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WHAT IS A BRAND?
A product, service or idea, and all the benefits it implies.
PERSONAL BRANDING:
Connecting who you are with the service and products you represent in the public's eye. It's selling YOU...
EXTREME PERSONAL BRANDINGSM:
Using highly noticeable, sometimes "outrageous" (but never obnoxious) means to unforgettably connect who you are with the service and products you represent in the public's eye. It's selling YOU and getting EVERYONE talking about YOU.
A) Why Branding?
A brand is a known and measurable commodity that by its very nature offers unique features and benefits. So what's the goal of branding? Successful branding allows consumers to put their faith and trust in a name because of the quality and value they perceive those names have.
As an independent jeweler, do you really need a manufacturer's branded specialty product when you can trust your own ability to establish the true value of any diamond?
More importantly, when it's a major purchase like a diamond, doesn't the customer bottom-line simply want a really great diamond? And aren't they really putting their faith and trust in the brand spelled Y-O-U to provide it to them?
Selling their brand is like renting their name. You have no ownership equity in it. Branding yourself is building stock and value in yourself.
B) Why Personal?
As independent jewelers, we have much to defend ourselves against:
- The Internet
- Warehouse Membership Stores
- Chain Jewelers in the Malls
- The "Fancy Stores" and all the other stores in town.
- The TV Home Shopping Clubs and most recently,
- The Manufacturer's Retail Stores
Extreme Personal BrandingSM is Personal because most independent jewelry retailers can make their store into a total reflection of the owner's personality. In many cases, the owner is right in the store!
Remember, this is a battle we're up against -- to grab a significant share of the consumer's mind and thinking process. The "fancy stores", manufacturer's stores and mall chain stores are heady competition. But we have something the chains simply can't offer. We have the way to make the diamond shopping experience extremely personal.
By becoming the exclusive retailer in your market "Where a Really Great Diamond Doesn't Cost an Arm and a Leg®", you can give diamond shoppers a fun reason to shop at your store. Giving that reason to them is the one guaranteed way you'll have an opportunity to give them a reason to buy from you, so that's great! Now, you are creating a brand. In fact, YOU are the brand.
The customer looks to you, the independent jeweler, to make a recommendation. The independent jeweler has the expertise, the skill, the vision, the insights and distinctive quality you can't get at other places with their corporate structure and bureaucracies.
Many people that come to a jewelry store want to talk directly to the owner. They don't want permission to speak with a "manager". A chain manager or chain store clerk can never truly match the motivation a store owner has. They feel the owner has the kind of expertise they can trust. The owner is "THE MAN".
PLUS, when the customer hears "Where a Really Great Diamond Doesn't Cost an Arm and a Leg®", they hear "savings", "sale" and "discount" without your ever having to say those specific words. The perception of your entire inventory not costing "an arm and a leg" psychologically extends to everything else you sell...and that's very good!
KEEP IT PERSONAL... KEEP IT VERY PERSONAL.
You have the unique opportunity to show how you are promoting and selling fine diamonds for a fraction of the price of the "fancy store", because you're not financing the big lease payments and expensive crystal chandeliers that hang in those places. Also, you're not buying higher-wholesale branded diamonds from corporate manufacturers.
You're taking advantage of things that some owners and managers would initially consider a disadvantage. Take inventory for example. Some would say if you don't have a big inventory, you're at a disadvantage. Not necessarily! How many top quality diamonds can you sell in a day? You may not have a large inventory on hand, but if you're doing it right, your non-traditional suppliers do. You know where to get what you want when you need it.
Non-traditional suppliers? That's right. You're a jeweler. You know the value of a fine diamond! You can buy that fine diamond from one of dozens of suppliers, and the consumer will be glad to buy dollar-for-dollar a better-quality diamond. And guess what? You can be rewarded with better margins, not like jewelers facing The Margin MeltdownSM, that are obligated to share their profits with the branded manufacturer.
C) Why Extreme?
Because to brand yourself successfully, you need to be more than just different. You need to develop your own Unique Market IdentitySM. By becoming the operator of the store "Where a Really Great Diamond Doesn't Cost an Arm and a Leg®" you are clearly stating what you offer... "A Really Great DiamondSM." And by making the commercials fun... by not making them look like expensive Madison Avenue productions, you are clearly sending other messages:
- The consumer can know this jeweler personally;
- The experience of shopping there will be fun, not intimidating; and
- The owner has a sense for managing expenses, something the buyer is sensitive to as well.
By becoming the exclusive store in your market "Where a Really Great Diamond Doesn't Cost an Arm and a Leg®", You are a taking away all of the excuses why a small business can't be a serious force and an unforgettable presence in the marketplace. Leg Up Marketing offers you a systematic, productive way to bring customers to the counter.
You need to think, and be... Extremely Unforgettable!!
Register here for priority consideration in your market or contact us today!
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