It’s no secret that the jewelry industry, with the exception of Signet, advertises less than other industries. De Beers’ recently released Insight Report includes a section on the jewelry industry’s share of voice, which has fallen behind even its traditional levels since 2008. “In 2014, growth in jewelry advertising spend started to catch up with fashion, which had the highest growth rate in the luxury competitive set,” the report says.

This year, it may improve some more. While brands and retailers remain secretive about their ad budgets, quite a few seem to be upping their game this holiday:

– De Beers will run its now-standard campaign for Forevermark and is planning a (mostly) generic campaign, its first in a while.

– Hearts On Fire will run a TV campaign, also its first in a while.

– Blue Nile is also running a “targeted” TV campaign, its first since 2011.

– Now that Zale is fully part of the Signet stable, we will likely see a boosted ad budget for the Zales brand as well. (I hope the Zales ads keep its old approach, as its commercials were consistently considered among the best out there.)

So far, though, Signet’s mass-market competitors don’t seem to be increasing their budgets to match a likely Signet onslaught this holiday. Fred Meyer Jewelers isn’t running TV commercials this year but is concentrating on digital, print, and radio, with the same budget as last year. Tiffany plans a holiday commercial (last year’s was beautiful), but its spokesperson won’t comment on the budget.

Even so, the conventional thinking is that advertising doesn’t just boost the particular brand but the category in general. So this increased activity (from most sectors) is good news and bodes well for the industry this holiday.

UPDATE: Alex and Ani says it will run a commercial this holiday, and is increasing advertising in a “sizable” way. Helzberg says it’s introducing several brands to its stores, but didn’t respond to a query on budget levels.

Rob Bates

JCK News Director