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Today’s Potatoes: A Signal for Better Jewelry Story Telling | July 04, 2021 (0 comments)
Napa, CA—Five Guys Burgers and Fries is a hamburger chain found throughout the country. While waiting for my Five Guys hamburger to be hand crafted, I noticed the sign that proudly proclaimed where the potatoes for that day were from. Today’s Potatoes were from Rexburg, ID. Even the name of the farm was reported!
So what? Why would Five Guys take the trouble to tell us where their potatoes are from? In a word, marketing. Marketing, after all, is all about story telling. Five Guys is telling a story which should lead us to immediately think that their French fries are cut from those Rexburg, ID spuds as needed, signifying freshness that isn’t possible from other burger chains that use (yuck) frozen french fries. Still, it begs the question: So, what’s that got to do with us?
Don’t we have the same opportunity? Telling a compelling story is what establishes a personal connection between your customer and what you’re selling: not to mention making for richer conversations and added value. How many of you are telling vastly more interesting stories about your gemstones, inside your showcases, to create the same visceral experience that Five Guys intends to initiate with their simple sign – Today’s Potatoes.
Abe Sherman
I recognize that most of the time you cannot know for sure where most of the gemstones you own were mined. Although anyone who buys loose gemstones knows the differences between Thai, Australian and Ceylon (Sri Lanka) sapphires as an example. Or that some tourmalines are from Maine, others are Brazilian, and others are from Africa. However, you can certainly tell the stories of how gemstones are sourced throughout the world and, depending on where the gems are from, they will likely appear different and have vastly different values in some cases.
Gemstones should provide far more interesting stories than the spuds at Five Guys. Gemstones are not only more valuable, but some would argue even tastier than French fries! But are we doing them justice without telling their origin stories? The thing is, you don’t need to know where any individual gemstone is from, but that they occur throughout the natural world. Personally, I think it would add value to them were your customers aware of the far reaches of the earth where they are discovered and the journey they go on before they come to you.
Sapphires occur in every color. Quartz occurs in every color. Garnet is actually a group of a half dozen different species that occur in every color – this is really good stuff! Garnets are found all over the world, including America, Asia, Africa, Brazil and Russia – don’t you think your customers would love to know that? There is so much material written about gemstones, their sources, varieties and colors, along with thousands of images you can get your hands on that it would be the easiest series of stories to tell, right in your showcases, among the gems, for free! Ask one of your employees to do the research and find the images and short stories to share with your customers, I think they might enjoy it. Between AGS & GIA there are libraries of material you can get your hands on, today.
The Farm to Table story is being told every day in restaurants throughout the country. How about our own version of Farm to Table? How about our own version of Today’s Potatoes?
BIG designs solutions for the wide variety of issues facing the jewelry industry. From the complex and multi-faceted process of merchandising to the challenges of inventory management, BIG has solutions that help jewelers better understand and control their businesses. Call (707) 257-1456 or visit www.bigjewelers.com.