The Tiffany Company emerged in New York in 1837, when Charles Louis Tiffany and his schoolmate John Young opened their first store, Tiffany & Young, trading in stationery, Chinese porcelain, French accessories and silver jewelry – the set of luxury goods, which was beginning to attract favors of affluent society in New York. There was not even a hint of diamonds or elite wedding rings or precious stones on Tiffany’s shelves when the company was in the dawn of its existence. But every product sold in the store was marked by a tag with a fixed price not subject to bargaining - this was a revolutionary policy for that period, which was immediately trumpeted around by newspapers in their headlines.
In 1837, there occurred another truly historic event for the brand - Tiffany chose an exquisite shade of blue, which turned to be a symbol of the new brand’s reputation based on quality and finesse. Subsequently, the color was even registered under the brand name and became known as Tiffany Blue. It was used to design packing boxes, catalogs, advertising and other image building materials issued by the company. This color may be called a cult instrument.
In 1841, the company’s collection added European jewelry with faux diamonds. In 1845, Tiffany launched a catalogue for mailed orders, thereby expanding its market beyond New York. The reign of French King Louis Philippe (1773-1850), marked by a financial crisis and the impoverishment of many members of the European aristocracy, gave Tiffany an opportunity to buy real diamond jewelry and offer these pieces for sale. Since then, Tiffany and diamonds were inseparable.
Charles L. Tiffany was also an outstanding publicist (or, in modern parlance, "PR expert"). He always used every opportunity to announce his company’s achievements in the New York press, which gradually made people to nickname him as the "King of Diamonds." He took complete control of the company in 1853, and from then on it was called Tiffany and Co.
Innovation and quality have always been essential to Tiffany’s business. By 1850, Tiffany introduced its own collection of items made of sterling silver. Tiffany was the first company to use the 925/1000 sterling standard which was subsequently adopted by the Congress as the U.S. Sterling Standard.
Creativity and craftsmanship characterized Tiffany in every period of its existence which was only instrumental to its rapid growth. It was always open to new ideas and experimenting with jewelry design. Tiffany has always hired only the world’s best designers to work for the company. At one time they had enough courage to depart from the fanciful Victorian style and find inspiration in the fluid forms of nature, which could not be better suited to express one’s feelings without using words. And later on Tiffany was building its brand, if I may say so, on the basis of love, so that engagement rings and wedding themes have turned to be the jeweler’s focal point.
The company’s further history is marked by a series of international awards and by winning over the hearts of many buyers. In 1878, Tiffany won the Grand Prix and a gold medal for its silver pieces at the World Exhibition in Paris, while one of the company’s co-founders, Charles Tiffany, was awarded the Legion of Honor. In 1900, the exhibits of Tiffany & Co. at the World Exhibition in Paris received as many as eight awards, according to the Kommersant, a Russian daily.
Tiffany is perhaps the world's only brand that is so closely associated with color, the cult shade of Tiffany Blue. Since their first store was launched nearly two centuries ago up to this day the Tiffany blue box is one of the most famous and powerful brand attributes that have been ever created in the world. It is instantly translating the brand's message and finds a response in our perception as a feeling of exclusivity, delicate style and, surprisingly, as a touch of the eternal values that are most harmoniously woven into the image of Tiffany. If you go to the company’s website, you will be greeted with a very beautiful commercial featuring a noble wedding, and lovely children, and even the belief that the owners of Tiffany’s rings will by all means make it “to live happily and die on the same day."
One of the main factors underlying the unique success story of Tiffany's brand is its permanence and consistency. The brand has remained unchanged for nearly two centuries. This means that the blue box has firmly entrenched in the associative array of buyers’ minds and, as a beacon in the ocean, is transmitting the same unchanging message of exclusivity and quality intrinsic to Tiffany’s jewelry. And also a message of eternal love "enclosed" in the diamonds of the company’s wedding rings.
In the process of its branding Tiffany skillfully used the opportunities and influence power offered by the pop culture. The creators of the brand have succeeded in sowing the seeds of Tiffany in music, fashion and in the film industry, which eventually shaped our perception of the brand. Everyone knows that "diamonds are a girl's best friend." In her famous song Marilyn Monroe has immortalized the phrase, twice motioning Tiffany. In another famous song, "Santa Baby," the Christmas decorations are once again bought at Tiffany’s. In the James Bond film "Diamonds are Forever" one of the characters is named after Tiffany & Co. Finally, in the magical "Breakfast at Tiffany's," where Audrey Hepburn, the style icon, was starring, Tiffany was called "the best place in the world, where nothing bad can take place.”
The course of branding, which I have just completed at the University of California, featured many interesting strategies to build a brand used by the most successful companies in the world, including Tiffany & Co. Tiffany's brand was coined in such a form in which we know it today, thanks largely to the fact that its creators managed to implement the strategy of Blue Ocean well-known in the West. Its main point is that the Red Ocean means a market space filled with blood of rival competitors, who are waging a fierce struggle for demand which is often sagging instead of making an effort to create growing demand and avoid competition. The strategy of Blue Ocean encourages companies to break out of the red space, creating a new value, vacant niche in the market, where competitors... simply do not exist.
Tiffany found their "blue ocean" - and with it apparently their signature shade of blue - in the unsatisfied hope of people for a little miracle in our everyday life overloaded with all kinds of stress and for a feel of slight breeze from the "beautiful faraway," as well as in the desire to some extent present in each of us to feel our own importance and uniqueness (it’s true that Tiffany’s jewelry is usually given to someone special). “Blue is the color of dreams," Tiffany says to all of us, and we cannot but agree and just utter only one word in response to this company: "Bravo!"
Olga Patseva, Editor in Chief of the Rough&Polished American Bureau in San Diego
