The Global Tribes of Jewelry

RAPAPORT... Luxury, and jewelry in particular, is a curious industry. On the one hand, itprovides aspirational products and exclusive experiences to consumers; on theother hand, many brands treat consumers very literally: merely as a source ofconsumption. While there are many examples of luxury brands turningrazor-sharp consumer insights into products that not only resonate with, butactually move consumers, a staggering number of brands still implement a purelyproduct-centric business model. This practice is especially prevalent in thejewelry industry: Develop a product efficiently, then try to find a marketingangle. With consumers more marketing-savvy than ever, this businessthinking is doomed. Millennials particularly are masters of distinguishingbetween product substance and marketing veneer. Marketing skeptics Consumers, especially millennials, want products that don'tjust tell a marketing story, but are an expression of their story. They seekproducts that touch and move them, and that express who they are and strive tobe. This is particularly true for jewelry - products no consumer needs but manywant. The first step to achieving this is to understand that thereis no such thing as "the consumer" and that the current practice of dividingpotential customers by age, gender, household income or family status cannottell you anything about what moves them and why they buy. Platinum Guild International has worked closely with theSinus Institute - a global leader in consumer segmentation, sought for adviceby companies and governments alike - to produce the largestconsumer-segmentation study ever conducted for jewelry. The research represents 180 million jewelry buyers acrossfour markets (China, India, Japan and the US), constituting a total buyingpotential of $611 billion. It was designed to identify commonalities amongjewelry buyers in order to group them into consumer segments according to theirlifestyles, 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 thatalthough consumers span four markets without common culture, language, historyor economic environment, they often share remarkable similarities in theirattitudes and needs regarding jewelry. Three tribes are particularly, yet not surprisingly,dominant among millennial consumers: status-seekers, avant-gardists andmeaning-seekers. ? ? Status-seekers Status-seekers are looking for ways to signal their socialstatus. To them, jewelry is not only a nice piece of adornment, it is a badgeworn proudly. Simply labeling this demographic as show-offs would be anall-too-easy dismissal of what is important to them. They are merely seekingrecognition from their peers, turbo-charged through social media, whereexperiences are judged by how many likes users collect and products are a meansto win a global competition of sharing Instagram-worthy moments. In the USalone, the pioneer market of digital innovations, status-seekers make up 24% ofjewelry buyers, and their average age of 31 makes them a prime target forjewelers aiming to engage millennial consumers. They are also especially proneto platinum as the metal's rarity is a genuine mark of distinction. ? ? Avant-gardists Avant-gardists share the same need for recognition fromtheir peers, but they do so for different reasons. Their primary need is to bevalued for their qualities as innovators and early adopters of the latesttrend. Think Williamsburg hipster with a taste for jewelry. Again, social mediais a key driver behind the need for affirmation. To them, nothing beats beingthe first to discover and be part of a trend. Jewelry is a key component of thepersona 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 wouldlike to spend it on jewelry. In the US, more than half of them are willing tospend more than $5,000 on jewelry and their preference for platinum over goldmakes them a key consumer segment for PGI. ? ? Meaning-seekers Meaning-seekers are in many ways the polar opposite of theirrecognition-seeking peers. They buy pieces of jewelry largely to mark theimportant milestones in their lives, not just their wedding day. Again, thesearch for meaning is well in line with common research findings aboutmillennials: While digital platforms such as Tinder have made it infinitelyeasier to find your "other half," they have also facilitated moving on to thenext potential soul-mate. The combination of opportunity and sky-highexpectations for love has created an even stronger craving for deep, meaningfulmoments and relationships. To this group, jewelry is the perfect vehicle tomark those rare milestone moments. If they buy, they don't buy small. Theyprefer opulent designs more than any other tribe, and have a particularpreference for necklaces and earrings. They are particularly drawn to platinumfor its status as the metal of love and its properties as an eternal keeper ofmoments that matter. This article was first published in the November 2018 issue of Rapaport Magazine.Image: Platinum wedding band. (PGI)