Oakley Hires First Director of Marketing, Ad Agency

Oakley Inc., moving to add customers and build sales, said Tuesday that it has selected VitroRobertson as its first outside advertising agency.

San Diego-based VitroRobertson will create a print ad campaign for Oakley that will target 18- to 34-year-old males. The campaign will be launched in November.

The Foothill Ranch maker of sunglasses wants to broaden its customer base and call attention to its other products, including its shoes, clothing and watches.

“What this will do is drive sales,” Chief Executive William D. Schmidt said. “That’s our No. 1 goal at this point: growing the business.”

Oakley also announced that it has hired Bill Daily, former sports marketing vice president for Mastercard International, to fill a newly created position, director of marketing.

The shifts are in keeping with recent changes at Oakley, which in April demoted then-Chief Executive Link Newcomb and replaced him with Schmidt, a former Gatorade executive with broad marketing experience.

Schmidt, 51, quickly set about finding an outside ad agency for the company. He hired Daily--who previously worked for him at Gatorade--as a consultant to direct the search before bringing him aboard permanently.

Six agencies competed for Oakley’s account, which is worth $4.5 million to $5 million a year, the company said.

Oakley selected VitroRobertson partly because of its “creative firepower,” said Daily, who will guide the advertising effort. VitroRobertson’s other clients include ASICS athletic footwear, Yamaha WaterCraft and Togo’s Sandwich Shops.