“Being provocative or risqué as a brand is in our DNA and is always something we will do,” says Collin Allin, Oakley META Sports Channel Manager & GCC BBM.
Some of its global campaigns haven’t made it to the Middle East due to cultural sensitivities while one recently had to be taken down from The Dubai Mall even after it was approved by the mall operator.
Oakley recently ran a campaign called ‘We’re Sorry’ apologizing to runners for taking so long to develop eyewear specifically for runners. Another campaign called ‘Running sucks, runners don’t’ initially received a little backlash.
“We did say to people that it could backfire horribly by saying running sucks. Runners are up early in morning, trying to be the best they can be,” Allin added, who is a runner and triathlete himself.
Running sucks
“We did get a slight backlash from runners. They said ‘you can’t say what we do sucks’, and we got a bit of a pushback from our ambassadors and media. But once the campaign came to life, people began to understand it a bit more. It’s not that running sucks but it’s hard and unpleasurable at times”.
Oakley used the ‘WTF’ phrase in a campaign which has been used tongue-in-cheek by a number of other brands, but caused offence on this occasion. “We are focused on the younger age like Gen Z. By trying to get a younger audience, we are bringing in some of that cooler younger language.”
Oakley is a big advocate of brand ambassadors and has an influencer-type programme called ‘The Collective’. “Using influencers and their reach and having them as our eyes on the ground makes business sense. We can’t see everything everywhere.”
This small group of ambassadors are offered money-can’t-buy experiences and made to feel part of the Oakley brand. “They are more like a family. I love the phrase ‘Oakley is not where I work, it’s who I am’. It’s super powerful.”
The Collective regularly spots complaints, comments and issues that Allin and his team can quickly deal with and neutralize. “It’s amazing to see the change in attitude where a guy complains on social media and one hour later I give him a call and he says ‘Well I don’t really have a problem’, and all of a sudden the conversation has completely flipped.”
Oakley is pushing its apparel range in this region and looking to increase its share of the lifestyle eyewear market. This involved signing football superstar Kylian Mbappe as a brand ambassador.
For Dubai it faces a unique problem in that it is competing with luxury brands in this space. “The average person in Dubai can afford luxury and the cheapest entry is eyewear, belts and wallets. And with all the super sales here, luxury is quite discounted. So we struggle in Dubai against our own brands.”
Oakley is a house brand owned by Luxottica which includes a number of luxury eyewear brands such as Dolce & Gabbana, Prada and Versace. “It’s an interesting problem and we haven’t figured out how to do it yet. How to break into this lifestyle piece”.
