Wedding Industry

Summer Wedding Season Kicked off by Britney Spears

Michelle

As June ends and I look back on the month one event that made the summer feel more normal was a celebrity wedding! Sam Asghari and Britney Spears were wed on June 9th. What I love about this wedding is it was both Sam and Britney’s wedding. Pictures with them together and separate with highlights of the little touches that made their wedding special I want to highlight the jewelry for the wedding and how the jewelers used this to display their product. I also want to show the increase in interest of this event that needed to mentioned sooner rather than later if you are marketing.

Wedding Jewelry

The 4-carat round brilliant engagement ring was by Forever Diamonds NY. Sam helped design it and had it engraved with the word ‘Lioness’.  Sam’s nickname for his strong and independent girlfriend (at that time). The jeweler’s Instagram gave some details to the ring.

Engagement Ring of Britney Spears

This theme was seen again with Sam’s cuff links worn for their wedding. The photo looks like something out of a high-end advertisement, and I loved seeing the groom’s jewelry on display.

Sam wearing lion cuff links at wedding

The wedding rings were created by a different designer Stephanie Gottlieb. Britney had 2 options for her diamond wedding band and Sam got a sleek platinum band.

Wedding bands of Sam and Britney

Several necklaces were brought for Spears to chose from below is a tennis necklace that was one option.

Jewelry options for wedding

The bride ended up with the heart shaped tennis necklace made with 27 carats and a 23-carat bracelet. Those pieces plus a pair of earrings cost over a half million dollars (USD).

Britney Spears in wedding dress and jewelry (IG of Britney Spears)

Marketing from Wedding

The couple did not use this as a marketing moment but there was some interest in the event. Looking at Google Trends the searches for Britney Spears peaked June 10th the day news went out about the wedding occurring the day before. The trend declines the day after and by the 16th the numbers have plateaued.

Britney Spears on Google Trends

Some brands related to the wedding saw more searches, like Versace, the maker of Britney’s wedding dress. The peak wasn’t as high as it was for Britney but with Versace being so public it’s not surprising.

Versace on Google Trends

For other less global designers like Gottleib this gives an opportunity to try and introduce more people to her jewelry. One nice way that she did this was showing a necklace she gifted Britney to mark her wedding date.

Necklace gifted by designer to Britney to remember her special day

I saw this piece on the designer’s Instagram page 2 days after the wedding was announced. Her posts about a week earlier were getting 1,000-3,000 likes on average, the post for Britney’s necklace got over 6,000 likes.

To End With

Even if you don’t have a celebrity to buy your product yet, if you have a product or service that is similar to what is mentioned in the news, see how you can communicate that to your clients If you’d like someone to consult with reach out to me on Instagram or my email: data.inthe.rough@gmail.com. I look forward to researching more on the Wedding Industry and posting about it. Thank you for reading my thoughts on Data in the Rough!

Why is the Jewelry Industry obsessed with one ring?

Michelle

The wedding season maybe over for some but as you read this someone is looking for a ring for their significant other to propose marriage. A one time event that the jewelry industry focuses on. A little strange so many jewelers chase after one type of customer when there are other segments of consumers that may be a better fit to pursue. I talk about why there is this focus on the wedding industry and see what may need to come and shake up this long standing tradition for the jewelry industry.

It sounds strange coming from a jewelry blogger but here it goes, I don’t like looking at engagement rings. Solitaire, round, halo, or whatever, if it’s in the bridal section I tend to pass by without a second glance. It’s not that I lack an appreciation for the institution or romance. I love a good rom-com as much as the next person. I’ve even caught myself referencing scenes from iconic movies in my posts. I also love to see the rings of friends and read about celebrities’ engagements, but I don’t browse the bridal section on my own.

Could not pass up some Lord of the Rings references!

Recently I attended a wedding of a close friend. The ceremony was beautiful, the couple was happy, and the food was phenomenal, and it got me thinking why is it that so much emphasis is put on one ring? The ring my friend has is a gorgeous halo ring in white gold. It is a beautiful and costly ring, but it is only one ring and that is all you should need in theory. Yet everyone that I see in the jewelry industry has a bridal collection hoping to sell that one-time ring to a couple. Why is that? The simple reason I get is ‘most people get married’, ‘it is the bread and butter of the jewelry industry’. Many designers start out creating engagement rings for friends, so I see that argument. For the next few months I am going to be looking at the trends in weddings and engagement rings to see how much of this obsession is justified and if there are ways to look at this industry differently that can help you own business or brand.

Gollum isn’t the only one obsessed with a ring!

Wedding Industry is a Red Ocean

If you have taken a business strategy course or enjoy books on market strategy you may have come across a book titled Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim. If not, then I would recommend it. The core idea of the book is that a business can be faced with times where they enter an industry that is highly competitive or there is no competition but over time the competition enters, and you find your business struggling to differentiate itself from other similar businesses. If either is the case, you are in a red ocean. The opposite is a blue ocean where you have a unique product with little competition because your brand and product are so unique that few can compete with your way of doing business. You want to get to a blue ocean for your business.

What is it about it an engagement ring?

Or Is it?

An article came out today by JCK looking at reports of Amazon entering the fine jewelry industry with a line called For Keeps. It is another interesting read to see how the jewelry industry reacts to an outside company that is not a traditional jewelry company. You get statements about the need to create an experience versus Amazon’s more basic way of shopping. I think the jewelry industry needs this shake up. If Amazon enters the industry I hope more jewelers will start looking at data gathering and analysis more seriously. What does this have to do with the wedding industry? My guess is that by the name Amazon is trying to enter the wedding industry. Where could they find their blue ocean by doing what they do best. As I have been researching the wedding industry on statistic stood out to me in relation to the Amazon issue. The Engagement Ring Bible pulled some statistics from the Knot on 2017 engagement rings stating, ‘Grooms spend an average of 3.5 months looking for the perfect engagement ring and will look at 26 different rings before purchase’. My follow ups are how much of that is online? I know it would be much easier to compare brands, styles, prices etc. in one place. Know a place online like that for other items? I thought so. I’ll be watching to see if Amazon does launch a collection, right now there is nothing official from the company

Found this online and it was too good to pass up! Expect to see this again as I follow up on Amazon’s possible entry into the jewelry industry.

What’s Next

I will not only look at wedding statistics but also trends and topics for discussion such as traditions and the changes affecting this institution. Please send me an email or leave a comment if there is something that you would be interested in learning more about on this subject. Also prepare for a few more Lord of the Rings references! If weddings aren’t your thing, I’ll be posting other analysis pieces as well, looking at rebranding efforts by companies and auctions that happen. Thank you for reading Data in the Rough and I look forward to posting again next week!