[Critical Analysis] The Oakley unconventional marketing strategy

In a decade, Oakley glasses and surfwear have become very popular into the world of free sports. Actually, Oakley sunglasses are the most sold among surfers, snowboarders and mountain bikers. With their futuristic design, Oakley is the reference of sunglasses.

In the 90's, Oakley began to enter the sport market by handing out many pairs to the top athletes in order to make them become regular wearer of Oakley sunglasses. Contrary to the majority of the sponsors in sports and especially in the free sports, Oakley has developed a distinctive marketing approach. For instance, you will never see any formal advertisement in magazines about the brand. Actually, Oakley marcom strategy relies essentially on the use of influential athletes to promote the brand image and to make the consumer aware of the company's product performance. In addition, the Oakley's endorsements are obtained at little or no cost. Compared to the annual turnover of the company - $ 762 million in 2006 – Oakley spends less than $ 20 million towards its endorsers. Oakley also hired managers coming directly from the professional sports. In Europe, the man in charge of the follow-up of the athletes is Eric Minozzi, a former Bmx race World Champion.

When it comes to analyze the success of Oakley in the extreme mountain bike, several reasons can be highlighted. First of all, Oakley has always based its product strategy on the quality, associated with an innovative and futurist design. The price has never really been a constraint, and Oakley did not hesitate to choose the exclusive rights or luxury side. In the computer industry, Apple applied the same strategy and receives today the benefits of such strategic choices. So these long-term strategies are profitable in both cases. But this does not explain the specific success of Oakley in free sports and typically in the extreme MTB industry.


The fact is that Oakley was judiciously able to take a stand on growth segments, as extremes sports. Their recent boom played a direct role in the success of the “O” brand. Above all, Oakley used a really efficient marketing strategy, which combines influential athletes endorsement and a local strong involvement on specific events, as on Freeride contest in mountain bike for example (the strategy is the same in Snowboard, Ski, Skate or BMX...). As a result, the exposure of the brand is very high on young public. Especially in the mountain bike industry, the marketing strategy has been strongly efficient and today, Oakley does not even need to release advertisement in the mountain bike magazines. The thing is that Oakley is part of the background in the DH industry.

Internet is also a major communication vehicle in the brand’s communication policy and it is particularly relevant for a brand that targets a young public. In 2007, a new version of the official Web site, far more complex and successful was released. Colin Baden, President of Oakley Inc., stated:

"Our new Web site represents another major step in our strategy to integrate, improve, and expand Oakley brand-development."

In addition to the official website, Oakley develops a blog, the OakleyBuzz, that communicates on the performances or major event in which Oakley is involved. This type of communication through a blog is totally free for the company and works towards the buzz on the brand in the same time.

So Oakley strategy turns out to be well integrated in the different media vectors, made at a global level, at a low cost. This commercial success is the outcome of a very well thought marcom strategy. Key aspects of the strategy include athlete's endorsements and selective distribution through high-end retailers and specialty stores. According to the Oakley annual reports, these elements of Oakley's brand-building strategy work together to increase the perceived value of the company's products.