Opinion: Ensuring jewellery communication doesn't drown in the sea of sameness

Weddings drive approximately 40% of the jewellery category sales, and the wedding season sees a significant share of media money being spent across brands. 

In the past, except for a few brands, jewellery advertising primarily focused on the celebratory aspect of the wedding, bringing alive the richness of our traditions. Establishing the right socio-cultural context and regional affiliation has played a critical role in amping up relevance for the consumer. 

Set-ups are grand, the production scale is worthy and often the ad is a visual delight. Celebrity endorsements are a mainstay and it can be quite the task to find a famous film industry face not endorsing a jewellery brand today. 

While this narrative largely reflects the jewellery-buying occasion, communication can drown in the sea of sameness. In research, the consumer regularly misattributes celebrities to rival brands, which is a lot of money lost to the marketer. It is also a difficult task to establish any core proposition for the brand if the celebrity is the anchor point instead of the brand proposition or the philosophy. 

However, with the consumer changing tracks and the role of jewellery in her life undergoing a strategic shift, we are now seeing new narratives emerging. Brands are looking to capture the ‘spirit' of celebration and the moments that matter, not necessarily the ritualistic festivities.

Recent ads are also celebrating a new dimension of the woman’s personality more in line with the reality of today’s woman who holds her own and has a strong presence. There is a celebration of various personality types, a spotlight on women from different walks of life as well as the relationship she has with her family, society and her partner. The tonality has undergone a definitive shift with the focus now on celebrating 'her' instead of the just wedding. 

While thematics continue to speak to the new sensibility, the more hard-working wedding offers and discounts are necessary to drive conversion. Online jewellery brands are using the wedding season to solve barriers such as availability and trust as well as establish convenience factors such as customisation and at-home tryouts. 

With almost 8% of Indians now looking to buy diamond jewellery online (The Global Diamond Industry Report, Bain & Company, 2021 Diamond Report), collective category efforts will drive channel penetration.

With digital media playing a very critical role in consumer life, higher spends on the channel are expected. Women today are educated, confident, and aspire unabashedly for the good things in life. Social media informs their choices in fashion and their efforts to be sharp and ahead of the style curve. Brands are using digital and social platforms to showcase the width of their collection, an impossible task in the regular media as well as educate the consumer on “how to buy” and “how to wear”. Such co-creation is the pathway to long-term bonding with the brand. The wedding season has seen a spurt in relevant content as well as contests across platforms and an attempt to have a unique look and feel for the brands.

Influencers are game changers in the marketing narrative, especially in lifestyle and high involvement categories. Jewellery brands are using influencers to address specific consumer cohorts, interests and affinity groups as well as address regional consumer stories, besides the mainline creative. 

So what happens to good old big-scale celebrity-driven ads? Well, as weddings take a new meaning and rituals get modernised, communication is getting adapted to reflect a more “progressive” take. Just like weddings, heavy-duty celebrity advertising is not going away any time soon!

(The author is the chief marketing officer, of KISNA Diamond and Gold Jewellery)