QA Outdoors With Bruno Beccaria and Jordan Egli of Burris Optics

A year ago, at the NRA Show in Dallas, Outdoor Wire Digital Network’s Paul Erhardt and Dan Zimmerman sat down with Bruno Beccaria, who was just one month into his new role as General Manager of Burris Optics, a company under the Beretta Holding S.A. umbrella. Beccaria had already built a strong track record with successful leadership roles at Franchi and Benelli before Beretta tapped him to lead Burris. Last month, at the NRA Show in Atlanta, we caught up with Beccaria with Jordan Egli, Burris’s Director of Marketing, to get their perspective on running yet another Beretta-owned brand and how the transition from firearms to optics has been going.

QA Outdoors: Looking back on your first year at Burris, what were some of your top priorities coming in and how have they evolved?

Bruno Beccaria: My top priority at Burris was to preserve the company’s DNA—innovation. I’ve been pushing our R&D and product development teams to stay focused on integrating new technologies into our optics. What I love about optics is that, among all the Beretta brands, optics are where we can truly embed technology. We’ve tried adding electronics to shotguns and rifles, but it hasn’t been successful. Optics give us the ability to incorporate features like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. We can share videos and pictures, and I believe the next step will be having everything integrated directly into the scope…no need for external devices like smartphones.

QA: How do you adopt a shift to the younger consumer who is grown up with electronics in their lives? They don’t recall rotary phones. They’ve always had smartphones and smart TVs, without getting away from the heritage aspect of a long time brand with a very traditional market of hunters?

BB: That shift isn’t just about the product, it’s about the brand. We need to create a story that resonates with younger customers. Let me give you an example from my time at Franchi. We focused entirely on young hunters and we succeeded because we spoke their language. We can do the same with Burris.

Jordan Egli: I’ll add that Bruno has challenged us to really listen to the voice of the customer. We’re not abandoning traditional, analog productw, we’re still developing them.

BB: Yes, absolutely.

JE: Any time we add technology, it has to be simple and intuitive. Compare our thermal products to others on the market. Ours have a much shorter learning curve.

Also, something Bruno brings from his experience at brands like Franchi and Benelli—companies that are centuries old—is an understanding of heritage and long-term brand stewardship. Burris is 50 years old, which is young by European standards, and Bruno is bringing that long-term mindset to our planning.

BB: Another important change this year has been how we approach the international market. I quickly realized we were losing ground outside the U.S., so I’ve been working to bring a more international perspective to Burris—something we lacked before. Burris is already strong in the U.S., but I believe we can grow significantly overseas.

QA: Now that you’re a year into taking the reins of another Beretta-owned company, how do you describe your leadership style? Clearly it’s been successful otherwise they wouldn’t have asked you to take on another brand. And how has it impacted the culture at Burris?

BB: Changing company culture is never easy—especially when you’re coming from another country. At first, I made the mistake of applying the same methods I used in Italy, and they didn’t work here. I had to adjust—not my values, but my approach.

What matters most to me is building a strong team. Success comes from the team, not just the leader. It took time to understand everyone’s personality and communication style, but now I think we’ve built a solid foundation. I always ask my team to challenge me—to bring ideas that make me think. That’s how I’ve always led.

QA: Speaking of challenges, what was the biggest one you faced in the first year?

BB: (laughs) So many. From a business standpoint, we implemented a new ERP system. That was a real pain.

QA: Say less.

BB: And then, of course, shifting our sales and marketing strategies—that’s always challenging. Bringing in ideas from Europe, trying to explain them to Jordan—first in my imperfect English, then the actual concepts—and going through rounds of feedback and refinement with 25 people…it takes time.

Although I’m from Italy, I’ve spent a lot of time in the U.S., maybe more than in Europe. Even in my previous role, most of our business was U.S.-based. I lived in Maryland for a while. But still, this past year has been full of challenges.

QA: You talk about the technology coming in, how has what you’re tasked with and what you want to see happen changed the product roadmap? Has it been a big change, or is it just a faster continuation of the technology integration?

BB: It’s not a big change.

JE: I can take that one. When Bruno arrived, Burris had a lot of passionate, one-off product lines. With his background in communications and marketing, he helped streamline our product families so they make more sense to the consumer. We’re now more focused on what we do best and how we present it.

BB: Today’s customer journey is very short. We have maybe 10 to 15 seconds to make an impression. So, we have to communicate simply and clearly. My vision is to simplify our product families: entry-level price-point, mid-tier, and premium. That structure makes it easy to communicate value quickly and effectively.

QA:  Are you 100% here in the US? Or are you back and forth?

BB: I’m 100% in the U.S.

QA: I know you’re a hunter. What’s on your American hunting bucket list?

BB: How much time do you have?

QA: All the time in the world.

BB: It’s funny, America is the country I’ve visited most in my life, but I never hunted here until recently. I’ve hunted almost everywhere else in the world because of my role at Beretta Group, but in the last few months I finally started hunting here. I got a North American goose in Colorado, an aoudad in Texas…

QA: Oh, you hunted aoudad?

BB: Yes—and now, I feel like a real U.S. outdoorsman because I also got my first turkey last week.

QA: Wow. Where?

BB: In South Dakota.

QA: Nice. Now, are there other game animals in the U.S. that are on your list that you want to go after?

BB: Next on my list: moose, elk, mule deer.

QA: Antelope?

BB: Of course. And all the duck species that don’t exist in Europe. There are also some kinds of partridge—I forget the name.

JE: Sharptail?

BB: Yes, exactly. I already have all the European grouse species.

QA: Dove? Have you hunted dove season?

BB: Yes, I’ve hunted dove. I’m also interested in mountain lion, black bear, grizzly….

JE: Just name an animal and he’ll say yes. Whitetail?

BB: Yes, though it’s not high on my list—I took one in Finland, an eight-point. So yes, I still want to hunt almost everything here.

QA: One of the things people assume is that everybody in the industry hunts all the time, and some people do. But once you’re in a big company, the time constraints are significant. So do you expect you’re going to be able to get out and hunt?

BB: I usually hunt on weekends, so if I’m lucky, I can fit it in. But honestly, I don’t have much free time. Right now, I’m dedicating my life to Burris. That wasn’t an easy decision—I left my family in Italy. We try to see each other every 30 to 45 days, but it’s tough. During the week, I stay busy and it’s fine. Weekends are harder.

Still, working for the Beretta Group is a privilege. This year marks my 20th year with the company. I’ve managed five different brands. When the family asked me to join Burris, I couldn’t say no.

QA: We have a term for that from the movies. They made you an offer you couldn’t refuse.

JE: Different topic…why are you flying home today?

BB: Tomorrow I have my final in-person class to complete my hunter safety license in Colorado. But after a year, I can say this was the right decision. I’m working with amazing, passionate people. Honestly, they’re probably teaching me more than I’m teaching them. But I have a clear vision for Burris.

Burris needs to become a global brand with one consistent message. We may come from different countries, states, backgrounds, but the passion for hunting, shooting, and firearms is the same everywhere.