Ray-Ban, irremovable leader in the sunglasses and eyeglasses market, is an American company.
It has been founded by Bausch&Lomb in 1937 when the US Army Air Corps asked them to come out with a new model of lenses able to guarantee to avoid headaches and sickness when pilots fly high in the sky. Obtaining the patent and the copyright for this new sunglasses technology, the first “Ray-Ban Aviator” came out.
Following this powerful flow and the popularity reached with the Aviator, during the following years they introduced in the market new versions of the classic model (this time for shooting sports) with the “sweat bar”, and gradient lenses.
Secondly, talking about lifestyle and cool, they introduced in 1952 another classic, the “Ray-Ban Wayfarer”. This model became popular in Hollywood and has been used by a lot of actors in several films (I.E. Blues Brother), getting more and more the “image” of cool and trendy during these years.
Several other models were made, but between 60s and 80s the company’s masterpieces remained the Aviator and Wayfarer.
Still nowadays when we think about the brand these are the two first models that come up in our minds.
In 1999 the brand has been sold to the Italian Luxottica S.p.a for $640million.
Today Ray-Ban is an icon for young and cool people, the line that connects old-school with the present; models never changed and you can still find the high-quality that characterized the company for years and years.
Their slogan is now (since 2007) “Never Hide”, encouraging people to show themselves in the way they are, authentically and without being afraid about external judgements.
History timeline
Positioning of the company
The target-market has been set to focus on people between 18 and 34 years old. A huge gap with a lot of strong competitors. To lead the market today Ray-Ban can position itself referring to its strong key-points:
Rich historical