An obviously smaller number of publications dedicated to news and trends in the jewelry industry turned to be one of the vestiges of the November-December period in 2008. This was particularly conspicuous taking into consideration that this period is customary accounted for the major season of jewelry purchases. There is no need to go a long way to explain the situation - the global crisis may be easily blamed for less mutual attention between mass media and jewelers. On the one hand, there has been much more newsbreaks than usual for journalists to write about the situation on the raw material market including rough diamonds and precious metals and about developments in mining companies. On the other hand, the luxury industry itself has noticeably curtailed its advertising expenses and changed its marketing strategies awaiting consumer feedback. Ad pages at the top luxury magazines fell 22 percent year over year for the December issues, according to Media Industry Newsletter, the New York Times said. Vogue, for example, dropped from 284 pages last December, to 221 pages this December, according to the newsletter. In October, Condé Nast announced it would reduce Men’s Vogue from 10 issues a year to two. That has meant cutbacks at publishers. For now, publishers are trying to persuade brands to maintain their ad commitments. More than half of affluent consumers have cut their spending on luxury products compared with a year ago, according to a study by Unity Marketing, a market-research firm. Those consumers’ confidence in the economy is the lowest it has been in five years. Ronald Jackson, the chief executive of Tradema of America, which markets and distributes Girard-Perregaux watches in the United States, said he was reducing his advertising budget in the United States by about 20 percent for the first quarter. Graff Diamonds, the London-based retailer, is also cutting its budget. “We’re definitely not taking on any new advertising, and we’re cutting back on all our current advertising,” a Graff spokeswoman said. She declined to specify a figure, but said the cuts were higher in the United States than in Britain. from 10 issues a year to two. That has meant cutbacks at publishers. For now, publishers are trying to persuade brands to maintain their ad commitments. More than half of affluent consumers have cut their spending on luxury products compared with a year ago, according to a study by Unity Marketing, a market-research firm. Those consumers’ confidence in the economy is the lowest it has been in five years. Ronald Jackson, the chief executive of Tradema of America, which markets and distributes Girard-Perregaux watches in the United States, said he was reducing his advertising budget in the United States by about 20 percent for the first quarter. Graff Diamonds, the London-based retailer, is also cutting its budget. “We’re definitely not taking on any new advertising, and we’re cutting back on all our current advertising,” a Graff spokeswoman said. She declined to specify a figure, but said the cuts were higher in the United States than in Britain.
The leader’s burden and adequate expenses were taken on by De Beers, which thus relieved the far-from-flourishing U.S. jewelry industry of many problems. There were not so many industry participants to be as active as De Beers in the Christmas season. Zale and JCPenney may be named among brick-and-mortar trading companies and Blue Nile among online merchants. As it was figuratively put by Rapaport News, De Beers extended hand to jewelry retailers. The Diamond Promotion Service (DPS), which was running the campaign, made some of its marketing materials available for retailers' use and retailers could download the materials from the DPS website, free of charge. The materials included a “know your diamond facts” poster, which provided sales associates with key facts; a pocket-sized card with similar information; and an on-the-counter card “to reinforce the message of love and enduring value at the point of sale.” Each item had the De Beers slogan “A Diamond is Forever” marked on it. In addition, jewelry retailers could customize the DPS press release template to “help generate local media attention for their stores.” DPS was also offering retailers the opportunity to buy customized television and radio commercials from its site, as well as various signage services. The service coincided with De Beers’ mass-media campaign, which was launched at the start of December to boost diamond sales this Christmas. In addition to advertising in print, television and online media, the company embarked on a tour of the country’s key talk shows. DPS and De Beers said they expected that the campaign’s message of “love and enduring value” would be delivered more than six times to each of 97 million customers.
WWD reminds that De Beers has more than doubled its U.S. consumer marketing budget for the Christmas period in response to the credit crunch. David Lamb, chief strategic officer of Forevermark, the recently-launched De Beers diamond brand, told WWD the company made the decision based on new research showing diamond jewelry will be the number-one gift for the holidays in 2008, and that the majority of women prefer to receive one gift with enduring value, rather than several smaller ones. The campaign was to break during Thanksgiving weekend with an “emotional” TV ad, Lamb said, and 128 full-page ads in national and local newspapers such as The New York Times, and magazines including Forbes, Business Week, Fortune and Time. According to Lamb, the print ads were to feature shots of the company’s leading products, such as diamond studs, and solitaire and three-stone rings, and be more conversational and philosophical than in the past.
As it was already noted, the jewelry mass media in 2008 paid great attention to the sales network developed by Zale Corporation. In the past, Zale was tackled with last minute management changes just ahead of the Holiday Season that often distracted from its ability to present a coherent and focused campaign or even jewelry line that would capture consumers’ attention, IDEX Online said adding that the latest effort may prove to be the turn around vehicle that the company sought for a number of years. Zale’s forefront holiday campaign, the Celebration Diamond, promotes certified round and princess cut diamonds featuring 102 facets. Zale Corporation started to sell Celebration Diamonds in its stores and online in the end of November. These diamonds, according to the company, will “please even the most discerning bride.” The new diamond collection includes engagement rings, earrings and necklaces with prices ranging from $14 999 to $ 44 995. Neal Goldberg, chief executive officer of Zale, said, "We feel so strongly about Celebration that we've made it the centerpiece of our merchandise, marketing and store presentation. Additionally, we have invested in a website (celebrationdiamond.com) devoted solely to educating consumers on its superior brilliance." The Celebration Diamond also plays a key role in Zales' "Love Rocks" advertising campaign.
According to IDEX Online, Blue Nile, an online jewelry merchant, was waging a vigorous advertising campaign during the Christmas season. Their campaign was based on a message that the month of December was the most popular time of the year to get engaged. According to Diane Irvine, CEO of Blue Nile, the economy wasn't stopping people from falling in love, and Blue Nile was proud to offer an incredible selection of exquisite engagement rings at a tremendous value. Curiously enough, Diane Irvine pointed to a changed attitude in customers’ preference evidently caused by the crisis: along with solitaire diamond rings their online clients were intent on buying engagement rings stud with smaller diamonds and other gems. One of the company’s pre-New Year innovations was offering a personal shopping service designed to help customers with a specific engagement ring design or gift idea in mind.
