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RETAIL NEWS: BREMER’S BILLBOARDS WIN ADDY FOR AGENCY; WARREN BUFFETT BACK BEHIND BORSHEIMS’ COUNTER March 06, 2013 (0 comments)
Bremer’s Billboards Net Addy Award For Ad Agency
Toledo, Ohio—A series of outdoor digital billboards created for Bremer Jewelry in Peoria and Bloomington, IL, were responsible for one of three Addy awards presented to Fruchtman Marketing last week. The agency took home one gold, one silver, and one bronze award in the Advertising Club of Toledo’s annual Addy Awards competition. It also was named as the creator of a fourth entry that won an award for a printing and graphics firm.
The Bremer's billboards were awarded the silver Addy in the Out-Of-Home Campaign category. The digital billboards rotated on a regular basis throughout the 2012 holiday season, says Fruchtman’s Denise Meyer. The theme of the creative was to incorporate a piece of jewelry into the text as a readable graphic element. All the jewelry images used in the campaign were part of Bremer’s regular inventory, so customers who saw a particular piece on the board could walk right in and buy it without waiting for a special order.
Here were the three rotating designs that won the Addy:
The billboards got a huge response from Bremer’s customers. The jeweler received many compliments from customers who came in solely because they’d seen and liked the boards, and the result was that the store stayed top of mind for consumers in the area throughout the season.
The outdoor campaign is a standalone campaign for Bremer’s. The jeweler is continuing it for 2013, with bridal and Valentine billboards (below) the first two on rotation this year. But the creative for the billboards doesn’t extend—yet—into any of the store’s other advertising, though the boards' colors are consistent with the store's website.
The bridal version of the billboard campaign, bottom, is the first to reverse the red background and white text, but the fonts and placement of the text and the overall colors remain consistent.
Fruchtman also received a gold award for a logo and stationery package it designed for a new art gallery, and a bronze award for an interactive online annual report for a local nonprofit organization. Another bronze award was presented to H.O.T. Printing and Graphics for “Palladium Princess” graphics; Fruchtman did the creative for that piece.
He’s Back! Buffett To Man Borsheims’ Sales Counter Again; Says He’ll Sell $2M This Year
Omaha, NE—How would you like a sales associate who can rack up $1.5 million in sales in just a few hours?
It’s easy. Just hire Warren Buffett (shown top of page). Last year, during the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders’ meeting weekend, chairman Buffett stepped away from the podium and behind the counter of Borsheims (one of his multiple holdings in the jewelry industry) and promptly charmed customers into buying jewelry for engagements, anniversaries, and to commemorate milestones like a college graduation. Customers not only loved to work with him, they also loved how he worked with Borsheims president and CEO Susan Jacques to offer special “Crazy Warren” prices on the jewelry he sold.
Warren Buffett, left, confers with Susan Jacques about offering a "Crazy Warren" price for a piece of jewelry at Borsheims during last year's Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders' meeting weekend.
In his 2013 letter to shareholders, Buffett says he sold $1.5 million last year when working the Borsheim’s counter. But like a true sales professional, he’s not one to rest on his laurels: he promises this year he will not quit until he racks up $2 million in sales.
Jacques is excited to have her star salesman back for a return engagement. “It is so fun to have Mr. Buffett selling in our store,” she said. “We are thrilled that he will once again experience what we do every day – helping our customers celebrate the special occasions in their lives.”
Borsheims is one of the nation’s largest independent jewelry stores and is in its 23rd year of being a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary.
Click here to see photos of Buffett behind the counter last year.
Click here to watch a video of Buffett in action—the master salesman at work!
PA Jeweler To Be Featured on HGTV
Royersford, PA--Cathy Calhoun has a thing about banks. Her store, Calhoun Jewelers, is located in a former bank building--and she lives in one as well. In fact, her home will be featured on a new HGTV series, "You Live in What?" this Sunday evening, March 8, at 8:00 p.m.
The series marks a return to HGTV for the jeweler. A previous series, titled "If Walls Could Talk," featured the 19th century bank safe that's still in Calhoun's home, and showed some of the treasures from the safe deposit boxes--including jewelry--that were left behind more than a century ago.
Left, a view of Cathy Calhoun's former-bank home from its mezzanine level; right, the jeweler opens the century-old safe that's still in her house.
Y-Not? Murphy Jewelers Donates Pendant For Fundraiser
Pottsville, PA--Jewelers Pat and Kim Murphy of Murphy Jewelers got a nice Facebook shoutout from the Schuylkill YMCA on its page, for donating a $3,000 Hearts On Fire pendant for the organization's gala fundraising dinner.