Annual Review 2012 - Luxottica

20 ANNUAL REVIEW 2012
chains. As a result, Luxottica became the world’s first significant eyewear manufacturer to
enter the retail market, thereby maximizing synergies with its production and wholesale
distribution and increasing penetration of its products through LensCrafters stores.
Since 2000, Luxottica has strengthened its retail business by acquiring a number of chains,
including Sunglass Hut (2001), a leading retailer of premium sunglasses, OPSM Group
(2003), a leading optical retailer in Australia and New Zealand and Cole National (2004),
which brought with it another important optical retail chain in North America, Pearle
Vision, and an extensive retail licensed brands store business (Target Optical and Sears
Optical). In 2005, the Company began its retail expansion into China, where LensCrafters
has become a leading brand in the country’s high-end market. In the same year, the Group
also started to expand Sunglass Hut globally in high-potential markets like the Middle East,
South Africa, Thailand, India, the Philippines, Mexico, Brazil and Mediterranean Europe.
In 2011, Luxottica started its optical retail expansion in Latin America by completing the
acquisition of Multiopticas Internacional, a leading retailer in Chile, Peru, Ecuador and
Colombia operating under the Opticas GMO, Econópticas and Sun Planet retail brands.
Brand Portfolio
Management
Building strong brands that create enduring relationships with consumers is key to how
Luxottica plans to sustain its business in the future. The Company has an existing strong and
well-balanced brand portfolio that includes a number of proprietary and licensed brands
and that is continually evolving. Its composition is gradually modified by the acquisition of
new brands, the addition of new licensing agreements and the renewal of existing ones
along with the withdrawal of brands no longer deemed strategic. These actions are taken
in order to continually attract a wide range of consumers with different tastes and lifestyles.
Furthermore, Luxottica’s long-term objectives remain consistent:
to focus on leading brands, balance proprietary
and licensed brands, avoid brand dilution, lengthen
the average term of licensing agreements
and fuel Asian friendly styles.
DESIGN and
Technological
Innovation
Luxottica is committed to staying current with changing lifestyles and emerging fashion
trends, which it interprets in the design and style of products to address the needs and
tastes of consumers. Emphasis on product design and the continuous development of
new styles is the Group’s distinctive feature.
The Company differentiates its products not only through innovation in style and design
but also through a commitment to technological innovation.