.” Allē will feature additional program enhancements and upgrades, such as being the exclusive loyalty program built into HintMD.

So far, Allergan has added a two-step verification process to the app. “Your password is now your cell phone number, which eliminates the hassle of forgetting or retrying passwords.”

The program is now being beta-tested by Allergan employees and a few doctor offices. And so far, so good, she says. ”People are liking it and the technology is panning out.”

Early this month the Allergan sales force was introduced to Allē at their national sales meeting. In the following months, sales representatives will be going to doctors’ offices and getting them logged in by Q2 2020, Ms. Strom shares.

“Allergan is making this program work harder for you. Your sales rep will be in your office over the next few weeks or months to hand hold you through the process and get you all ready to go so by the summer.”

Supply is meeting demand. Brilliant Distinctions membership has been growing by leaps and bounds. “In 2019, we grew to six million members and are in 25,000 doctors’ offices, and we are growing by 60,000 consumers each month,” Ms. Strom says. Research shows that new and naïve members are fast becoming loyal patients and customers. Patients in the current Brilliant Distinctions program spend, on average, 36 percent more per year and visit their provider 23 percent more frequently than consumers not enrolled in the rewards program.

Study of Victoria’s Secret Models Highlights Changing and Unattainable Beauty Standards

While the average American woman’s waist circumference and dress size have increased over the past 20 years, Victoria’s Secret fashion models have become more slender, with a decrease in bust, waist, hips, and dress size, though their waist to hip ratio (WHR) has remained constant, according to a new study in Aesthetic Surgery Journal.

These findings represent an ideal of beauty that continuously moves farther away from the characteristics of the average American woman, the study authors point out.

Quantifying female body attractiveness is complex. Perceived attractiveness is influenced by physical and nonphysical traits and is further guided by media exposure and sociocultural standards of the time. One of the more established parameters to evaluate female body attractiveness is the WHR.

To evaluate trends of physical body attributes, researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) measured and compared Victoria’s Secret models from 1995 to 2018. The first Victoria’s Secret runway show debuted 23 years ago and since then has been viewed by millions annually, making it the most watched fashion show worldwide.

Over time, Victoria’s Secret fashion models have become thinner, with smAllēr busts, waist, hips and dress size, whereas their WHR remained constant. “Conversely, the average American woman’s waist circumference and dress size has increased and varies between a misses size 16 and 18,” explained corresponding author Neelam Vashi, MD, assistant professor of dermatology at BUSM.

In parAllēl with this trend, the percentage of women seeking cosmetic surgical procedures has dramatically increased and may be due to the desire to achieve the ideal WHR, which is a narrow waist set against fuller hips. Buttock and lower body lift has increased by 4,295 percent and 256 percent, respectively since 2000, they note.

“Our results represent a potentially changing weight ideal of beauty that is moving farther away from the characteristics of the average American woman; however, a constant idealized WHR remains intact,” added Vashi, who also is director of the Boston University Cosmetic and Laser Center at Boston Medical Center.

P&G to Unveil Improved Opte Precision Skincare System at CES 2020

P&G Ventures, the startup studio within Procter & Gamble, is slated to showcase the Opte Precision Skincare System, the first personalized handheld inkjet printer to instantly make the appearance of skin’s hyperpigmentation disappear and fade spots over time, at CES 2020 in January.

Opte is creating a new category of at-home precise skincare solutions and is set to go to market in Summer 2020. It first debuted at CES 2019, where the device received four “Best Of” awards. This year, Opte will return to CES as a prestigious Innovation Award Honoree to offer an inside look at how the device has progressed. Opte is now 70 percent less expensive, can process skin images 30 percent more quickly, has an improved user interface and upgraded OLED display and is more portable and adds connectivity to assure a better user experience, P&G Ventures states.

WATCH NOW

CSF Meeting Coverage

Catch up on all the hottest talks from Cosmetic Surgery Forum with DermTube’s video coverage. Host Joel L. Cohen, MD interviewed several top presenters, including Amy Lewis, MD. She spoke about which cosmeceuticals are hot right now and shared some of her favorites, including products for postprocedure care.
Watch all the coverage at PracDerm.com/CSF2019

The Opte wand scans the skin with an enhanced digital camera that captures 200 frames per second and instantly analyzes each image using a proprietary algorithm to detect tonal imperfections not visible to the human eye. Using input from the algorithm, Opte precisely prints via a new-to-the-world, custom thermal inkjet printer and cartridge, depositing picolitre droplets of Spot Optimizing Serum on target areas until there is a perfect color match with the surrounding skin tone. Correcting in real time, Opte also faces the appearance of sun damage and hyperpigmentation spots over time.