The campaign trial
2.5 k views | By Gretel Hunnerup
From the memorable to the downright silly, jewellery marketing has led the world in creativity. GRETEL HUNNERUP investigates the weirdest and most wonderful campaigns.
Few people reading this article will be old enough to remember the 1938 launch of DeBeers’ “A Diamond is Forever” ad campaign, but everyone will know of the immense influence it’s had on the market since. With just four words, De Beers convinced Americans that diamonds are the symbol of love and commitment, that no other precious stone should be considered for engagement rings – naturally, the rest of the west followed.
Rubies and sapphires were both popular choices, but they each fell out of favour following the De Beers campaign and now, some 60 years on, it’s rare to spot a left-hand ring without diamonds.
It’s virtually impossible these days for jewellery retailers to achieve results like De Beers did; the advertising landscape is heavily polluted and people are overwhelmed by the relentless bombardment of messages upon every facet of their daily lives.
Yet there are still campaigns around the world successfully cutting through the thick of it due to their cleverness, novelty and allure.
These campaigns are proof that a clever approach can be far-reaching, doing much to rekindle the romance of jewellery – especially in tough times.
New media
JCPenney, the third largest department store chain in the US, last year launched a six-minute online video promoting its diamond jewellery in a highly-original way.
In the amusing clip, a man who gives his wife a vacuum cleaner for their anniversary is sent to the doghouse – a place where husbands who buy their wives bad gifts are forced to fold mountains of laundry. In the closing scene, the man is shown a photograph of the only woman who let her husband back out of the doghouse; she’s wearing a necklace from JCPenney.
Linked to this video is a site at bewareofthedoghouse.com that allows visitors to banish their men to a virtual doghouse, and find-out which JCPenney gifts would get him out.
Since the launch, the video has been viewed over 14 million times on YouTube, over seven million people have visited the interactive site and more than 8,000 men have been sheltered.
Liz Chatelain, jewellery market research professional at MVI Marketing in California, believes the campaign has worked wonders to raise awareness of jewellery in general: “JC Penney has done a great job in getting more consumers to think about jewellery,” she says. “Growing the ‘pie’ is not only good for the advertiser but also for the industry.”
Many other jewellers are realising online advertising’s potential for helping them reach a wider audience – including “digital natives” who are resistant to traditional advertising.
Cartier, for example, has shocked the world by rolling out an ad campaign for its Love by Cartier product line on social network MySpace (www.myspace.com/lovebycartier).
Kylie Minogue
The brand is featuring love-centric music from 12 left-of-centre artists accompanied by interviews of them answering the question, “How far would you go for love?”
Like JCPenney, Cartier is camouflaging promotion with creativity and encouraging the audience to spread the message itself.
Going green
Green is the new black as companies fall hand-over-fist to align themselves with the potent consumer desire to be kind to the earth.
The Green Initiative print campaign mounted by celebrity couple Russell and Kimora Lee Simmons is one such high-profile case.
Premiering in the July 2007 issues of Vanity Fair and Ebony in the US, the campaign shows Kimora with her arms covered in the company’s “Green Bracelets.” The tagline reads: “Green: Empower Yourself through Others.”
In a more recent advertisement, a green bracelet rests in a pair of soil-stained hands with the caption: “Diamond Empowerment Fund Helping Africans Help Africa.
According to Simmons Jewelry Co., the bracelets are made from malachite and rough, Kimberley Process-compliant African diamonds.
Half the profits from the bracelet sales have, and will continue to benefit Simmons’ Diamond Empowerment Fund (DEF), an international, non-profit organisation aiming to raise money for education in Africa. The bracelets have been seen on celebrity wrists since.
Equally famous is the campaign waged by No Dirty Gold, an organisation on a mission to end destructive gold-mining practices.
In 2006, the Oxfam America and EARTHWORKS initiative placed a black and white ad in the New York Times featuring a heart-shaped gold locket. Inside the locket was the image of a young, barefooted African boy shovelling dirt in a mine. A caption below the locket reads: “There’s nothing romantic about a toxic gold mine”. Sixteen US jewellers were listed in the ad as “leaders” or “laggards” based upon their cooperation with – or resistance to – No Dirty Gold’s campaign for responsibly-produced gold.
“This is a good, simple message,” Chatelain says of the ad. “Their ‘call to action’ – what you want someone to do after they’ve read your content, such as click on ‘contact us’ or ‘purchase now’ – could be a lot more prominent though, as could their web address.”
Celebrities
For years, marketers have been using movie stars, sporting heroes and inspirational leaders to hawk everything from cars to cat food.
To be truly persuasive though, the right celebrity must be cast for the role and there needs to be a strong narrative thread.
Take the latest print ad campaign of edgy British jeweller Stephen Webster.
Christina Aguilera
He’s chosen the somewhat rebellious rock star, Christina Aguilera as his muse in a series of Alfred Hitchcock-inspired images for fashion magazines where she plays the sexy damsel.
“Blinged” to the hilt, she holds a pair of binoculars in one shot, and speaks on a vintage phone in a dimly-lit room in another.
Chatelain approves the imagery; but, she thinks the campaign could do more: “Ads like these will only pay-off when the consumer sees the same image in a retail store. Retailers need ads that will drive consumers into the store.”
Italian jewellery house Damiani Jewelry has taken a different tack by focusing its print campaign on strong, real-life female icons throughout history – then casting Sharon Stone to portray them. Wearing Damiani, Stone poses as Eve in the Garden of Eden, as aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart and as Gertrude Ederle, the first woman to swim the English Channel.
Others working with celebrities are including behind-the-scenes components as part of their advertising campaigns, enabling viewers to feel like they’re being afforded a “sneak peek”.
Gucci has created an online video on the making of the Chiodo Collection campaign. In it, actress Clare Danes has her hair and makeup done, while wearing the jewellery.
A similar video for Spanish brand Tous shows Kylie Minogue giggling and playing-around as she prepares for the 2009 campaign shoot.
Jewellery advertising has come along in leaps and bounds since De Beers’ breakthrough. This evolved advertising landscape may seem rather daunting for the average retailer, but it provides many opportunities for all kinds of campaigns to build awareness of their product and brand.
Chatelain has some golden rules for jewellery advertising in today’s market. The most important one, is to embrace video technology.
“Everything in the future will have video, so invest in a few cameras and start using them everyday,” she suggests. “Create short videos (15-30 seconds) of clients doing something in your store. You can then email the video to the client as a ‘thank you’, plus ask them if you can use it on your store website and YouTube page.”
Chatelain’s also recommends that retailers use humour in their advertising, and that they also “have a strong ‘call to action’ – making sure their company name is prominent.
“I always tell independent retailers to know the ‘niche’ markets in their area and focus on them with their promotion budget,” she adds.
By following these steps, retailers can go some way to ensuring their campaigns can cut-through the chaff to the sales inside.
Posted September 01, 2009