In week four of Your Store’s Christmas Countdown, we look at retailers’ holiday traditions: ladies’ nights and men’s panic parties, Christmas customer-appreciation events, and seasonal advertisements. ‘Tis the season to also be shoring up “likes” and friends on Facebook, so retail jewelers are doing some creative social media campaigns. And, during the time of the year when it’s just as important to give as it is to receive, cause marketing campaigns remain perennially popular.
McCoy Jewelers in Bartlesville, Okla., is giving away a number of electronics and other goodies during the holiday season. Customers can increase their chances of winning in a drawing for an iPad or Kindle reader by bringing in unwrapped new toys for the Bartlesville Family Crisis & Counseling Center. For each toy placed under the store’s tree, a customer will get two additional entries in the store’s drawing. McCoy’s has recently added vacation destinations to its seasonal campaign.
Christmas is also the time of year when jewelry store owners make TV appearances to help people in their markets make better-informed purchases during the holiday shopping season—preferably at their stores. On Dec. 7, Joe Genovese, president of Genovese Jewelers in Creve Coeur, Mo., and his wife Nicole, sales associate and store brand ambassador (she models many of the store’s products), made an appearance on Great Day St. Louis. The couple talked about popular gifts during the holidays, emphasizing TAG Heuer watches for men and Michele watches for women. An in-house custom necklace with an emerald and diamond bow pendant was also discussed during the show to plug the store’s custom-design services. It was one of three items talked about during the KMOV-TV segment that quickly sold after the segment’s airing. (A diamond bracelet and necklace worn by Nicole also sold shortly after the show.) “The response to the show has been tremendous,” says Nicole. “A lot of people mentioned it, and with our seasonal ad campaigns, we’re doing well this Christmas season.”
Rex Solomon, store president of Houston Jewelry, doesn’t wait for Christmas to use Santas to promote his store. The Houston-based jeweler uses Santas with signs and sandwich boards year-round. Known in his market for this branding componement, Christmas is the time of year he ratchets the Santas up with multiple Clauses a quarter mile in every direction of his store. “During the Christmas season we have as many as 15 to 20 Santas promoting the store each day, directly outside the store, and on busy streets in and around the store,” says Solomon. This year Solomon revived his store’s original jingle produced in 1968. He used iMovie to do the basic video production and the jingle was sung and rearranged by the House Jacks, led by well-known vocalist Deke Sharon, an arranger and musical director known for his a cappella work.
Jewels by Park Lane in Schaumburg Ill., is holding daily Facebook contests with some very ambitious social media goals. If the posted daily special gets 2,500 “likes” and more than 200 comments, the store will select 10 random winners to receive a “jewelry sample prize.” The jeweler upped the requisite likes from 2,000 to 2,500 this week. (Last week the store’s daily contest was easily hitting both desired numbers of likes and comments.)
Retail jewelers know men well, which is why ladies’ night events are scheduled in November, and last-minute shopping gents’ nights are scheduled in mid-December. Many are rightly called “panic parties,” but other guy-centric retailer events don’t bother stating the obvious. Here’s a quick roundup of jewelry store owners with some very well-done artwork to promote their men’s night Christmas shopping events.
?Bove Jewelers in Kennett Square, Pa., with its New Yorker–inspired artwork
Craig’s Fine Jewelry in Ridgefield, Conn., promotes its men’s panic party using Futurama character Philip J. Fry.
Smythe & Cross Fine Jewelry in Los Altos, Calif., opted for a minimalist message for its panic-party graphic.
Pugh’s Diamond Jewelers has come up with several good campaigns in early December. From Dec. 9-10, the Zanesville, Ohio–based jeweler created a special website for its two-day customer-appreciation sale. Select items were 45 percent off, with red tag items receiving an additional 10 percent off. And any customer that spent $100 or more received a free pair of freshwater pearl earrings. Pugh’s also created an ad targeting holiday season engagement customers looking for jewelry at various price points and brands.
In early December, Studio 2015 Jewelry is running two events. The Woodstock, Ill.–based jeweler put a little spin on the traditional finders-keepers event. First, the store is giving away one-of-a-kind snowflake pendants made in-house. Secondly, the event has been given a specific seasonal theme: the Holiday Gift Hunt. Each of the 30 wrapped gift boxes contains a coupon for a pendant, which must be redeemed at the store. Images of winners and their snowflake pendants are being uploaded on Facebook. Studio 2015 is also running a snow promotion. The retailer is using a profile image of a rather curvaceous woman to emphasize the “big payouts” from last year’s snow promotions. If it snows three inches or more on Christmas Day, any 2015 customers who purchased jewelry from Nov. 25 to Dec. 17 gets their money back. ??
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