Over the years, I have given dozens of people Oakley glasses as gifts in an attempt to convert them to the brand. There is an initial love for the glasses, but they are abandoned after the novelty wears off. I think only two have stayed Oakley fans and have continued to buy Oakley products. Everyone else moved onto other brands that provide them more of what they are looking for.

The question to you: how successful have you been in converting non-collectors?

I'm with Oak. To date, only my wife and a few friends have stayed loyal to oakley.

I haven't converted anyone. I gave my little brother a pair some years ago, never to be seen again. I just don't know anyone close to me who likes sunglasses (much less Oakley) like I do.

I'm with Oak. To date, only my wife and a few friends have stayed loyal to oakley. - HED4JC

Same here brother! Converted my wife from Coach crap to Oakley and a friend of mine who was a border line O fan before we met, but now has more of a passion for it than before. He doesn't collect, but he's always sporting the glasses and an O shirt of some kind:)

I'm a fan of Oakley since 2005, when I started my collection.
And since then, showing several friends glasses of Oakley, and they began to acquire glasses and accessories Oakley (shirts, tennis), and many of them have become loyal to the brand.
Here in my country (BRAZIL), Oakley has many fans, is a much admired brand, but the biggest problem is that Luxottica does not give due attention to true collectors and admirers of the brand.
They need to review this policy, and practice the lowest prices around.
In more oakley it is much admired here, and try to bring more fans w / a brand and also w / o O-REVIEW.

My Sister has asked me to find her another pair. plus, some of the people I've converted at work have asked for more as well. One person at work was pure Ray Ban, but he now does about 50/50. There are 15 or so pairs regularly worn at work because of me. Spreading the Good Word.

On a side note, My Wife used to wear Vogue. Not a problem since. Also 2 brother in laws have multiple pairs.

I converted most of my friends, family and my wife to Oakley and they stuck with it. But it didn't start out like that, at first they made fun of me for having so many oakleys, my best friend especially lol he then started working at my local bunker with me and was hooked, he apologized later lol. My parents wear shades and clothing everyday and so does my wife, so I think I did a good job.

In my line of work, Oakley is on about 1/4 of the mugs at any given time. So no shortage of the brand itself. That said, it can sometimes be difficult to convince someone to buy something with their own funds as non-Oakley wearers have to listen to people like me regularly. Still, I have managed to talk probably six people into doing so. One of them even went OCP for their first purchase in October and was really excited about it even before he had it in hand. It is too early to tell if any actually stick with it. But here's hoping. I try to talk about it more often to people that already have a pair to get them to keep going. Everyone is stuck on SI because it's everywhere, and I want them to venture into something with more color and flare that might have some staying power.

I have converted a few of my friends. Since the changed to oakley they won't ever change back, they say! ☺

Good stuff everyone!

I think one of the key features to Oakley glasses is its impact resistance; I do believe they have the best sports, polycarbonate-based glasses on the consumer market. However, convincing the general public that it is important is tough. Unless you play sports or do work that requires advance eye protection, you're not likely gonna make it a priority. It's similar to convincing someone a Honda Accord is better than any Bentley because it has a better crash test rating. That's a tough hill to climb if they don't need the feature.

Everyone I know who had Oakley's in the early days have stayed loyal ever since, maybe 10-20 people I know were wearing them in the early nineties wouldn't wear anything else. Younger kids just don't really get it.

Excellent work, Dave. On the youth comment, my experience has been the opposite. The kids these days love Oakley, especially their performance in the sports segment. It's the adults moving onto higher end, more refined products which they can now afford that have slipped away from Oakley.

Proud to say that anyone that call me friend will have Oakley's, and have at least five pairs. I push hard. Most of my friends wear Oakley apparel (because of me lol)

Yeah ive converted lots of friends and as a group probably have 30 pairs. one friend who only had 1 pair and then lost them decided he couldn't trust himself so now buys cheap pair all the rest are loyal including one person who purchased a rayban recently but hardly ever wears them.

I've had my parents and brothers jump in on Oakley over the years. The whole family, besides myself, either skis or snowboards and they were Oakley for that as well. I have also had some friends buy only Oakley and continue to do so, which is always cool to see.

Excellent work, Dave. On the youth comment, my experience has been the opposite. The kids these days love Oakley, especially their performance in the sports segment. It's the adults moving onto higher end, more refined products which they can now afford that have slipped away from Oakley. - Oak

Good point on the sports models, I just saw a school kid today wearing Radar

Well, that was fun! Just converted #7. He bought 2 HJ 2.0s with replacement lenses all on my advice. Guess he was thinking about it for a hot minute and got me to go into a tactical shop with him for help. SUPPLIES! XD

As much as it is for the converts as it is for the collectors, I think a base trigger for anyone to stick with buying Oakley is just getting over the hump that sunglasses are worth spending more than $10 for. Once that is determined, I think remaining a convert is a whole lot easier. Past that, speaking to what Oak said, I can imagine as converts do get older they may develop a preference for a nice glass lens as being (perceived) higher quality than a nice plastic lens, and make the move to a competitor.