Independents
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Jewelers full-speed ahead on holiday marketing
By Michelle Graff and Catherine Dayrit
December 08, 2008
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| Several of the jewelers who spoke to National Jeweler on Monday said they are taking a new approach to marketing this holiday season, including waiting until the final weeks to blitz the market and trying new tactics such as trunk shows. |
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New York--In an effort to draw consumer dollars in a down economy, jewelers who spoke to National Jeweler on Monday said they are getting creative with their promotional plans this holiday season, changing up their spend, their approach and their timing.
As part of National Jeweler's annual holiday weekend roundup, which appears online every Monday through the end of the year, editors interview independent jewelers around the country.
Here is a region-by-region breakdown of how jewelers responded to our inquiries about their marketing efforts this holiday season, sales and more:
Northeast
At Evan James Ltd. in Brattleboro, Vt., owner Evan James Deutsch is taking a new approach to marketing for this challenging holiday season.
"We're going to blitz that last week [of the holiday season] as opposed to doing a slow-and-steady buildup to the end," he said. "Normally, we kind of spread it out a little."
Deutsch said the short nature of the holiday season this year, combined with shaky consumer confidence, will have shoppers holding on to their dollars until they determine that they absolutely must spend.
He estimates he will spend 80 percent of his marketing budget on advertisements running from Dec. 19-24. The ads will be spread among newspapers, television and radio, including a spot on a youth-oriented station designed to lure in engagement ring business.
"That's when we're going to get them," said Deutsch.
Though the time frame of his marketing has changed, he said he plans to spend the same amount as last year.
While he waits to unleash his holiday marketing blitz, Deutsch reported that his store experienced a good amount of traffic on Friday, and Sunday generated some good leads.
David Rotenberg, owner of David Craig Jewelers in Langhorne, Pa., is also changing his marketing tactics this holiday season, adding in newspaper advertisements featuring store specials, in addition to his traditional magazine advertisements, and upping his marketing spend for the month of December.
"Because of the economy, we instituted a newspaper promotion," he said.
After an uptick in business around Black Friday, Rotenberg said his sales slowed over the weekend.
Southeast
Despite the down economy, Wilson Glasgow at Elizabeth Bruns Jewelers in Charlotte, N.C., said they are moving full-speed ahead with their advertising.
"We're not cutting back advertising a bit," he said. "We're advertising almost daily in the paper."
He said the store sticks to more traditional methods of print advertising, running ads in local magazines and newspapers.
He said past attempts at billboard advertising have proved unsuccessful, and television advertising does not suit his southern store.
"We are a very high-end store and it just doesn't come across," Glasgow said. "It's just not for us."
The store's marketing spend will be equal to last year's but, once the new year hits, Glasgow said he'll be looking at reducing spending in the first six months of 2009, which could be "bleak."
At D.B. Ryland and Co., owner Frank Molteni reported fair weekend sales at his Bristol, Va., store.
Moving forward into the holiday season, he plans to cut back on his marketing spend.
"It's too expensive with the way things are," he said.
He said he is running newspaper advertisements but axed television ads from his budget. He also nixed plans to launch a billboard advertising campaign.
"I've never done one of those, but I think it's a pretty good idea," Molteni said. "But with the economy the way it is, I wasn't going to spend money on it. It's slow everywhere."
South Central
To lure in shoppers as the holiday season continues, Kelly Newton, owner of Newton's Jewelers in Fort Smith, Ark., said he is sticking with his usual run of television, magazine, newspaper and billboard advertising, as well as "lots of radio" spots.
He said they are carefully reviewing their marketing spend from week to week to determine how effective their advertising is in this economy.
"We're just watching it," Newton said. "We know where we can pull back if the business is slowing. We want to stay out there, but we have to pay for those ads. You can advertise yourself until you're poor, but if they don't come in, (then) they don't come in."
Newton sold more of the usual--engagement rings and Rolex watches--over the past weekend, which he termed as "not too bad."
Aaron Penaloza said holiday marketing plans for his San Antonio, Texas store, C. Aaron Penaloza Jewelers, include ongoing ads in local forms of print media, a 20 percent off holiday promotion postcard sent to about 5,000 customers and a spot promoting jewelry on a local news show.
He said he is spending the same as last year.
"Business is off, but it's not a time to be cutting back on your advertising. Maybe we ought to be spending even more," Penaloza said, but adds that any plans for further marketing campaigns would have had to be mapped out months ago.
Midwest
Retailers in the Midwest reported so-so traffic for the weekend, with marketing efforts offering up a mixed bag of results.
At Billmeier Jewelers in Saginaw, Mich., co-owner Mark Billmeier said the store advertises in newspapers and coordinates with a local business organization to draw customers. He says the marketing spend has been less than in years past, but the target has remained the same: a more mature audience with more money to spend.
Store traffic over the weekend, however, was disappointing for the retailer, with Billmeier saying "On Saturday, we might just as well have not been opened."
Though the freestanding store is located on a six-lane thouroughfare, Billmeier notes that Saginaw is a General Motors town, which means it has been hit particularly hard by the auto industry crisis.
At Garfinkles Fine Jewelry in Highland Park, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, owner Jill Garfinkle says that a Heather Moore trunk show held over the weekend helped to bring in customers, and she credits advertising in the local paper for drawing them in.
"It makes me more of a believer in advertising," she says. "I'm not the greatest believer, but yes, people definitely came because they saw the advertising."
Garfinkle says her target is "whoever wants to come in," and she's spending as little as necessary on marketing right now.
"I'm doing what I need to do for what I need to do," she says.
While in years past her advertising has showcased expensive pieces, that focus is shifting this year. In addition to the Heather Moore trunk show, with pieces available for $2,000 and under, the retailer will be holding a Pandora trunk show, with pieces starting at as little as $25.
At Anshus Jewelers in Menomonie, Wisc., John Anshus says he is spending less on newspapers because he doesn't feel as though the return is very good. The retailer is instead putting more money into billboards and TV, with diamonds--including general diamond jewelry, engagement and anniversary items--among the featured pieces.
Traffic over the weekend was "a little slow," Anshus says, adding "I don't expect too much this season."
The customers that are coming in, however, are making larger purchases, so "it seems to balance out," Anshus says.
West Coast
On the West Coast, Alvin Goldfarb Jeweler, with stores in Seattle and Bellevue, Wash., is mailing out it's own in-store magazine, which has been a successful endeavor for the past few years. The retailer is also trying something new this year, sending out a holiday card with a "VIP" discount to its better customers.
Goldfarb says the store is trying to target a "more traditional jewelry demographic," meaning customers in their 40s through 60s whose kids are away in college and thus have a little more to spend on events such as anniversaries.
While Goldfarb called traffic for the weekend "dismal," he says he is expecting it to really pick up this next weekend, noting that the second week of December has historically been a strong one for the retailer.
In Los Angeles, Gail Friedman, co-owner of Sarah Leonard Fine Jewelers, says Saturday was a good day for the store, adding that next week and in the weeks leading up to Christmas, the store will begin holding Sunday hours as well.
In terms of marketing, the retailer sends out a holiday catalog to its mailing list and is very active in keeping in touch with customers, through direct mail, e-mail blasts and through follow-up phone calls. This year, the retailer put on more trunk shows than it ever has. The shows help to draw in new customers, but the retailer also counts on its usual customers--a varied range including students from the nearby University of California at Los Angeles, as well as retired customers who tend to be less affected by the economy.
"December has been really good," Friedman says, but she notes that she isn't quite sure which of the marketing elements draws customers in.
"We do them all because you have to do them all," she says.
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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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