In the face of the economic climate, everyone needs a plan to carry them through. Fabio d’Angelantonio, global marketing director for Luxottica Group has one. “We try to get as close as we can to our customers,” says d’Angelantonio. “The current economy brings out a momentum where we try to keep building desire in our consumer. We look for opportunities to tell stories. We don’t give up. We’re lucky because even in 2008, brands like Ray-Ban and Oakley have been extremely successful in the U.S.”

Luxottica’s marketing initiatives keep their brands afloat, in part because they’re so fun. The recent Ray-Ban Remasters event in New York (pictured here) blended rock and roll with what d’Angelantonio described as “a way to relaunch the marketplace,” celebrating the ’50s and ’60s-influenced style of the iconic Ray-Ban frames with a musical tribute to that time in music. Eight contemporary artists reinterpreted their favorite songs from the 1950s and 1960s. “Rock music is a fantastic world to deliver our brand values, through big personalities and strong points-of-view,” he says.

There is a recipe for success that has guided Luxottica through the recent hard times. “There are three easy-to-understand elements to building a successful marketing platform,” acknowledges d’Angelantonio. “Big, simple and true. Think big to stimulate emotion. Simple because we aren’t involved in nuclear science. And true: you want to tell stories of what the brands stand for.”     

 —Melissa Arkin