A consumer product needs a distinctive brand and brand management!
Rainer Winter, former shareholder and second-generation CEO, was the one who developed the brand name ‘uvex’. He joined his parents' company after spending a year abroad in the USA. This turned out to be a formative period in his life and had a major influence on the later development of the uvex brand. When he joined the family business in 1956 and took over the sunglasses division, a problem arose: the sunglasses were all called Winter 01, Winter 02, etc. The insight gained in the USA that a consumer product needs a strong brand and strategy led Rainer Winter to come up with the name ‘uvex’. The name is an acronym for ‘UltraViolet EXcluded’.
This step marked the beginning of a new era: gradually, all sports and leisure products were marketed under the name uvex. Only the Personal Protective Equipment division remained under the established Winter brand for the time being and changed to uvex in 1970.
