Luxury jewelry turns to creative marketing techniques
BY ELAINE WALKER
ewalker@MiamiHerald.com
Allison Weiss Brady has the type of friends that luxury jewelers want to meet.
Miami Herald, FL
The Miami Beach philanthropist and socialite agreed to play hostess during Art Basel for a party at Samuel Getz Private Jewelers designed as a fundraiser for Russell Simmons’ Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation. But for Samuel Getz, it was also an introduction to potential clients.
The largely female crowd of about 75 people sipped Chardonnay and munched on crab cakes and baked brie from The Palm restaurant. At the same time they got to touch and play with jewelry by Getz and the Italian jeweler Vhernier.
”Sometimes when jewelry is behind a glass case, it’s intimidating and unapproachable,” said Brady, 35. “Here they’ll let you wear a $5,000 bracelet or a $20,000 necklace. It’s really a great chance to show jewelry on everyday people.”
While Brady is already a customer, she was happy to introduce Getz to her friends. She’s done the same thing for Van Cleef & Arpels in Bal Harbour, who threw her an engagement party earlier this year. And Brady has talked about doing an event with Harry Winston.
PERSONAL TOUCH
Giving potential or existing customers the opportunity to try on sparkly baubles or designer watches is just one reason that upscale jewelers in South Florida and across the country are increasingly using special events as a key marketing tool.
Jewelers have learned that to reach this key consumer, it’s just as much about sponsoring prominent charity events, cross-marketing with other luxury brands and hosting intimate parties to court potential new customers or thank existing ones.
This consumer has plenty of money and is willing to spend it. Sales of jewelry and watches are expected to reach $62.6 billion for 2006, marking a 6.3 percent increase over last year, according to forecasts from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
”If I’m spending $300,000, the least you can do is make [me] and my friends feel special,” said Milton Pedraza, chief executive of the Luxury Institute, a research firm. “There’s no question the wealthy consumer expects more. It just won’t do to have a typical experience anymore. In the end they’re collecting stories they can tell around the boardroom or the benefit parties.”
FREQUENT CELEBRATIONS
Levinson Jewelers regularly hosts small dinners with key luxury watch brands at restaurants like Capital Grille and China Grill. Last month, the Plantation jeweler hosted a dinner party at Porta Vita Grande Club in Aventura that showcased products by Bulgari and an appearance by the jeweler’s spokesman, former Miami Dolphin quarterback Dan Marino.
Although they do sell products during the event, that’s not the focus.
”We found that taking our customers out and providing them with great parties is a way of thanking them,” said Robin Levinson, who owns the store with her husband, Mark. “It creates good will, and good will builds over time.”
Getz’ salon is built perfectly to handle the small group gatherings because it’s outfitted like a living room complete with a dining room table, bar and comfortable couches. Getz and his wife, Jennifer, entertain visitors like it was their house. They auction off caviar parties or wine tastings in the salon at charity events and host seminars with investment bankers or money managers.
These events provide a reason for people to find Getz, whose nontraditional environment is hidden in an office building at the Village of Merrick Park in Coral Gables.
”We have to work hard to get people to come here because they don’t stroll by or drive by,” said Getz, who previously ran Mayors Jewelers, a business that had been in his family until it was sold in 1998. “Because they have to make a special effort, at first it seems intimidating.”
NEW APPROACH
In today’s market where competition is keen and consumers are increasingly savvy, jewelers say traditional mass media as the primary means of marketing is no longer enough.
”Consumers today want to be wined and dined and taken care of,” said Ed Dikes, the owner of Weston Jewelers. “It’s about establishing a relationship with a client. Luxury jewelry is an item people don’t have to have. You have to create a demand for it.”
Another way to create that demand is by having unique products that can’t be found anywhere else. Getz accomplishes that because many of his pieces are his own designs. For the other local jewelers, the key is landing exclusive local rights to a key brand or finding ways to have items customized by the manufacturer.
That’s the reason Mayors Jewelers last year launched the Amorique diamond, a diamond with a unique star cut to create more brilliance. The Amorique diamonds, which are the company’s top seller, are now available in rings, earrings and a pendant.
”It’s brought in a lot of new clients who are shopping for something that is different,” said Daisy Chin-Lor, executive vice president for parent company Birks & Mayors, which has 24 stores in Florida.
TURNING TO THE NET
Finding ways to drive new business into the store is why Dikes recently launched a jewelry blog at www.weston jewelers.blogspot.com. It’s designed to remove the intimidation factor and help answer customers’ questions about jewelry and watches.
Dikes has also created a partnership with Rick Case’s Luxe Collection in Weston. Car buyers get a certificate for a free watch winder, a $395 item that can be collected on a visit to Weston Jewelers.
”The same type of client is buying luxury cars and jewelry,” Dikes said. “This gets them to come see our store and maybe they’ll make another purchase.”
Getz has a similar cross-marketing arrangement with Marquis Jet, where anyone who buys a private jet time share gets a $5,000 gift certificate to Samuel Getz.
Levinson Jewelers agreed earlier this year to sponsor the Levinson Jewelers Intermezzo Lounge at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, a place where up to 50 patrons can go before the show for cocktails and hors d’oeuvre for an additional fee.
The Plantation jeweler also relies on the connections of its customers like Sylvia and Jack Goldenthal, who offered to host the Porta Vita event last month with a group of about 70 friends and neighbors.
”I’m the type of person that when I find something that I think is fantastic, I like to share it with other people who I think would appreciate it,” Sylvia Goldenthal said.
