Several prominent jewelry exhibitions were held in Russia last November and December. Their coverage in the press was different, as well as their aims and results. The crisis theme served as a certain background for these events and for those scheduled to happen. The jewelry shows which took place in Kostroma, Rostov-on-Don and Perm were among the most highlighted by mass media. Curiously enough, each of the events was covered by different types of mass media. The Golden Ring of Russia – Winter 2008 Exhibition in Kostroma was mainly treated by the provincial press. To cover the Rostov jewelry show there were predominantly provincial issues of major national publications, while the organizers of the exhibition in Perm focused their efforts on attracting local TV and radio channels.
The jewelry show in Kostroma on November 20-23, 2008 was organized by the administration of the Kostroma Region, the Almaz-Holding Company, and the Yuvelirnoye Obozrenie Magazine. About 40 exhibitors from Kostroma, Krasnoye, Ivanovo, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kaliningrad and other Russian cities took part in this event. According to mass media, there could be more participants, if not the financial crisis, which proved to be an adversity for all the enterprises of the jewelry industry. It predominantly affected wholesale jewelry buyers, since banks refused to credit them, the Argumenty i Facty v Kostrome Weekly says. As a consequence, this smothers small workshops. For instance, in Krasnoye-on-Volga some workshops dismiss their employees for indefinite time. However, jewelry “heavyweights,” which avoid credits working with their own money, are keeping afloat in the crisis period with confidence. There could be even more participants, but about twenty companies had to abstain due to a drop in demand for their products, the Severnaya Pravda Daily reports. Alexey Shcherbina, President of the Golden Ring Exhibition, said that its major feature was in that it was held at all. Because of the crisis many jewelry shows on the New Year’s eve were cancelled, as for example in Yaroslavl. Nevertheless, jewelers did come to Kostroma. According to Flun Gumerov, President of Almaz-Holding, the jewelry industry is the first one to be hit by the crisis. This is because companies in this industry are operating as follows: usually they take credits to buy gold, then manufacture jewelry, sell it gaining some profit and pay back their debts. Now the first stage, or getting credited, is difficult to reach since during the last four months the interest rate went up from 10-12 percent to 18-20 percent. “At this rate it is very difficult, but at 25 percent it becomes inefficient,” Gumerov says. “To survive, we should have a dialogue with the authorities and work together.” According to experts, the output of gold and silver jewelry across the country increased by 18 percent compared with one year ago, but don’t indulge a vain hope. This was the effect of inertia –there may begin a serious slump by next March. It is anticipated that jewelry sales will be thinner. The regional authorities will do everything to back up the industry. For them it will be important to preserve the industry, which has centuries-old traditions. As for anti-recessionary measures, the regional authorities are working out an anti-crisis program, says Pavel Alexeyev, Director of the Economic Development Department. It is expected to be put in for approval within four weeks. It is unclear so far which kind of assistance will be offered to jewelers. However, jewelers propose their own way out. As Gumerov believes, there should be a dedicated bank, which could give straight credits to jewelers. In the opinion of Alexander Konovalov, Deputy Governor, there is a sound grain in this proposal: “Today the Central Bank is crediting banking institutions, while the real sector of economy does not see any money so far. To make this chain shorter, we are probably in need of a special banking institution, which could deal with jewelers.” Incidentally, many representatives of this industry hope for the best: the next summer jewelry exhibition going to be a jubilee event has already triggered over 150 applications.
Those who came to Kostroma were probably not at all upset, the Severnaya Pravda Daily says, since many visitors were eager to invest their money into gold and diamonds. The Sredny Class – Kostroma Daily gives another assessment of this event. During the opening ceremony the organizers rattled many fine words, which rank-and-file visitors were expected to understand as guiding to action, the daily writes. However, people were not in a hurry to attack jewelry stands. Making popular the brand called “Kostroma is the Jewelry Capital of Russia” appears to be one of the tasks pursued by jewelry exhibitions held in Kostroma. In this context mass media repeatedly pointed to the soft spot of the Golden Ring Exhibition saying it had no permanent location. The Argumenty i Facty Weekly says so far there is no information about the place where the Golden Ring 2009 Jewelry Show is to be held; instead, the organizers assured the next exhibition will be assisted not only by Russian jewelry companies but also by representatives from the Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Iran and Turkey.
“Using the crisp language of figures, the Exclusive-2008 Jewelry Show means five exhibiting days, an exhibiting area of 4000 square meters and 200 largest jewelry houses and factories from Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Kaliningrad, Krasnoyarsk, the Republics of Dagestan, Sakha, Belarus, etc.” – this is how the jewelry exhibition in Rostov is described by the Gorod N, a local weekly. The visitors of the 13th annual jewelry show in Rostov-on-Don (held on December 17-21) were enticed not only by gold of all possible colors and a variety of diamonds, but also by a lottery raffling off a car contributed by the Yashma-Zoloto Jewelry Network. The Jewelry Fashion 2008 Exhibition was held in Perm on December 11-14. According to the Vesti-Perm TV Program, the collection of jewelry displayed there was appraised by experts as worth over one million U.S. dollars. “Our answer to the global financial crisis” – this was the interpretation given to the jewelry show by the TSN Riphaei TV Program, which informed that it was assisted by 80 Russian top-line manufacturers of jewelry. While in Rostov visitors were treated to a car, the organizers of the Perm jewelry show declared December 12 as the “Wedding Day.” Those who got married on this date were promised various gifts at the exhibition. The professional contest of jewelry pieces was another special feature of the show in Perm. Among the jewelry exhibitions highlighted by mass media the YuvelirExpo Show held in Volgograd on December 4-7 and covered by the Volgogradskaya Pravda is to be distinguished in particular. Its organizers were openly positioning this event as a means to hedge against the crisis. The above mentioned exhibitions are by far not a complete list of similar events in the run-up to the New Year. However, the rest of the last year’s exhibitions were virtually passed over in silence since their organizers evidently preferred “not to dip into their pockets” for media coverage. For instance, the Saint Petersburg International Jeweler Show (December 11-14) was almost held “in the dark” by the press.
To make the best practical use of the crisis phenomenon, which triggered higher demand for jewelry, the Organizing Committee of the Jewelry Russia Program planned a series of events to focus consumers’ awareness on jewelry gifts and to bolster jewelry competitiveness on the eve of such spring festivities as Saint Valetnine’s Day, February 23, March 8 and Orthodox Easter, reports the Jewelry Russia Bulletin. The outburst of buying spree among some social groups of population in crisis environment impelled the RosYuvelirExpert News Agency to “edit” the PR concept of the forthcoming JUNWEX Jewelry Show in Saint Petersburg (scheduled for February 4-8, 2009). The central task of the advertising campaign pinned to the show will be to implant into consumer consciousness associations of identity between a jewelry piece and such notions as “stability,” “security,” “well-being guarantee,” and “investments into the future.” The organizing committee increased the advertising budget of the show two times. During the last years the advertising campaign usually started one month before the exhibition, in January. This time the squares and streets of the Russian northern capital were decorated with outdoor advertisements from the 1st of December, including many buses and minibus taxis carrying JUNWEX ads; such ads will also appear on advertising monitors installed in public transport vehicles and on large TV screens in the historical center of Saint Petersburg. In January, this region will see over 1000 TV commercials broadcasted by such TV channels as RTR, Channel 5, STS, Domashni, DTTs, TNT, NTV and TVTs. The Echo Moskvy Radio Station, an information sponsor of JUNWEX-2009, will take pains to enhance the advertising effect on the territory of 11 entities of the North-West Federal District. And finally, immediately before the show will be kicked off it will be highlighted by two federal TV channels, ORT and RTR.
