When company founders leave, those who remain are forced to come to terms with exactly who the company is and what it is supposed to be. This can be made even more difficult when the company is purchased by a huge, international company and managers there begin wondering what their new brand has planned for the future. Oakley seems to be in that position right now.
Since founder Jim Jannard sold the company in 2007 it seems Oakley has been struggling for some kind of path forward. Their sports eyewear continues to sell well, but recently they’ve launched nothing in the way of innovative products.
This edit titled A Story of Disruption narrated by James T. Kirk Kevin Spacey is a reminder of all the “disruptive” innovative things Oakley has done. The idea is probably to suggest to all of us that a company with such an innovative past will continue to creative innovative products in the future. Sadly, there is nothing in the film to suggest there are any such products on the horizon. Only the promise that people with a space age home office must be able to come up with something that will make a “new and better future.” Guess we’ll just wait and see. . .
