From JCK Magazine: How Jewelers Can Reach Out to Socially Conscious Consumers
You can connect with consumers who are turned off by bad publicity about the jewelry market. But it takes education and a long-term commitment.
Rob Bates, Senior Editor — JCK Online, 2/2/2010 12:42:51 PM
For Jeff Corey, the jewelry industry’s image problems hit home on what should have been a relaxing ski trip.
“I was sitting next to a woman as we were going up on the lift,” remembers the owner of Day’s Jewelers, an eight-store chain based in Waterville, Maine. “I mentioned I was the owner of Day’s Jewelers, and she said, ‘My family had been doing business with you for years’ and said she ordinarily hopes to receive a piece of diamond jewelry for the holidays. But then she said, ‘I saw that movie Blood Diamond, and now I don’t want a diamond anymore.’”
Later, Corey organized a group of local young people and asked them their feelings about diamonds. He was “amazed at their negativity.”
“When you charge so much money for something that is so small, it’s really easy for people to buy into this talk of the cartel and Blood Diamond,” he says. “I think jewelers have underestimated the consumer feeling on this.”
Indeed, retail experts say that, even if consumers don’t bring up these issues regularly, you shouldn’t assume they don’t care about them.
