Invisalign® opens Experience Centre to connect more consumers with doctors

Align Technology has launched its new Invisalign Experience Centre in Sydney's CBD. The iconic 92m2 centre at 350 George Street is next to Martin Place and located on one of Sydney's busiest streets. The new consumer-friendly shopfront lets consumers "browse", ask questions and learn about the benefits of straightening their teeth with Invisalign treatment.

The new Sydney Centre will bring the Invisalign brand directly to consumers so they can:

• Browse, ask questions and learn about the benefits of teeth straightening with Invisalign treatment;
• Have an interactive and educational experience highlighting how the integration of iTero scanners into the Invisalign treatment workflow results in better patient outcomes;
• Understand more about Invisalign aligners, their materials and how they look and feel;
• Have a private Smile Discussion to learn what you could expect from the Invisalign treatment journey; and
• Be connected to their Invisalign doctor of choice and preferred clinic to determine if they are a good candidate for Invisalign treatment.

The opening of the space follows the recent launch of the Invisalign Australia Training Centre, a major facility designed to educate and equip doctors with the company's latest orthodontic products. The Training Centre, based in St Leonards, Sydney, provides training, clinical education programs and process demonstrations that highlight the benefits available to doctors who adopt and integrate the company's innovative technology and treatment options into their practices.

At the Invisalign Experience Centre launch event, we caught up with Align Technology's Asia Pacific Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Julie Tay.

Julie, can you tell readers the idea behind Invisalign Australia opening a store on George Street?

Of course. We call this the Invisalign Experience Centre and it's really one of the many ways in which we're reaching out to consumers directly. The Centre allows consumers to experience the Invisalign brand first hand, ask questions and more importantly, connect with their doctor of choice, thereby closing the loop between our marketing and the consumer entering treatment.

So how does it work? Is the consumer examined to see if they're suitable for Invisalign treatment?

No, it's really about experiencing the brand at a consumer level rather than a clinical level. A lot of consumers are interested in Invisalign treatment and the Experience Centre lets people come in and ask a lot of questions and feel the product first hand without making an appointment with an Invisalign doctor first. A lot of the questions consumers ask are related to how long the treatment takes and how aligners work and some people may not want to go to a dental practice and sit in a dental chair to have those conversations. The Experience Centre is non-threatening, they ask all the questions they want and if they're interested to see a doctor, we can make their appointment for them.

So the Experience Centre will connect the consumer to an Invisalign doctor?

Yes, of their choice. The consumer will actually get to decide which doctor they would like to see and then we will make the appointment for them.

How do you choose which doctor to connect the patient with?

We have certain filters that we use. Some consumers like to see a doctor near their home. Some near their work. Some would like to see a specialist orthodontist. Some would like to see a doctor who has an iTero scanner. And so there are various ways we filter the doctor base that we have. We then produce a list of doctors and the consumer makes the final choice.

How many Experience Centres do you have in the world?

In the Asia Pacific, this is our second centre. We opened the first one in Hong Kong two months ago.

So will there be one of these in every capital city in Australia? Or just Sydney?

The concept is very new. I think we need to see what the response is. We would love to be able to provide this service in more locations if consumers and doctors want it. If this proves to be successful, it's one more way we can connect consumers and doctors and we'll be happy to expand the concept.

Is establishing an Experience Centre a precursor to more consumer advertising?

We do a lot of consumer advertising already. We do a lot on social media, magazine adverts and adverts on the side of buses for example. Consumers are varied and there are so many different ways of reaching people. The Experience Centre is yet another tool that we're using to reach out to consumers.

Do you believe you'll transition more patients from thinking about Invisalign to entering Invisalign treatment through the Experience Centre?

We did a recent study and we found that while there is a very high level of awareness of the Invisalign brand, consumers do have a lot of questions. And we know for various reasons, they may not want to visit a doctor to have those questions answered.

The other thing we know is that when we have one of these Centres in a particular area, doctors around the Centre benefit because the consumers can walk to the practice and actually get treatment or check it out further. So it definitely has a positive impact.

Is the use of Invisalign treatment continuing to grow in Australia?

Australia is one of our top three markets in Asia and we're continuing to grow. Opening the Experience Centre is an investment in growing the brand further.

Apart from the Experience Centre, we've also built a new training centre in Sydney where we will now conduct all the training for doctors. Invisalign training was completed by a third party in the past and this year we have taken over all training.

So our commitment to the Australian Invisalign community is both to ensure doctors are trained in the use of the system and to ensure consumers have a smooth pathway for entering treatment. These two new initiatives represent a big investment in ensuring that Invisalign continues to grow in Australia. At the end of the day, we see it as a partnership and it's part of our commitment to the doctors to whom we serve and to the consumers we help treat.

The Invisalign Experience Centre is located at 350 George Street, Sydney.