The Essence range, said to be unlike anything the brand has produced previously, was showcased to a select group of fashion and lifestyle media professionals who were encouraged to post images of the event on social media network Instagram.
Pandora Australia president David Allen explained that invitees to the launch were encouraged to photograph themselves wearing the product and post the images on Instagram using hashtags #pandoraessenceau and #expresstheessenceofyou. He said the exercise helped the new collection gain “traction”.
Allen added that Pandora launched a global Instagram account in October this year, just in time for the release of the Essence collection.
“Our local approach has been to harness the power of Instagram on the back of the Essence launch by working closely with key media and influential contacts – particularly because this is the space of the key consumer audience for Essence – the urban female.”
As previously reported by Jeweller, the new range features a sterling silver bracelet and 24 small charms that represent value-driven sentiments like “wellness” and “peace”. It’s targeted at urban female consumers aged between 18 and 35 years old.
Models including Samantha Harris, Nikki Phillips and Elle Ferguson, Tash Sefton from fashion blog They All Hate Us and singer Prinnie Stevens attended the event – held in Sydney on 31 October.
Film director and Pandora global ambassador Kinga Burza and lifestyle guru Gary Gorrow were also at the event.
Gorrow made a presentation that discussed the spiritual importance of looking at a person’s defining beliefs or “essence” and the idea that personal jewellery can act as a reminder to honour personal values and beliefs.
Social media approach
Allen also explained that the brand had an “exceptionally engaged audience of Facebook women”.
Globally, Pandora has 1,949,819 Facebook followers – 11 per cent of which are from Australia and New Zealand.
“The Pandora Facebook page has been active since November 2007, well before many jewellery retails had entered the social space, and around half of the stores in the Australia and New Zealand Pandora retail network has their own Facebook pages to nurture customer relationships on local terms,” he said. Last year, Pandora also launched a global Pinterest page that currently has 9,802 followers.
Allen added that while social media experts broadly acknowledge that a strong social media campaign will often not have an immediate effect on sales, it was important in order to increase brand exposure and encourage customer engagement.
“Our presence across social media allows us to offer another level of customer service and brand experience – to be in a conversation with our customers after they have left the store.
“The success of a social media campaign is actually quite simple to measure if we look at follower engagement and/or interaction, for example ‘likes’, ‘shares’, ‘comments’. As the owner of a channel, one can gain quite elaborate insights to what is performing well on Facebook, Pinterest etc.”
And in other Pandora news, the Danish company has increased its 2013 financial expectations for a second time, following strong preliminary results for the third quarter of this year.
The brand now anticipates revenue for 2013 to be about DKK 8.6 billion (AU$ 1.6b). As previously reported by Jeweller, Pandora already updated its expectations to DKK 8 billion (AU$ 1.5b) in August, up from its original forecast of DKK 7.2 billion (AU$ 1.4b).
According to Pandora, the first nine months of 2013 showed solid performance across all major regions, despite tougher foreign exchange rates, particularly in Q3 2013. The company also reported strong like-for-like sales at its concept stores, including Australia, which increased revenue by 25.2 per cent.
Allen said he was pleased with the results, adding that they were particularly encouraging in lead up to the Christmas trading period.
“These collections [Essence and Christmas Wonderland] combined with our well organised marketing campaign and planned promotional activity are all in place to help our partners [retailers] maximise what is an exciting and also very important trading period for them,” he explained.
Pandora expects to open about 195 concept stores globally this year, up from the previous guided 175 stores.
A full financial report for Q3 2013 will be released on 12 November 2013.
Pandora is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark and its product offering is sold in more than 70 countries.