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In Digital World, Gunderson’s Finds Print Is Still A Good Messenger November 09, 2016 (0 comments)

Sioux City, IA—Gunderson's, a family-owned jeweler with three stores in Sioux City, IA; Sioux Falls, SD; and Omaha, NE, is a company that firmly believes in the old adage of not throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

In this case, referring to digital vs. traditional media for its holiday advertising. The jeweler has every year produced an annual custom magazine (left), to be released to customers next week.

Gunderson’s vice president Breanne Wittrock was interviewed by The Centurion two years ago about Gunderson’s strategy to attract customers. Digital marketing plays a huge role in that strategy.

"I know that I talked heavily about our shift to social media and digital marketing," says Wittrock, "but by 'shift' I did not necessarily mean completely turning out backs on traditional marketing like print. In fact, this year we have more print ads in local magazines than in previous years—and if we can advertise in other magazines, who's to say our own in-house magazine will not be getting the crowning glory?"

"Contrary to popular belief, print is not on its way out,” she says. “We sell a lot of items by posting to Facebook and Instagram and Pinterest, but I cannot discount the fact that a huge chunk of traffic for the holiday season is by virtue of our annual magazine, so yes, Gunderson's Magazine is here to stay!"

The jeweler features a lot of one-of-a-kind pieces in their magazine. This year, the focus is on yellow diamond masterpieces, not only as a nod to Wittrock induction to the Natural Color Diamond Association's board of directors, but also emphasizing Gunderson's as one of the few stores in the region to carry an extensive inventory of natural color diamonds.

"It's not just for one-of-a-kind pieces,” says Wittrock, adding that color diamond engagement rings are a big seller for the jeweler.

The pieces featured on the 2016 magazine cover are a pair of platinum earrings featuring two oval fancy light yellow diamonds, and a necklace with 13 oval fancy yellow diamonds, from Uneek Fine Jewelry's Natureal Collection of one-of-a-kind natural color diamond pieces. Wittrock said the supplier is a “go-to for color diamond one-of-a-kinds.” Among previous pieces Uneek supplied for the magazine was a natural purple diamond ring that turned into a huge sale, she said. The jeweler also partnered with Uneek for its $70,000 Dream Wedding Giveaway promotion to commemorate its 70th year in business. That promotion, however, was an example of the store’s success with digital marketing for bridal. For print, Wittrock insists on featuring pieces that Gunderson’s actually carries, rather than tagging generic brand ads.

"More often than not you are provided with a lot of marketing asset, but also saddled with brand guidelines and restrictions. As a store, you're the one that has to face your customers, and you know what they are looking for, so it's important that your voice is out there and not overpowered by the brands that you carry. We at Gunderson's are lucky to have partners that allow us flexibility in our marketing approach. It is because of partnerships like these that we are able to produce something beautiful for our customers, like this magazine they are about to enjoy!"

Gunderson's insists that all brand ads--such as this one in partnership with Uneek--feature jewelry that is in their inventory, rather than tagging a generic product shot.