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The Three Global Tribes of Jewelry
Millennial consumers can be divided up into three main segments, says Tim Schlick, chief strategy officer at Platinum Guild International
Jan 2, 2019 8:38 AM
By Tim Schlick
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RAPAPORT... Luxury, and jewelry in particular, is a curious industry. On the one hand, it
provides aspirational products and exclusive experiences to consumers; on the
other hand, many brands treat consumers very literally: merely as a source of
consumption.
While there are many examples of luxury brands turning
razor-sharp consumer insights into products that not only resonate with, but
actually move consumers, a staggering number of brands still implement a purely
product-centric business model. This practice is especially prevalent in the
jewelry industry: Develop a product efficiently, then try to find a marketing
angle.
With consumers more marketing-savvy than ever, this business
thinking is doomed. Millennials particularly are masters of distinguishing
between product substance and marketing veneer. Marketing skeptics
Consumers, especially millennials, want products that don’t
just tell a marketing story, but are an expression of their story. They seek
products that touch and move them, and that express who they are and strive to
be. This is particularly true for jewelry — products no consumer needs but many
want.
The first step to achieving this is to understand that there
is no such thing as “the consumer” and that the current practice of dividing
potential customers by age, gender, household income or family status cannot
tell you anything about what moves them and why they buy.
Platinum Guild International has worked closely with the
Sinus Institute — a global leader in consumer segmentation, sought for advice
by companies and governments alike — to produce the largest
consumer-segmentation study ever conducted for jewelry.
The research represents 180 million jewelry buyers across
four markets (China, India, Japan and the US), constituting a total buying
potential of $611 billion. It was designed to identify commonalities among
jewelry buyers in order to group them into consumer segments according to their
lifestyles, attitudes and the role jewelry plays for them. Generation why
The study was able to identify six distinct segments, or
“jewelry tribes,” in each market. Another of key finding of the study is that
although consumers span four markets without common culture, language, history
or economic environment, they often share remarkable similarities in their
attitudes and needs regarding jewelry.
Three tribes are particularly, yet not surprisingly,
dominant among millennial consumers: status-seekers, avant-gardists and
meaning-seekers.
● Status-seekers
Status-seekers are looking for ways to signal their social
status. To them, jewelry is not only a nice piece of adornment, it is a badge
worn proudly. Simply labeling this demographic as show-offs would be an
all-too-easy dismissal of what is important to them. They are merely seeking
recognition from their peers, turbo-charged through social media, where
experiences are judged by how many likes users collect and products are a means
to win a global competition of sharing Instagram-worthy moments. In the US
alone, the pioneer market of digital innovations, status-seekers make up 24% of
jewelry buyers, and their average age of 31 makes them a prime target for
jewelers aiming to engage millennial consumers. They are also especially prone
to platinum as the metal’s rarity is a genuine mark of distinction.
● Avant-gardists
Avant-gardists share the same need for recognition from
their peers, but they do so for different reasons. Their primary need is to be
valued for their qualities as innovators and early adopters of the latest
trend. Think Williamsburg hipster with a taste for jewelry. Again, social media
is a key driver behind the need for affirmation. To them, nothing beats being
the first to discover and be part of a trend. Jewelry is a key component of the
persona they are trying to create. While they do not buy for social status,
they certainly have the means to do so: They have a higher income and would
like to spend it on jewelry. In the US, more than half of them are willing to
spend more than $5,000 on jewelry and their preference for platinum over gold
makes them a key consumer segment for PGI.
● Meaning-seekers
Meaning-seekers are in many ways the polar opposite of their
recognition-seeking peers. They buy pieces of jewelry largely to mark the
important milestones in their lives, not just their wedding day. Again, the
search for meaning is well in line with common research findings about
millennials: While digital platforms such as Tinder have made it infinitely
easier to find your “other half,” they have also facilitated moving on to the
next potential soul-mate. The combination of opportunity and sky-high
expectations for love has created an even stronger craving for deep, meaningful
moments and relationships. To this group, jewelry is the perfect vehicle to
mark those rare milestone moments. If they buy, they don’t buy small. They
prefer opulent designs more than any other tribe, and have a particular
preference for necklaces and earrings. They are particularly drawn to platinum
for its status as the metal of love and its properties as an eternal keeper of
moments that matter.
This article was first published in the November 2018 issue of Rapaport Magazine.
Image: Platinum wedding band. (PGI)
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Tags:
PGI, Platinum Guild International, Sinus Institute, Tim Schlick
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