Sales Strategy
The Year In Review: Jewelers’ Most Creative Promotions December 30, 2020 (0 comments)
Merrick, NY—To say that jewelers have had to get creative this year is an understatement. Luckily, for most jewelers the year has ended very positively, but nobody knew that in the early days of the pandemic. Here we take a look at some of the best promotions and ideas that came out of that difficult time; ideas you can use going forward in any kind of environment.
When lockdowns started nationwide, jewelers often had to rely social media to keep customers engaged. And it’s working, at least if this article from TMZ is accurate. They also turned to the telephone, texting, FaceTime, videoconferencing, email, and more.
Mother’s Day was the first holiday since the pandemic hit, and jewelers responded with innovative ideas. In Asheville, NC, Spicer-Greene hosted an online event called Love Is Not Cancelled, while Laura Stanley of North Little Rock, AR, hosted an online shopping party (top image) for her (mostly female) customers.
Matt Southerland of Magnolia Jewelers in Vicksburg, MS, wows his customers with a five-carat diamond he bought off the street and uses as a gee-whiz selling tool. He has a customer for it but says he’s in no hurry to sell it.
Two jewelers turned their stores into art exhibitions to give customers a reason to mask up and come in person (by appointment only): Cooper & Binkley in Brighton, MI, hosted a collection of Michigan-centric art in cooperation with a local gallery, while Bove Jewelers in Kennett Square, PA, hosted a $10 million exhibition of original Picasso, Van Gogh, Warhol, and other famed artists in their store, all on loan from customers’ collections. And a jeweler in Ohio was able to save his store’s historic sign with the help of preservationists in town.
Jeweler Bob Strehlau holds “Landscape With Trees,” an ink drawing by Vincent Van Gogh valued at $4.8 million. A portrait of John Lennon by Andy Warhol hangs at left. (Photo, Emma Lee/WHYY)
In Florida, JR Dunn hosted an epic billboard giveaway promotion to help a local couple get engaged in a big way, while in Arkansas, Underwood Jewelers created a video celebrating the jeweler’s commitment to philanthropy and giving back to the community, and in Houston, Zadok Jewelers is giving back by planting one tree for every engagement ring sold.
J&M Jewelers in Washington Township, MI, found a creative way to go out of business: instead of melting down inventory or having a retirement sale, they just gave it away—if you can find it. The jeweler and his wife buried it all over the state and turned Johnny’s Treasure Quest into a promotion pretty much every news outlet covered.
For more Year In Review articles, click here, here, here, here, and here.