Product Issues
Features: Key features of the products are Ambermatic, legends collection, rare prints, craft, carbon fiber, flip out, and light-ray (Ray-Ban 1);
Ray-Ban has the largest portfolio in this industry and main product categories are New Release, icons, Tech, Limited Editions, Rare Prints, Ray-Ban Kids, other Sunglasses, and Virtual Mirror; at the same time, popular styles include Aviator, Clubmaster, Jakie Ohh, and Wayfarer, etc. (Ray-Ban 1)
As the company has a business operation in the international market, it is essential to concentrate more on research & development to introduce new sunglasses with the excellent features of the products; however, it invests more in R&D.
Distribution
Ray-Ban has a powerful distribution network throughout national and international market and it had followed the Uppsala internationalization model to enter a foreign market, for example, it has an operation in Africa (only in South Africa), America (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and the USA) in 26 countries of Europe, and 20 countries of Asia. As a manufacturer, Ray-Ban distributes products through wholesale and retail market all over the world and it has a number of retail centers in each place, for instance, it has more than a thousand dealers across 195 cities in India.
The differentiating aspect of the distribution strategy of Ray-ban is that it has an option to sell its products online through its corporate website; this can be said to be direct selling as Ray-ban does not need to sell through retailers or distributors in this way; in addition, the competition is relatively low in this distribution strategy (Ray-Ban 1).
Pricing
Ray-Ban asks comparatively high price following premium or skimming pricing strategy, such as, Ray-Ban sunglasses range in price from $50 – $140 while competitors ask only $6 – $10 for similar products; however, lower-priced competitors cannot create any hindrance to this company as buyers are brand loyal. There are many issues influence Ray-Ban to fix the high price of the sunglasses, for instance, brand awareness, quality, loyal customers, effective marketing and communication strategy, etc.
There is a considerable price differentiation of Ray-ban due to the fact that the sunglasses of the brand are comparatively high- priced in comparison to the competitors – this differentiation in pricing strategy has occurred due to strong brand image and high-quality offerings of Ray-ban; as a result, the brand wants to continue this price differentiation.
Advertising & Promotions
Ray-Ban uses a number of advertising tools as part of its promotional mix in order to attract potential buyers; as a result, its parent company (Luxottica 15) has spent €4.4 million in 2011 and €5.1 million in 2010 in advertising alone.
According to the annual report 2011 of the parent company, the wholesale and retail-divisions of Ray-Ban proffer promotional packages during a year; as a part of this, free frames are gifted to consumers as well as discount coupons, promotional codes, special offers for New Year festivals, Christmas Eve and so on. Since the 1950s till today, Ray-Ban’s advertisings are highly focused on celebrity endorsements – the brand has created an optimistic perception among customers by creating an imaginary differentiation because consumers not buy brands and enjoy the product, they also enjoy the “imaginary differentiation” that goes with it.
Ray-Ban also focuses on sales campaigns; for example, it recently initiated a new inspirational and persuasive-campaign named “Never-Hide” for youngsters; moreover, it carries out vast publicity and online advertising through its corporate website and social networking
Works Cited
Luxottica. Annual report of Luxottica. 2011 Web.
Ray-Ban. Company Overview: Product and Place. 2011 Web.
Ray-Ban. RB2140 901 Original Wayfarer. 2012. Web.
Ray-Ban. Sun Collection. 2011 Web.