From Obscurity to Sell-Out Success: How New Era Helped GUNNAR Reclaim the Spotlight

From Obscurity to Sell-Out Success: How New Era Helped GUNNAR Reclaim the Spotlight

by | Aug 12, 2025 | Case Study

The Challenge

Despite having innovative computer glasses designed to combat the symptoms of computer vision syndrome, the company experienced challenges in maintaining media and consumer engagement. Following two years of minimal press coverage, GUNNAR saw decreased sales and diminished brand visibility. To reverse this trend, GUNNAR collaborated with New Era Communications to revitalize its brand messaging, create massive brand awareness and generate interest for key product launches.

New Era Communications aimed to reintroduce GUNNAR and effectively communicate the benefits of its blue light-blocking technology to media and consumers, increasing both visibility and sales. We also supported GUNNAR in launching new products and partnerships, with their marketing team focusing on showcasing collaborations with major brands, including Amazon Studios, Marvel, Ubisoft, and Blizzard. Notable product partnerships resulting from these initiatives included:

  • Fallout Vault 33 (March 2024): Launch with Amazon Studios, coinciding with the Fallout TV series.
  • Groot Marvel Edition (April 2024): Debut of eco-friendly Arbor Collection featuring Marvel’s Groot.

 

Overall Strategy

To enhance GUNNAR’s profile, New Era Communications implemented a multi-channel strategy engaging press, podcasts, and influencers in technology, optometry, health, pop culture, and gaming. We generated product reviews, news coverage, and widespread excitement for major launches, including Fallout Vault 33 and Groot Marvel Edition, through focused campaigns promoting licensed partnerships.

GUNNAR was reintroduced to the media through 30 early CES 2024 Digital Showcases, highlighting their latest innovations and partnerships. Thought leadership opportunities for CEO Joe Croft reinforced the company’s credibility, with podcast and health publication appearances explaining the science behind GUNNAR’s products.

 

The Strategy: Fallout Vault 33

Our objective for the launch of Fallout Vault 33 was to build anticipation, drive pre-orders, and secure impactful media coverage leading up to the premiere of the Fallout live-action TV series.

  • We leveraged Fallout’s devoted fanbase by aligning the launch with fan-favorite elements from the franchise and the anticipation for the upcoming live-action TV Series.  
  • Our media outreach focused on key outlets familiar with GUNNAR, as well as expanding into optometry, lifestyle, and fashion publications to broaden our audience. 
    • Identify the new outlets we targeted and the response given
  • A strategic pre-launch campaign (March 7 – April 3, 2024) featured early announcements, unboxings, reviews, and influencer previews, successfully building anticipation and fueling demand ahead of the official release.

 

The Strategy: Groot Marvel Edition

To ensure the Groot Marvel Edition stood out to both the press and consumers, we developed a dual-track media strategy targeting:

  • Track 1: Gaming, comics, and Marvel-focused
  • Track 2: Health, optometry, fashion, lifestyle, and design

Each track received customized embargoed pitches ahead of the April 24 launch, crafted to be engaging, personal, and relationship-driven. We infused humor, Marvel-inspired language, and thematic storytelling to resonate with each target. On launch day, we delivered tailored announcements to each vertical, consistently highlighting what set Groot apart:

  • A design inspired by one of Marvel’s most beloved characters
  • A sustainability-forward collection made from ethically sourced wood
  • A brand with deep roots in gaming, pop culture, and eye health

 

Fallout Vault 33 x Amazon Studios

By aligning our campaign with the excitement for the Fallout TV series, we positioned Fallout Vault 33 as a coveted collectible, resulting in one of GUNNAR’s most successful launches to date.

  • Immediate Sell-Out – The glasses sold out within days on both Amazon and GUNNAR’s website during pre-orders and at launch.
  • Sustained Demand – Overwhelming interest prompted GUNNAR to restock and re-release the glasses in August 2024.
  • Substantial Sales Impact – By August 2024, over 3,600 units were pre-sold, making this one of GUNNAR’s best-selling releases.
  • New Partnerships – The campaign’s success led to a collaboration with IGN, featuring Fallout Vault 33 in the IGN Store Summer Sale and generating additional exposure.

 

Groot Marvel Edition x Arbor Collection

With eco-conscious storytelling, beloved IP, and a strategic media approach, we helped make the Groot Marvel Edition one of GUNNAR’s fastest-selling and most discussed collaborations.

  • Top-tier placements – across gaming, tech, and lifestyle media: Windows Central, XDA Developers, Culturess
  • Sell-Out Status – Groot Marvel Edition sold out within days on Amazon and GUNNAR.com, becoming the flagship of GUNNAR’s Arbor Collection and sustainability efforts.
  • Marvel Recognition – The campaign’s impact earned recognition from Marvel’s brand team.

 

Overall Results

Our campaigns for Gunnar Optiks have secured over 1,300 high-profile media placements, garnered 47 billion UVMs, and generated $437 million in advertising value across leading publications in gaming, entertainment, lifestyle, health, and optometry. These results demonstrate New Era Communications’ ability to deliver measurable, high-impact outcomes through creative strategy and storytelling.

 

Total Placements: 1,359

Total Media Impressions: 47.26 Billion UVMs

Top Placements

  • Fandom  (187,167,477 UVMs)
  • IGN (40,637,330 UVMs)
  • Fox News (39,234,719 UVMs)
  • Game Rant (31,497,597 UVMs)
  • CNET (21,466,725 UVMs)
  • GameSpot (16,527,022 UVMs)
  • Billboard (11,123,770 UVMs)
  • ComicBook.com (7,666,375 UVMs)
  • XDA Developers (6,021,616 UVMs)
  • Dexerto (5,456,959 UVMs)
  • Yardbarker (5,386,564 UVMs)
  • Kotaku (3,244,243 UVMs)
  • Windows Central (3,145,110 UVMs)
  • T3 (2,383,963 UVMs)
  • Pocket Gamer (1,925,229 UVMs)
  • Bleeding Cool (1,625,608 UVMs)
  • Winter Is Coming (1,003,325 UVMs)
Case Study: Toshiba Changes how people “view” Windows 10 PCs with dynaEdge AR Smart Glasses

Case Study: Toshiba Changes how people “view” Windows 10 PCs with dynaEdge AR Smart Glasses

by | Mar 16, 2020 | Case Study

For over a century, Toshiba has continued to adapt to advancements in our daily life, working to contribute to a sustainable future by applying innovative technologies to support modern society. One of the most ubiquitous innovations pioneered by Toshiba was the portable PC. But, after three decades with only evolutionary changes made to the form factor, Toshiba wanted to reinvent the portable PC, and for that they looked to New Era Communications for help. 

 

The product – the new dynaEdge augmented reality (AR) PC, a first-of-its-kind, flexible and wearable PC solution that combined the power of a Windows 10 Pro PC with the limitless possibilities of modern, industrial-grade AR smart glasses. Perfect for fieldworkers, this product allows workers to take advantage of powerful AR applications in the field, but also plug-in and utilize the dynaEdge PC component as a desktop replacement when in the office. A true do-everything product! But in order to fully highlight the capabilities of dynaEdge AR’s advanced technology and clearly communicate the value of this novel PC solution, New Era needed to devise a strategy that relied heavily on showing, rather than telling.

 

To do so, the team set out to get dynaEdge AR Smart Glasses in as many offices as possible. New Era Communications focused on top-tier technology outlets on both coasts, focusing on publishing houses, social media influencers and bloggers based in Orange County, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Silicon Valley and New York city. After extensive research, calling on our relationships to secure more than 40 influential meetings, providing the client an unprecedented media tour foundation for introducing and giving hands-on demos of the product to respected editors and experts in the computing, augmented and virtual reality, wearables, and mobile industries over the course of nine days. 

 

From the media tour alone, New Era Communications earned a total of 40 press placements, with global syndication, garnering over 6.5 billion impressions in top tier outlets that included Tom’s Guide, Tom’s Hardware, TechCrunch, The Verge, TechRadar Pro, PCMag, and Business Inside, and several others  over the course of just a few weeks. Not only continuing Toshiba’s legacy of being a leading innovator in the tech space, but once again solidifying Toshiba’s position as a cutting edge company in the PC space, providing solutions and services for the modern professional.

 

Case Study: Revitalizing the Kaliber Gaming Brand

Case Study: Revitalizing the Kaliber Gaming Brand

by | Mar 16, 2020 | Case Study

Kaliber Gaming, a gaming- and eSports-focused division of IOGEAR, tasked New Era Communications with revitalizing the burgeoning video game brand and solidifying its position as a key player in the pc and console gaming market. Facing the challenge of having to create excitement around a brand that had limited exposure since launch, New Era Communications focused its efforts on amplifying excitement for upcoming product launches and breathing new life into legacy products. Establishing Kaliber Gaming as the new status quo for gaming peripherals required New Era Communications to earn recognition in top tier media, establish a multi-faceted review program, and maximize support during trade shows. 

 

To break through the noise and chatter in an already crowded market, New Era narrowed in on bolstering the launches of the HVER PRO Mechanical Keyboard, HVER PRO S Optical Mechanical Keyboard, KeyMander2, Fokus II mouse, and the MMOMENTUM Mouse. New Era Communications advised tying in product unveilings, launches and previews to high profile Kaliber Gaming exhibits at CES, PAX, and GDC. Accompanied with formal press announcements and extensive meetings with press, as well as gamers and livestreamers, proved fruitful with coverage in top tier media outlets including Windows Central, GameSpot, Shack News, and 9to5 Toys.

 

New Era Communications upped the ante further with a robust product review program. By offering exclusive bundles tailor-made to editors’ specific gaming preferences the team provided an opportunity to not only review standalone products, but the total Kaliber Gaming experience. By providing all the peripherals required for the ultimate gaming setup, editors got to experience the difference between leading video game brands and Kaliber Gaming for themselves. Proving that Kaliber Gaming was capable of surpassing precedents placed by competitors and establishing itself as a key player in the market. 

 

Overall, the two-part strategy continues to prove effective, having earned Kaliber Gaming widespread acclaim with repeated features in product recommendation guides,  in-depth reviews and praise from editors at gaming and consumer electronics publications including IGN, PCGamer, PCMag, GameTyrant, Tom’s Guide, and Cheat Code Central, to name a few.

 

New Era Communications remains focused on generating massive traction for the Kaliber Gaming brand, having secured more than a half-billion impressions on behalf of the brand, proving that Kaliber Gaming is quickly becoming a trusted household name in elite gaming and eSports. To date, New Era has created brand awareness for IOGEAR among top media outlets and influencers, exposing the brand to customers more than 2.8 billion times.