Recent Changes to the Brilliant Distinctions Program

Update:  See updated section on the bottom – info directly from Allergan and the changes start May 15, 2013.

I heard some things about changes to the Brilliant Distinctions Program by our Botox Representative (from Allergan).  I’m not 100% sure of these changes, as I don’t operate the Brilliant Distinctions program (BD), but of course, our plastic surgery practice accepts the coupons and rebates generated from the BD program.

SkinMedica – get points for purchasing

• Allergan acquired SkinMedica – a skin care product company – prescription and non-prescription based products.  You can now earn points for purchasing SkinMedica products.   Our office currently does not carry Skin Medica products.  I guess I wished it could have been easier / great if Obagi was somehow absorbed by Allergan, because we are a Obagi retailer and a user of Allergan products.  But that merger  didn’t happen.  Instead Valeant purchased Obagi for $348 million dollars in April 2013..  Valeant is based in Montreal.  Valeant has a dermatology portfolio.  Obagi is based in Long Beach, California, and posted revenues of $120 million in the year 2012.  Valeant Pharmaceuticals in September 2012 purchased Medicis for 2.6 billion.  Medicis makes Dysport, Perlane, and Restylane.
• Around December 2012 Allergan purchased SkinMedica for $350 million

New Brilliant Distinctions Mall

• Get points for shopping online
• Similar to a program offered by Chase.
• Many many vendors online, and shop as you normally would except click through a link from the Brilliant Distinctions website.

Bonus points are going away

• As fast as it came, it is going away:  There was a bonus points program for the frequent users, in fact after about 12 visit, the bonus points added up to almost double the original amount which was originally $25 coupon after each Botox visit, and for those coming in on the 13th time and beyond, the $25 coupon got a bonus of another $25.  However this is bonus is going away I heard.

The $25 coupon per Botox visit or $25 per Juvederm syringe is dropping down to $20

• I also heard that the $25 is dropping down to $20.  But the added ability to earn points from the BD Mall is supposed to more than make up for this difference.  I’d like to know if this works out for folks in the future.  Regardless, it is nice to have a program such as BD, so I guess we shouldn’t complain too much about the $25 dropping down to $20.

There’s the ability to print out a $10 coupon

• This wasn’t available before.   I think this is to help the Latisse-only users use their coupons, because Latisse purchases used to take longer to build up to a coupon.

I just checked with several patients today regarding Brilliant Distinctions.  Most of these changes have taken place yet, but I know they are coming very soon – perhaps at the end of this month (May, 2013).

These changes the program summarized:

• SkinMedica
• BD Mall
• Bonus Points going away
• $25 return on each visit or each syringe is going down to $20
• New!, ability to print out $10 coupon (half of the points required to print a $20 coupon).
• New 9 month expiration period instead of I think it was 2 years before.

We’ll stay tuned and see how these changes take place and hopefully they will continue to keep our Botox / Juvederm / Latisse patients happy.

 

UPDATE:

We got this notice from Brilliant Distinctions.

Starting May 15, 2013:

Points Values: In simplifying the points structure, the values will alter slightly. We’ve added a new coupon value. You can now create a $10 coupon for 100 points. For 200 points, the coupon value will now be $20.

Expiration Period: Points will expire after 9 months of inactivity from earning. We will send you reminders if you are getting close to your points expiring.

Bonus Points: All bonus points accrued to date will remain in your account; however, no more bonus points will be issued. If you have questions, the Brilliant Distinctions® Customer Support line is a phone call away: 1-888-324-2745 (9am-8pm EST. M-F).

 

Summary:  See summary above also.  But there are some great added features ($10 coupon, BD mall, SkinMedical) and some things taken away (bonus points, $5 taken away from 200 points, and the expiration period ahs been shortened)