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.