PORTFOLIO COMPANY NEWS
Revo Partners With U2's Bono to Prevent Vision Impairment
Sunglass brand Revo is partnering with U2's lead singer Bono to prevent vision impairment and blindness.
The goal is to help prevent vision impairment and blindness in more than 5 million people by 2020. Bono, who was diagnosed with glaucoma 20 years ago, will appear in Revo advertisements and campaign materials supporting the partnership.
The eyewear brand's marketing campaign is "Buy Vision, Give Sight." It is hoped that the initiative will raise $10 million to improve access to eye screening, prescription glasses and eye health care in under-resourced communities around the world. For the sale of every new pair of Revo sunglasses, $10 will be donated by the brand to the initiative, which has partnered with Brien Holden Vision Institute to provide basic eye care services in certain communities.
Bono said, "Thanks to good medical care, my eyes are OK, but tens of million of people around the world with sight problems don't have access to glasses, or even a basic eye test."
During U2's Innocense + Experience World Tour, Bono will wear Revo sunglasses. He also has designed a capsule collection of sunglasses for the brand consisting of five styles. The capsule will be available in the late fall, and will include lenses in various colors outfittted with Revo's Light Management System technology.
Revo, known for using a mirror coating lens technology, is a high-end performance line that contains the same technology NASA uses for satellites to deflect radiation. The glare-blocking feature via high-contrast polarized lens technology is ideal for outdoor sports and activities as it blocks 100 percent of UVA, UVB and UVC light.
Yehuda Shmidman, chief executive officer of Sequential Brands Group, the owner of the Revo brand, said, "Revo's pioneering lens technology has always put eye-health central to Revo products and we believe Revo buyers will embrace the idea that their purchase is helping someone else."
Sequential acquired the brand for $20 million in August 2013 in cash from Oakley Inc., which is owned by Luxottica Group SpA.