Oakley Inc. wasn’t a sponsor of the PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games, but its oval-shaped logo got plenty of airtime. Nearly a dozen athletes won medals while wearing Oakley’s Harmony Fade goggles, including Chloe Kim, who won gold in the snowboard halfpipe, skier Mikaela Shiffrin, first in giant slalom, and snowboarder Red Gerard, who won in slopestyle.
The collection, featuring yellow and orange hues, was “developed to celebrate the journey and commitment that athletes make to reach the world stage of competition,” said the Foothill Ranch-based eyewear manufacturer.
The orange represents “the fire that burns inside each and every competitor,” the yellow “the sun that lights the path of athletes brave enough to pursue their dreams.”
Oakley’s Italy-based parent, Luxottica Group SPA, combined operations last year with Essilor International SA in France in a $57 billion deal that the European Commission is scheduled to decide on this week. Oakley has about 1,400 employees in Orange County.
Sock Pairings
Stance Inc. in San Clemente released the Skin Phillips Photo Series Collection featuring images of professional skateboarders Mark Gonzales and Matt Hensley.
Southern California-based photographer Skin Phillips shot the images in the 1990s. All three showed up at the launch event in January at Mandinos in Long Beach.
Phillips printed photos of Gonzales and sent them to him so he could add his own creative touch. Hensley then framed the photos, which were then exhibited at the event.
On another note, the sock and underwear designer and manufacturer released a Street Fighter collection featuring characters from the popular 1990s video game for the Nintendo 64 system.
Stance may be on to something—Rick Kenney, head of consumer insights at Salesforce, told Footwear News that the “brand’s ability to collaborate will be central to its success. Those that remain insular and try to control every aspect of the experience will fall behind.”
Under Review
Emerald Expositions Events Inc. in San Juan Capistrano “engaged a third party consulting firm last fall to conduct a deep dive into our go-to-market strategies for both New York Now and ASD [trade show], including a review of our sales team structures and compensation as well as our approach to prioritizing sales prospecting and outreach,” Chief Executive David Loechner said during an earnings call last month.
“We’re encouraged by the study’s findings as well as the action items and plan that we’ve developed. We’re currently in the process of implementing the recommendations, given that it was conducted in the middle of the show cycle and expect to start seeing the benefits in our sales and marketing productivity for the coming New York Now and ASD Summer shows.”
Loechner didn’t elaborate on the changes his staff is implementing.
Emerald produces more than 80 tradeshows and conference events a year. It’s majority-owned by Toronto private equity firm Onex Corp., which bought it in 2013 for $950 million. It went public in April, raising $300 million, and traded recently at a $1.58 billion market cap, up about 30% from the initial public offering. It reported a 5.6% uptick in 2017 revenue to $341.7 million.
Bits & Pieces
Long Beach-based Epson America Inc. targeted small businesses in new national advertising campaign “Start It Up!” The 30-second video aired before the Super Bowl and throughout the Winter Olympics on NBC stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Miami, Seattle and Minneapolis. The campaign also includes ads on iHeart Radio, NPR and the Kim Komando Show. … Alteryx Inc. in Irvine hired Greg Davoll as vice president of product marketing.
