Oakley Inc.’s headquarters in Foothill Ranch was featured in the most recent video the eyewear and helmet manufacturer posted on its social media channels. “The Obsession That Drives Us” showcases the dramatic architecture of the main “bunker” designed by former Chief Executive Colin Baden and completed in 1998. The video also provides glimpses of the product process and manufacturing operations, which Oakley’s parent company, Italy-based Luxottica Group, invested $40 million in to expand and upgrade in 2016. The one-minute video is part of the #OneObsession campaign that launched in 2015 and “invites and inspires people to join the brand’s global network of renowned athlete ambassadors in living out their passions.”
Luxottica, which bought Oakley in 2007 for $2.1 billion from founder Jim Jannard, merged with Essilor International SA in France last year in a $49 billion deal. Meanwhile, Jannard and his wife, Misha, opened a $500,000 community hall and evacuation center last month on Fiji’s Yacata Island. Jannard owns nearby Vatuvara Island.
Vroom, Vroom
Mazda North American Operations in Irvine announced the lineup for its 2018 Battery Tender Global Mazda MX-5 Cup. Four of the race weekends will coincide with the Verizon Indycar races in Portland, Birmingham. Ala., Lexington, Ohio, and Elkhart Lake, Wisc. Two races will be held each weekend featuring the “very best amateur drivers who race a Mazda or Mazda-powered vehicles.” The champion will earn a $200,000 Mazda Road to 24 scholarship, and the rookie of the year will get a $75,000 scholarship, both to be used to support a season of professional racing and advance their careers.
“Our racers want bucket-list tracks, relatively short race weekends, and events spread apart by a few weeks since many also have very demanding professional non-motorsports career schedules,” Mazda Motorsports Business Development Manager David Cook said in a statement. “The 2018 schedule includes six tracks that meet these criteria. This will be our third season with the Global Mazda MX-5 Cup car and we will continue to add elements to bring more value to the racers, teams, and fans.”
Stocking Feet
San Clemente-based sock and underwear maker Stance Inc. released a one-minute video featuring its brand ambassadors, or Punks and Poets. It opens with a young man skating down the street, engulfed in flames that apparently don’t bother him. It also shows people dancing, riding motorcycles, playing basketball, swimming with sharks, snowboarding and working out in a gym, a narrator’s message overlapping the footage:
“They told you to follow the in crowd, but you’re not a follower. You are the out crowd, the outlandish, the outspoken, the outliers, the outsiders. You know that the adventure is not for the full-bellied. You are still hungry.
“They told you to follow the road less traveled, but you’re not a follower, you abandoned the street and your road, you find a different route. Normal is not your burden. You don’t just take the risk, you are the risk. You stand tall, you stand out, you stand with us.”
The video was made in-house by Ricki Bedenbaugh and Mark Choiniere.
Bits & Pieces
Ambry Genetics Corp. hired Tom Schoenherr as chief commercial officer. He’ll handle the execution of the genetic diagnostic company’s commercial strategy by overseeing all commercial sales, including business development, client services, genetic specialists and marketing.
