Editor's note: This story is revised from the print edition.
Rory McIlroy and his father, Gerry, were enjoying a quiet breakfast in the dining room at PGA National when they were approached by a stranger in shades.
Louis Wellen, Oakley’s sports marketing manager, knew McIlroy as an up-and-coming junior golfer, so he stopped by the McIlroys’ table, dropped off a few pairs of Oakley sunglasses and left him with a message.
“Rory, you don’t know it yet, but you’re going to be a big part of Oakley’s history,” Wellen told him.
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Oakley has made recent gains in golf through apparel deals with U.S. Open champ Rory McIlroy (left) and PGA Championship winner Keegan Bradley.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
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Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
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The year was 2005, two years before McIlroy turned pro, and six years before McIlroy wore his first Oakley-branded golf shirt, belt or pair of pants. But Wellen was intent on making an impression on the 16-year-old.
Wellen’s drive-by encounter proved prophetic, even if the payoff didn’t come until just before the 2011 season. That’s when Oakley signed McIlroy to an apparel deal and, sure enough, McIlroy had the trademark Oakley “O” all over him a few months later when he won the U.S. Open in one of the most dominating performances ever at a major golf championship.
Now the Irishman is the face of Oakley’s burgeoning golf business.
“I remind Rory of that first conversation every time I see him,” Wellen said with a smile.
Known for its sunglasses, Oakley has spent the past decade trying to break through on the golf apparel and footwear front. Even those in the industry are surprised to learn that Oakley has been making golf shoes for 10 years, an awareness issue the company intends to turn around by spending more money against golf this year than ever before.
Oakley guards its financials closely, but Scott Bowers, senior vice president, global marketing and brand development, said the brand plans “double-digit increases in our marketing spend over the next few years.”
Central to that effort will be convincing the golf consumer to take the brand seriously as an important piece of golf equipment.
“Rory is one of the few golfers who has the profile to drive brand reappraisal, in terms of what Oakley stands for,” said Malcolm Turner, a principal at Wasserman Media Group. “They need consumers to rethink what Oakley stands for and what they have to offer.”
“Golf is where our focus is, head-to-toe,” said Chris Long, Oakley’s national sales director for traditional sports. “But there has been an educational process to get it more accepted as a part of performance.”
Not only did McIlroy win the U.S. Open last year, another Oakley golfer, Keegan Bradley, won the PGA Championship. And now the company is committed to put the marketing dollars behind its momentum in golf.
These player endorsement deals can run close to seven figures for a golfer of McIlroy’s stature, to the low to mid-six figures for golfers who aren’t as accomplished or as well-known. These deals often carry heavy incentives for big wins like McIlroy and Bradley had last year.
With the exception of McIlroy, Wellen said the brand typically doesn’t spend as much on endorsement deals as other major brands like Nike or the endemics.
“We lose it if it gets real competitive,” Wellen said. “We don’t have the budget of a Nike or Adidas. Most of our deals come about because the golfer wants to be with the brand. You have to remember that a small percentage of Oakley sales comes from golf, and our budget is proportionate to that.”
That commitment to golf is growing. Golf footwear — specifically the new Cipher shoe — for the first time is receiving “tier one” marketing support this year. That means it is the highest marketing priority, a designation typically reserved for other Oakley premier brands like Fast Jacket eyewear or Airbrake goggles.
Advertising will be heavy in golf and non-golf magazines, as well as online at PGATour.com and other sites. There also will be in-store displays at some of Oakley’s retail partners.
“This is a real first for footwear,” said Jared Wall, Oakley’s global product line manager of footwear. “To be considered a tier-one asset, that just wouldn’t have happened before. But with Rory winning and then Keegan winning, it’s catapulted golf and footwear into a category that really deserves the attention. You can advertise all day long, but it means so much more to have guys winning in our product.”
The genesis for Oakley’s supposed overnight success with McIlroy and Bradley actually began 22 years ago when Wellen first began distributing Oakley shades on the PGA Tour. He didn’t know much about the game and it showed. He went to his first tournament wearing shorts, a T-shirt and flip-flops, and was promptly escorted outside the ropes.
Through a friend who was a professional water skier and Oakley wearer, Wellen, who leans more toward surfer dude than golfer, was introduced to Mark O’Meara. The PGA Tour star helped Wellen by giving him a family pass to get back inside the ropes. Wellen, who was more appropriately dressed this time in slacks and a golf shirt, used the access to pass out Oakley eyewear to the golfers.
The brand already had the cool factor in spades and getting the eyewear on golfers wasn’t a problem. Brett Ogle was the first pro golfer to win a tournament in a pair of Oakleys, taking the 1994 Hawaiian Open (see related story).
David Duval and Annika Sorenstam both were wearing Oakley shades when they were ranked No. 1 in the world at the same time in 1999.
But penetrating the apparel and footwear market was a different story. That’s not what Oakley was known for and it lacked the authenticity factor. It just wasn’t considered a golf brand.
“We had not gotten really aggressive with golf apparel until 2006 or ’07,” Wellen said. “But we realized that we needed a bigger presence in the industry if we’re going to do golf right. Getting McIlroy … that changed everything.”
Now it has McIlroy in Oakley apparel and hopes to get the footwear deal when his Foot-Joy deal runs out this year. Ricky Barnes and James Nitties wear the eyewear, apparel and footwear, true head-to-toe deals.
Bradley is wearing the Oakley Cipher this year, marketed as the lightest golf shoe ever made. Brendan Steele, the third-round co-leader in the PGA last year, is wearing the eyewear and apparel. Ian Poulter and Zach Johnson are among several golfers wearing the sunglasses.
“It’s exciting for golf to have a nontraditional brand make that kind of commitment,” Wasserman’s Turner said. “You can tell it’s more than just a brand statement here. They see real revenue, they see a real business here worth pursuing.”
