Why doesn’t the Jewelry Industry put out a Superbowl Ad?

Why doesn’t the Jewelry Industry put out a Superbowl Ad?

Last month roughly 102 million people watched the Super Bowl and 23.6 million tuned in to see the glamour, gowns and winners of the Oscars. Town and Country put out it’s February 2020 edition with the 3rd Annual Jewelry Awards and after the first two events I thought, who is this really reaching, and should the Jewelry Industry think about a different strategy to reach consumers?

I’ve done a more detailed analysis on the last two awards issues here and here last year. This time I’m going to ask some bigger questions that might get you thinking about how you want to market your company. Let’s first look at how Town and Country presented the awards this year.

Town and Country Jewelry Awards

The small mention of the Jewelry Awards on the cover (it gets smaller every year), had the statement: The right way to spend your money.  The first thought I had was investment pieces, but the pages showed off jewels that lacked a proper description of why you should spend for these jewels. I was also hoping for more on future designers but only about a quarter of a page with 4 designers sharing the small spotlight making it feel more like a passing thought.

T&C February Cover

The Editor’s Letter talked about the Dresden Green diamond that was not part of the crown jewels of Saxony that were stolen on November 25. The diamond was loaned to The Metropolitan Museum for the current exhibit, Making Marvels. The editor talked about how the exhibit embodies the, ‘link between technological innovation and social prestige.’ The hope was that the awards would also show some innovative designs. The pieces were nice but if no one really knows what goes into it or how valuable the materials are then there is not much prestige or social admiration for the wearer. Jewelry is a more of personal object but if you didn’t want others to see it you wouldn’t wear it.

Overall, I don’t think the issue did that great of a job educating the reading and putting a proper spotlight on the designer. The issue could have really show cased the process and the person behind the designs. With more people looking to lab diamonds for their engagement rings, show that these designers are responsibly sourcing materials and labor would be a plus in helping diminish the bad reputation the Jewelry Industry gets on mining.

Demographics of different Medias

Looking at other places to advertise the Superbowl 2019 saw 98.2 million viewers 39.95 were between the ages of 18-49. The 2020 age demographics are not in yet, but we can look at this as about 40% of viewers are between 18-49. The Oscars only had 23.6 million viewers and saw a major drop in there 2020 viewership for 18-49-year olds, in 2019 the viewership was 29.6 million. Looking at Town & Country’s media kit, their readership is 638,000 and the median age is 49.7, skewing two-thirds (66%) female.

Why the Jewelry Industry needs to think inside the box

Depending on what you are selling and who you hope to attract, being in Town & Country if you sell jewelry might be great for you but for the industry not so much. The Oscars are still good for exposure but with drops in viewership and the controversy it can bring it doesn’t allow for controlling your brand as much if you are a designer. The emphasis on reaching younger consumers the Jewelry Industry needs to look at ways to get people talking more positively about jewelry and thinking of it more than just a one-off item you buy for marriage. So why not have a Super bowl ad? I know cost is an issue but there are other alternatives; YouTube ads that you need the audience’s opinion on, create a social media campaign that puts couples in the ad or something else that gets people excited! The focus needs to be how to make jewelry a part of the wearer’s life so the over used response of, ‘It’s beautiful but where would I wear it’ comes less into play.

How I can help

If you are looking for ways to reach your audience and need help in seeing how effective it was then please look me up on Instagram and reach out to me. As a business analyst with several years of Retail Industry experience the questions of how to improve reach affect all sizes of businesses. Let me know your thoughts or questions below and thank you for reading Data in the Rough!

Analysis: Town and Country 2018 Jewelry Awards

We are in award season right now. Movie and music awards have been reported on. The Super Bowl has been played in a winner take all game. Even the jewelry industry bestowed some awards. These awards were acknowledged in Town and Country’s February issue, the first issue to have a jewelry awards section. My question is for all award ceremonies, why? These results can be subjective. A bad call from a referee or hint of cheating leaves questions for the fans and some fierce debates. Music and movies are like art, what determines the best story or actor? I feel like jewelry is the same way. If you are not listed in Town and Country are you less of a jeweler? So why did T&C try this and what can it mean for you as a reader or business person?

 

I have a few theories as to the benefit, that I will conclude with. First, I will look at T&C’s explanation of the creation of these awards. Then look at the types of awards and follow this by addressing the business side of T&C. I am focusing only on the current issue, February 2018.

 

Why T&C created these awards

If you are like me, when I get a magazine that has an article I want to read I go straight to that page. If you did that with this article, then you would see these awards were made to acknowledge the year’s most notable jewelry moments. A clear explanation of what to expect in the section but not the why. I went back to the letter from the editor to see what they had to add.  Stellene Volandes, T&C’s Editor in Chief, focused her letter on the next generation and how the readers used the magazine to discover ‘jewelry they should collect now to hand down later.’ A nice thought but one I look at skeptically given tastes and trends that differ between generations. I think a better reason for these awards is to highlight the industry but is it purely for the readers?

 

What were the ‘Award’ Categories

There were 18 categories:

  • Red Carpet Award of the Year
  • Collections of the Year
  • Stones of the Year
  • Philanthropists of the Year
  • Diamonds of the Year
  • Green Award for Sustainability
  • Watches of the Year
  • Retail Innovation of the Year
  • Gold Designs of the Year
  • Breakthroughs of the Year
  • Collaborations of the Year
  • Jewelry Champions of the Year
  • Pearls of the Year
  • Innovations of the Year
  • Events of the Year
  • Rediscovery of the Year
  • Fashion House High Jewelry
  • Legends of the Year

I like that they had about retail innovation and collaborations, topics that need to be explored more in the industry. There were three winners for each category. So, you are looking at 54 winners. 54 designers/businesses that will get some recognition. But who sees it?

David Webb, Gold Hammered Earrings, Webb won in Gold Designs of the Year

T&C Business Side

The T&C media kit outlines the reader. They average 50 years of age and mostly female. For a business looking to reach a range of ages I would press for more details and a better breakdown of who is reading the publication.

My Opinions

So here we are at my analysis. After a brief look at the magazine and awards I think another piece is advertising. Of the 138 pages (front and back cover included), 54 pages were dedicated to advertisements. Of the 54 pages of ads, 33 were for jewelry. See the table below:

Over half of the Ads were for jewelry. I know T&C has lots of jewelry advertisements, but I would like to see if this issue boosted that group of Ads. For those paying for placement in the magazine I would be asking some of the questions above about what reach this would have and how it would benefit my business.

Alexandra Mor, won Innovators of the Year, for her use of the Tagua seed. Ring pictured is made of a Tagua seed with a pearl in center.

I have a few more points I could go into, but I want to stop here and get some feedback from you. Have you seen the issue? What were your thoughts? Do you think this is something Town and Country should continue to do? Return in the next week as I get back on a schedule of regular posting after my holiday hiatus. Thank you for reading Data in the Rough!