Independents
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Holiday Countdown: Marketing
Marketing: Not just for holidays anymore
By Joseph Dobrian
October 20, 2008
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| Attendees of Bremer Jewelry's Ladies' Night Out bash gather in front of the limousine that picked VIP clients up for the party. |
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New York--Traditionally, many jewelers have saved up their advertising funds and their marketing ingenuity for a big pre-Christmas push.
But among the most successful jewelers, the conventional marketing wisdom is that promoting a store brand ought to be a year-round job.
Lately, jewelers say they are distributing their resources more evenly through the year, with only a slight ramp-up to prepare for the holidays.
Most marketing experts applaud this strategy, but warn that jewelers cannot be complacent in their holiday marketing efforts, especially not this year.
With economic uncertainty nationwide expected to depress holiday sales, many jewelers are noticing a trickle-down effect from vendors that are not providing the same amount of support as they have in the past.
Under those circumstances, the temptation is strong to conserve marketing resources until the economy turns around--but many industry insiders warn that this is exactly the wrong approach. Ellen Fruchtman, president of Fruchtman Marketing in Toledo, Ohio, insists that tough times are the times for jewelers to be proactive.
"Just advertising won't bring in the customers," she says. "Many jewelers are fearful of what the year will bring, and instead of ensuring that the worst doesn't happen, they're taking an 'If you build it, they will come' attitude. Jewelers need to collect data from each customer; they should know what she likes and doesn't like, and they should be picking up the phone. In terms of marketing and advertising, they don't have to do anything dramatically different--but they need to be smarter and pay more attention to return on investment."
For example, Fruchtman says, it's a perfectly good idea for jewelers to throw Christmas parties for their best customers, but retailers should use those parties to grow their customer bases by urging guests to bring a friend. A special holiday event for men is a good idea, she adds, since men tend to shop at the last minute.
"Don't overly incentivize, because if it's a tough year, you don't want to give up margins," Fruchtman says. "Instead of discounting, give a benefit that your customers can't get elsewhere, like a private party, or birthday cards. Remember, a major jewelry purchase comes only every three to five years for most people. You have to think of ways to bring people into the store year-round, and how you treat customers is the name of the game today."
John O'Rourke, president and chief executive officer of Montica Jewelry in Coral Gables, Fla., agrees that remaining in the customer's consciousness year-round is the key to holiday sales. Montica's main method is community involvement.
"Investing in our Chamber of Commerce for the past six years has been the smartest marketing we've ever done," O'Rourke says.
The retailer is the title sponsor of the Diamond Awards, which are given out annually to various businesses in the community. Montica's name and logo are headlining the event, which takes place the first week of November, and the store is giving premier case space to vendors who O'Rourke says have been especially helpful, such as Tissot and Longines, which have given the store several billboards at no extra cost.
"We're big fans of billboards but hadn't done much with them in the past because they're so expensive," he says.
Another fan of billboards is Susan DeVore, owner of Diamontrigue of Lubbock in Lubbock, Texas. Since the store sells simulated diamond jewelry on the slogan "If you don't tell, we won't!" its word-of-mouth is negligible, and its ad budget, astronomical.
"We're looking at digital billboards in Lubbock airport and we're holding several in-store events," DeVore says. "We're also very big on community involvement."
The store has designed a commemorative piece for Lubbock's centennial and is advertising it as a gift you can give only every 100 years. It also does radio ads all year, rotating stations and focusing on women ages 18 to 35.
Susan Eisen, owner of Susan Eisen Fine Jewelry and Watches in El Paso, Texas, says she uses a tri-vision billboard that advertises appraisals on one panel, custom work on the second panel and repairs on the third. At times, she uses it to advertise charity functions. But her main marketing tool is definitely radio.
"'Crazy About Jewelry Radio' is a weekly call-in show that covers a different topic each week," says Eisen, who also wrote a book, Crazy About Jewelry. "We're doing more with direct mail, and we're putting money into the metals department at the University of Texas at El Paso, where we'll sponsor a design contest."
Two other jewelers are pinning their hopes on in-store events—one for women and one for men. Ronda Daily, owner of Bremer Jewelry in Peoria, Ill., is holding a Ladies' Night Out, in which 30 or so of her best customers will be limo-chauffeured to a special night at the store where they'll be encouraged to make wish lists. The lists will be collected and passed along to each lady's significant other. The list will be gift-wrapped with a gift for him and a $100 gift card toward a purchase.
"I refuse to participate in the economic downturn," Daily says. The years of worst economic news are the times you take market share."
For Steve Levinson, owner of Monmouth Jewelry Co. in Newport, Ky., Cincinnati Bengals cheerleaders helped to pack the store last year, and he says he'll repeat the event again.
"We sent out 3,000 'bring a friend' invitations that looked like Bengals game tickets, strictly to husbands, offering free beer and pizza," Levinson says. "The girls came with photos of themselves, and sat and signed them."
With a packed 3,000-square-foot store, one problem was too few staff members, he says.
"This year we'll have all of our employees there, dressed in Bengals uniforms. Also new this year, we'll have a Ladies' Night first, where our guests can make wish lists to give to their husbands to take to Cheerleaders' Night."
Editor's note: This story first appeared in the October 2008 print edition of National Jeweler.
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More Independents
Paso Robles, Calif.--Eleven percent of Jewelry Consumer Opinion Council (JCOC) panel members plan to purchase fine jewelry or watches as a gift this holiday season, with 82 percent of this group believing they are either somewhat or extremely likely to do so, according to the JCOC's Pre Holiday study. Read More
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