Catering To Men

RAPAPORT...  A popular phrase that attracted consumer and media attention in 2006 was “choi-waru-oyaji,” which literally means “a slightly frivolous middle-aged man.” The phrase evolved as a parody to a preceding phrase “choi-mote-oyaji” or “a slightly attractive middle-aged man,” which won the phrase-of-the-year award in 2002 for Leon, a lifestyle magazine for men. Leon coined the phrase to encourage men to be more fashionable and used its pages to advise them what to shop for, how to shop and where to shop for apparel and accessories that would make them a bit more attractive and move them away from the traditional, tasteless and boring attire that is the norm for most Japanese men.

Merchandisers across the board — jewelers included — are trying to capitalize on the popular phrases and the trends they encouraged to market to baby boomers as they move into retirement as a mass of middle-aged men with piles of money stashed in bank accounts.

Opportunity

Seeing this as an opportunity, Nobuki Ueno, president of Ueno Jewelry Institute, convinced Sokyo, a trade organization comprised of 17 jewelry manufacturers in the Yamanashi region, to tackle men’s and unisex jewelry lines. “The ladies’ markets have been saturated for some time, and no matter how hard manufacturers and marketers promoted and pushed, the hard fact was that the products did not move down the distribution pipelines,” said Ueno.

According to Ueno, only 1 percent of men wears jewelry. “Compared to ladies’, the men’s and unisex markets are vastly unexplored,” said Ueno, who has been promoting a unisex line called Third Jewelry for the past two years. As part of his promotion of the line, Ueno established the Third Jewelry Association and told members and their male staff to wear jewelry when they make sales pitches to clients. “If we could bring the number up to 10 percent, the market would be tremendous,” said Teruo Kikushima, president of Sokyo.

Nihon Hoso Kyokai (NHK), Japan’s largest public broadcasting corporation, found Sokyo’s efforts to promote men’s and unisex jewelry interesting enough that it produced a documentary on the subject. Some saw that as an endorsement of the idea of men wearing jewelry.

The flip side of the coin, however, is that the men’s and unisex markets are still considered niche markets and not mainstream, said Masahiko Akaike of Orient 4Cs. Isetan, for example, by far the most fashionable department store chain in the country, has an annex for men’s products and fashions, but its men’s jewelry department is minimal, said Akaike.

Still, there are some signs of progress. For example, Harry Winston is planning to open a new store in downtown Tokyo that focuses exclusively on men’s jewelry and watches. In addition, Tanaka Kikinzoku, one of the largest gold dealers and gold jewelry marketers, launched its unisex brand “Fors” in January.

To test the men’s market, Ueno appointed Muramatsu Jewelry and Watch store in Yaizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, to aggressively market the Third Jewelry line in November. “We had very good response from our customers,” said Hidehiko Muramatsu, the store manager. There were repeat customers after the campaign, too.

Female Influence

Many of the male customers were accompanied by their wives and female companions. When sales were closed at Muramatsu, often it was the female companions’ encouragement that pushed men into buying, with such comments as “Let’s buy something nice to celebrate your retirement.” If the men were still hesitant, the female companion went on to say, “If you don’t like it, I will wear it.” “And why not?” asked Ueno. “Today, more and more women are advancing in the workforce and these pieces are designed so that they do not offend the workplace atmosphere. They are somewhat genderless in design.”

For still reluctant male consumers, Ueno has recommended lapel pins, since men are used to wearing company pins on their lapels. Kikushima’s company, Kobo Gleam, developed 60 jewelry products for the season, 20 of which are lapel pins, followed by rings and pendants. Compared to rings and pendants, which may make novice male jewelry wearers self-conscious, lapel pins do not attract attention.

Retail Sales Up and Down

On January 2, traditionally the biggest annual sales day for Japanese celebrating the new year, 16,000 customers were lined up at Isetan’s Shinjuku store before the store opened and the store made 2.7 billion yen — $22.3 million — in sales that day. The city’s other major department store reported a 5 to 10 percent increase over 2005’s sales level for the day. The excitement quickly subsided the following day, however, and it is now expected that overall January sales will not meet the previous year’s level.

Marketplace

• The domestic market is quiet after the New Year holiday.
• Due to the weak yen against the U.S. dollar and the euro, foreigners are buying actively, especially large and better qualities in 2 carats+ and VS+ qualities.
• Certified 4/4 grainers continue to be weak, due to the change in the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) cut grading.
• High-color, better-quality melees and smalls are strong. Jewelry manufacturers are moving to TTLB and TTLC.

Article from the Rapaport Magazine - February 2007. To subscribe click here.