Mass media analysis during a holiday season makes it possible to feature several specific techniques used to promote jewellery to consumers.
1. Evidently jewellery exhibition shops have taken into account growing interest by Russians to Gift Certificates:
“Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper presented 2007 prizes to Miss KP in Amur region. Yulia was awarded a diploma and honorary neckband. She might put them on a shelf and frequently recollect that she was the most beautiful girl in the city of Blagoveshchensk. But the main prize was a gift certificate for three thousand rubles awarded by Almaz jewellery shop”.
“We remind that every week our Editorial Board raffles Gift Certificates among its subscribers for two thousand rubles, and each month – for fifteen thousand rubles”.
Regional shops owned by MUZ Open Joint Stock Company also call up to acquire Gift Certificates in order to “make happy your friends and next of kin by presenting useful gifts”.
2. A lottery among customers. We’d like to note that although jewellery is also raffled a car frequently becomes the main prize. A chance to win is given to a person who purchases a jewellery article by a certain manufacturer:
“On 15 January Torgovy Putj jewellery company jointly with Adamas jewellery factory will rattle Mercedes-E230-Compressor car and thousands of jewellery ornaments manufactured by the Factory.
Hie yourselves to the sale! Who knows maybe exactly you will become an owner of a next car?”
3. Special actions:
“We are hasty in advising you that from 20 to 31 December inclusive all company stores owned by Moscow Jewellery Factory are holding a New Year action called A Week of Precious Gifts. By purchasing an article with diamonds you will acquire a right to a discount or may select an ornament of pearls for this sum of money”.
4. Club Cards:
“Many inhabitants of the city of Rostov-na-Donu have already appraised a convenient club card saving system providing material discounts when purchasing jewellery manufactured by MUZ Open Joint Stock Company”.
“I’d like to note that the cards are accepted by a number of restaurants and coffee houses of the city of (Chelyabinsk), such as TUSSE, Titanik-2000, Sуshка, Kex, Glavpivtrest, exhibition shops Zhemchug, Center of Jewellery Trade, St.Valentino and others”.
5. Jewellery by installments (offered by a wholesale price jewellery shop in Chelyabinsk).
6. And finally about discounts:
“This year jewellery connoisseurs found the bean in the cake! The holiday discounts reach up to 60 per cent! You, as any normal woman wished to have real diamonds, but you are ashamed even to speak of your husband’s wages aloud? Now you have your chance! At our jewellery chain shops you may purchase a pendant or ringlet with a bind bending stone for only 2999 rubles”.
“Expecting New Year, from 4th to 24th December all stores of Altyn jewellery holding company are holding mighty actions called “A best customer” and “New Year discounts up to 80%”. So it is noteworthy to hasten to visit Altyn where you can find gifts for your next of kin and become really a best at one of the best jewellery stores in Russia”.
“International brands of bargain sales of jewellery collections do not suit, but some Russian chains of shops present New Year gifts to customers. At Crystal stores (www.kristall-gold.ru) until 10 January 50% discounts are effective for totally all articles. And at Yashma chain of shops (www.yashmazoloto.com) prices for ornaments with Yakut diamonds are reduced halfway”.
According to Mir Novostei publication “discounts only slightly touch upon jewellery products”: “Among other things an action by a well-known company, i.e. 50% price mark-down for ornaments with diamonds virtually turned to be an advertising trick. As we have been explained by the inquiry service, if in an ornament in addition to diamonds other stones are used (and this is virtually 100 % of cases), actual discount does not exceed 6%”.
A salesman of one of the city jewellery exhibition shops discovered small marketing secrets to Tambovskaya zhiznj newspaper:
“As regards to the number of purchases New Year distances far from both St.Valentino and International Women’s Day holidays… I noticed: a month or two prior to New Year holiday is a period of deliberate purchases when town folks come to exhibition shops to come to know the range of products, look closely at products, take time for afterthought and then come back to purchase a thing of interest. When a person is counting weeks and days there is no place for afterthought, people buy everything which is within reach: wristlets, chains, ear rings, pendants, of course, within sums available, but in majority of cases the first things to disappearing from counters are economy-priced articles and those who are the last to come have to select goods from another price bracket even if such goods are more than they can afford. But what is to be done? A gift is extremely necessary! Therefore, exhibition shops happen to resort to various tricks, i.e. sharply cut the range of economy-class ornaments and dump unmarketable goods which alias would be scarcely purchased...”
Coming of a holiday promotion season is evidenced by advertising market data. Mercury Company is among the first dozen of newspaper advertisers selling in the Russian market products manufactured by Tiffany and Patek Phillipe companies; as compared to the 3rd quarter Mercury shifted from the 9th to 2nd position.
Investigation of a price list of Video International group, a largest seller of television advertising in Russia has shown that in 2008 television advertising in Russian will get up by 60 %, and for large players - by 70 %, - states Kommersant – Vlastj newspaper. This notwithstanding Zenith Optimedia media agency does not predict reduction of television advertising. As to outdoor advertising , due to promotion of a campaign on removing folded plate structures from the center of Moscow such advertisement decreased by 21%, as compared to the previous quarter.
We suppose that a most closely discussed issue in promotion of jewellery on New Year Eve is successful appeal by salespeople to adherence by consumers to the so called “oriental symbolics”.
An evident feature of the Russian preholiday shopping, which distinguishes it from West-European and American ones is its occasionality not to Christmas, but to New Year. A second specific feature related to it is nation-wide propensity for the so called “Oriental (Moon) calendar”.
There is a belief that USSR citizens were familiarized with these animal symbols by a well-known Soviet Japan scholar Vsevolod Ovchinnikov as early as in 1963. Hence, this year this tradition may be celebrated as a peculiar anniversary.
Evidently the Oriental symbolics felicitously matched European zodiacal tradition, well known in Russia. It’s curious that in the majority of other countries this interest to the Oriental calendar was rather fast to come to naught (in practice it plays a noticeable role only in China the more so as an Oriental New Year is beginning much later after 1 January). But in Russian the Oriental calendar is not only an invariable attribute of New Year holiday, but also a golden support for the jewelry branch since it makes it possible to recommend these or those solutions to customers.
Russian mass media declared 2008 to be the year of Yellow (Earth) Rat (Mouse). Naturally, for the New Year night ornaments of yellow gold were recommended as gifts. And since a ritual of meeting the year of Yellow Rat supposedly implies financial well-being journalists advised to buy precious jewellery.
Consumers perceived unwearying recommendations by mass media and representatives of the jewelry branch in a different way.
For instance, in Tambov customers purchased “all ornaments which in this or that way are bearing symbols of the future year. As before customers chased zodiac symbols, most commonly pendants, engraved wristlets, and rings. Currently they gave place to piggies, mice. They go sell like hot cakes. Silver figures of these animals were readily purchased since they are believed to bring luck to their owners”.
According to Novosti news agency, in Moscow just vice versa display cases of jewellery stores on the holiday eve did not burst with plenty of mice and rats. Salespeople explained this by the fact that the Yellow Rat year would pass and articles symbolizing this animal would become unclaimed.
On the one part, the range of products has been probably artificially narrowed. But most likely, despite zoophilia Mickey Mouse and world-wide burst of interest to rats caused by Ratatui animated cartoon this year symbol does not seem to be too popular with Muscovites. According to MK newspaper, as early as in the first days of the New Year pawn shops in Moscow started to pignorate jewelry rats. Salespeople picked at golden figures with bewilderment, but since it was not inconsistent with the existing rules they readily executed such pledges.
“Last years nobody pledged New Year symbols, - states Mr. Mikhail Unksaw, President of Pawn Shops League. – Either mice go against the hair of Muscovites, or they have been spending heavily...”
The most popular rats pledged by Muscovites are small golden figures containing around 1 gram of gold. Many of them may be weared on chains as ornaments, others are intended simply to adorn the interior. Their cost varies from 500 rubles to several thousands. Money-lenders are sure: these figures will not be owned by them for long, one should only wait for the first salary.
“As a rule, those who pledge not very expensive things will redeem them in some time”, - states Mr. Unksaw – Hence, in the beginning of the next month rat souvenirs most likely will come back to their owners.
