Jewelry Is About to Get its Own ‘Got Milk’ Ads

New York—A group of industry players has banded together to create a campaign that will promote the jewelry category as a whole to consumers.

Jewelers of America confirmed at its first National Convention just held in New York that, along with a group of industry associates, it has successfully raised $300,000 in funding to test a national consumer-facing campaign.

At one of the convention’s education sessions held Sunday to highlight the advertising effort, JA Director of Public Relations and Special Events Amanda Gizzi lamented that the emotional aspect of jewelry purchases “has been completely taken out of our industry advertising,” despite the fact that “we have the most amazing stories to tell and the best product.”

To rectify this, JA, along with industry consultant and JCK magazine publisher Mark Smelzer (brought on specially to assist on the project) took a pragmatic approach to decipher the desires of today’s consumer.

First, they consulted with consumer market research firm Provoke Insights to identify a target consumer.

The firm grouped her into two categories: the “jewelry enthusiast,” a woman in her 30s who is married with children with a combined household income upwards of $100,000, and the “young and indifferent,” a woman in her 20s who is single, without children and making less than $100,000.

Both live in cities and suburbs, watch TV and engage in social media. The former makes up 8 percent of the U.S. population, or about 25 million people, and the latter 11 percent of the U.S. population, or about 35 million.

Provoke Insights’ campaign suggestion was to focus on these women who buy jewelry for themselves, with particular emphasis on reaching them through digital media via social media platforms and influencers.

The firm also advised targeting consumers outside of gift-giving holidays, when media is the most saturated with jewelry advertising.

JA then enlisted advertising firm Cramer-Krasselt, which has worked with companies like Porsche, Nikon and Corona, and created industry campaigns for Paper & Packaging, Cotton USA and the Alzheimer’s Association, to take a national campaign from the drawing board to the digital world.

The ad firm tapped into particular values that resonate with the target group of consumers, like authenticity.

It advocated for crafting a narrative that would stress “buying into jewelry” rather than simply buying jewelry, i.e., emphasizing jewelry’s inherent emotional and personal qualities, something that your “grandma’s cell phone” doesn’t have, Smelzer explained.