Ch. 7 - Business Marketing

Luxottica is a world leading brand that many people who should know they exist don't. They are responsible for about %80 of the worlds eyewear and yet are not a household name, however, the brands they own are. They own many of the industries major brands such as Ray Ban and Oakley and manufacture and distribute eyewear for high end luxurious brands such as Dolce & Gabana, Bvlgari, DKNY, and Versace. Aside from designing and producing the eyewear they also own major retail chain stores Pearle Vision and LensCrafters. Luxottica is very strategic in which they allowed themselves to be in control of every aspect of making and selling products from designing, manufacturing, distributing and selling. All of there brands have social media and for most of their retail shops you are allowed to shop directly from their website. It seems they utilize many of the opportunities that are out their to help bring in more sales.

Because of the market Luxottica operates in they have to appease to each individuals wants and needs. Most of the products they offer across their many different brands is a modified rebuy. For instance, Ray Ban sells a pair of lenses to a customer at LensCrafters. The customer needs to change certain of aspects of the frames and lenses to suit their personal needs. They may need to add scratch free lenses and frames or anti glare etc. Once a product is purchased they can modify it with endless options to best suit their needs. Most of Luxottica's offerings are like this and it definitely helps sell products especially in the eyewear market.  

Ch. 8 - Segmenting and Targeting Markets

A market is people or organizations with needs or wants and the ability and willingness to buy. Luxottica's market for the most part is fairly straightforward; for people who need and/or use eyewear. Oakley, Luxottica's brand, has a mainly male target market. They are aged 15-44 middle to upper class and usually have a household income of $100K or more. Given that is the main market for Oakley, the market segment is a much broader scope. Athletic eyewear is targeted to the younger generation of males and the casual eyewear is mainly targeted to the middle aged men.

To expand Oakley realizes it must aim outside of the male group it targets and set sights on women. To gain a higher market share they need to broaden their target market. Oakley is currently testing out products in big cities for women to learn more about the consumer and how to market and sell their items to the new target market.

Ch. 11 - Developing and Managing Products

Luxottica has many brands on its hands. Every year they see new products across all aspects of eye wear. To stay ahead of the pack and be the leader of the industry in which it operates it must also take recognition of the changing times and adapt to new features and product ideas that will keep it as king.

Luxottica's brand Oakley must take certain steps before releasing a new product to the public. All Oakley eyeglasses are expected to pass three medical tests before allowing it to sell publicly. Usually Oakley runs tests conducted by ANSI (American National Standards Institute). Furthermore, Oakley also complies with Canada's CSA Z94.3-02 protection standards with its eyeglasses. Oakley makes their eyewear to help protect against a lot of the problems and annoyances that standard glasses have. They develop products that help protect against direct sunlight and heavy winds and are also strengthened for impact. Oakley continues to innovate and release products for people with all types of lifestyles and it definitely contributes to the companies continuing growth.

Last year Oakley introduced a new product strategy. They began to develop new technology that would potentially compete with Google's Project Glass, which are glasses that emulate some of the features that a smart phone would directly on the lenses of eyewear. In an interview with Oakley's CEO Colin Baden he said “As an organization, we've been chasing this beast since 1997”, “Ultimately, everything happens through your eyes, and the closer we can bring it to your eyes, the quicker the consumer is going to adopt the platform.” Although Google sets its sights with Project Glass on the average consumer, Oakley sets its sights on something much bigger. They are trying to target athletes who can use them for sports. I can see how this can work in some sports especially (American) football. For example, when the coach calls for a play, all the players can see the route or there task on the lenses. Balin also said that it would possibly develop a slightly similar product for the military with a partnership with Eye Safety Systems, a company that specializes in eyewear for the military. He also said that Oakley has more of the edge considering that they are familiar with eyewear and can make the glasses look stylish. “People get very particular when they put stuff on their face.” he said.

Ch. 18 -Social Media and Marketing

In chapter 18 Social Media and Marketing the author states "As marketing moves into social media, marketers must remember that for most people, social media are meant to be a social experience, not a marketing experience." Ray Ban, Luxottica's brand, did just that in 2010 in which they conducted a social media experience which allow customers to participate in a scavenger hunt to find Ray Ban rare places using Foursquared and Twitter. Ray Ban called it the worlds first real social media experiment. 

Ray Ban chose 50 unique venues and divided them into 5 categories with Ray Ban's Rare prints Wayfarer Collection posters. You know you are in a "Rare Place" when you find a Rare Prints collection poster in a chosen venue. Once found, people can then check-in on foursquared or twitter their location and share with friends and the world. The 50 most active people win the rare limited edition poster on display at the venue they are located at. Luxottica's Wholesale Manager said "the purpose of Ray Ban's Rare Print/ Rare Places project is to present the Rare Print product series to our extremely expressive brand target audience through their social activities " "To bring this concept to life we wanted to create real 'social media', leveraging the digital elements of social media and integrating it into our consumers real lives through the venues they enjoy." Also, the rare venue that generates the most support will win a official Ray Ban party that is worth $5,000. 

All of Luxottica's major brands have social media outlets that allow the customer to engage and follow the brand in "real time". That is the benefit to having social media outlets. Sometimes too much of a good thing can be bad but in Luxottica's brands case it helps them as their brands have such a  strong following and are respective leaders in their own niche market. Collectively, on twitter, they have a few hundred thousand followers which allows the customer to engage and ask questions they may have. All of their twitter pages have staff dedicated to asking questions and replying with any concerns customers may have.

Ch. 10 - Product Concepts

Luxottica is a huge organization with a huge product mix. They provide many products that fall under eye wear and eye care. They sell eyeglasses like RayBan and Oakley, insurance, and provide shopping outlets for eye wear such as Pearle Vision and LensCrafters.

 Oakley, Luxottica's company, has a wide range product mix. Eyeglasses being the most common product they sell has many different variations for each model. You can purchase eyewear and choose from many customizations such as: polarized, lens tint, photochromic, UV protection, impact protection, prescription, hydrophobic, frame construction, and HDO 3-D (for watching 3D movies). To go along with its portfolio Oakley also provides accessories and clothing wear. They sell watches, bookbags

and bags, shirts and outerwear, gloves, socks, hats, and footwear. Many, if not all, of the brands associated with Luxottica are well known and it makes sense why the company decides to practice individual branding. With all the brands they are associated with and own Luxottica is a global brand that continues to expand.

Ch. 17 - Personal Selling and Sales Management

Luxottica's company, LensCrafters, consumer sales promotion features many ways to encourage the consumer to choose their product over other competitors by offering many rebates and loyalty programs. LensCrafters currently has a promotion running that takes 50 percent off your child's (12 and under) total if you buy a new frame with new lenses. As with many other promotions the idea is that if you purchase more from us you will save more. LensCrafters will also take 40 percent off your (adults) total if you purchase frames with lenses. They have a loyalty program and are now offering a credit card.

LensCrafters makes it easier now for people to shop and choose products by different variations by using their online services. Customers can input their desired lengths and widths for frames or choose generic sizes such as narrow, normal, or wide. The consumer can choose the color, shape, brand, and adjust the price range to further help the consumer find the perfect pair of frames. Once the consumer finds a pair, they can make arrangements for it to be delivered to their local store and also set up an appointment for an eye exam.

I believe online service is essential to any business that can streamline it within their business as most consumers' schedules are busy and cannot visit store locations physically due to time constraints. Allowing the consumer to cut the process by more than half by using online services definitely makes the sale a much greater possibility.

Ch. 16 - Advertising, Public Relations and Sales Promotion

Luxottica is no newbie to understanding how important advertising is to its company (or companies rather), thats why they spend a lot to advertise their brands. In 2008 they had spent $75 million in advertisements in the United States alone. The following year? They increased that figure to $85 million. In 2011 the company had spent a staggering $122 million in advertisements solely for the U.S. Around $400 million was spent on advertising worldwide. Luxottica devoted most of the $122 million advertising share to LensCrafters for a mere total of $48.5 million. Its sister company Pearle Vision only received $14 million. Having two companies in virtually the same market and one having significantly greater results than the other didn't sit well with Luxottica. They figured Pearle Vision needed a new approach to the market and a fresh reboot, so in 2012 they prepped a new logo and used TV commercials as a medium to get their message out. Sunglass Hut saw $6 million of the $122 million for advertising.

Earlier this year Luxottica caught praise over their new ad campaign for company Ray Ban. Their new campaign titled 'NEVER HIDE' featured a form of advocacy advertisement in their support of the gay community. The campaign features many photos one of which is a photo of two gay men strolling through the city. This move caught praise from the LGBT community. The other photos used are pictures of people who are in the act of doing there favorite hobbies, job, or regular day to day activities. The hidden message behind the photos is that they offer products to everyone who does different things. For example, the picture with a bull rider wearing their Ray Ban shades or the cyclists, the rock band, and your occasional mom walking with her children. Press release for the NEVER HIDE campaign states: "In its every form, the Ray-Ban campaign portrays regular guys and girls living their day to day lives with authenticity, with the courage to express themselves and their unique individuality, which is the most precious thing we have, because the most fashionable thing to be is yourself,"