July 1, 2025 • 40 mins
Jewelry isn’t just beautiful—it’s hard to market. In this hybrid episode of Legacy of Luxury, Nick Constantino and Jaron Solomon break down what’s broken in jewelry marketing, from abandoned brand-building to the overhype of data-driven performance. They talk sports partnerships, in-store experience, digital agency pitfalls, and the new rules of trust and storytelling.
Key Takeaways
- Performance marketing without brand marketing is a dead end.
- Radio still builds long-term loyalty in ways social can’t touch.
- Sports sponsorships create trust signals and real-world rapport.
- In-store experience is a brand touchpoint, not just a transaction.
- Agencies must evolve from vendors to strategic partners.
- Independent jewelers are luxury brands—not just resellers.
Sound bites
"People only see the tip of the iceberg."
"The model needs to change."
"We are going to carve our own path."
Chapters
00:00 The Unique Landscape of Jewelry Marketing
04:44 The Evolution of Brand Marketing
09:24 The Power of Packaging and Branding
11:15 Aligning with Local Sports Teams
17:59 Enhancing the In-Store Experience
19:34 The Importance of Lighting in Jewelry Display
24:24 Navigating the Digital Marketing Landscape
32:53 The Future of Luxury Jewelry Marketing
#LegacyOfLuxury #JewelryMarketing #LuxuryBranding #SolomonBrothers #MarketingStrategy #InStoreExperience #DigitalMarketing #BridalJewelry #SportsMarketing
patreon.com/TheMarketingMadMen: https://www.nick-constantino.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
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Welcome to the legacy of luxury with Salomon Brothers Jewelers.
Host Nick Constantino and SharonSolomon will talk to industry
experts, share captivating stories, and much more.
(00:44):
Don't miss out on this captivating journey through the
world of opulence. Now let's explore the legacy of
luxury with Salomon Brothers Jewelers.
Welcome to Legacy of Luxury. Today we're going to talk about
marketing and we're going to kind of make this a hybrid
episode. A little marketing Mad Men, a
little legacy of Luxury, but a compelling conversation
(01:06):
nonetheless. Jaron, how you doing bud?
Doing great, good to be back. Good to have you back.
So I think as we get into the feel and kind of feel this thing
out because like look, we're both awesome, but like we can't
imagine that we're just going tomagically start doing a show.
So I think I've really enjoyed this experimental phase that
kind of get the vibe and and seewhat people want.
Honestly, like I love jewelry, Ilove everything about it.
(01:27):
But like, at some point you're going to be like, Oh my
goodness, we just have to reset what we're talking about, right?
Unless we start inventing our own styles, but that goes into
our white label brand, which we're going to start in the
future. And it's going to be a whole
podcast that itself. So we're not revealing too much,
but all right, So I think beforewe start with a real marketing
conversation, I'm going to ask you kind of a conceptual
hypothetical question. And it's based on what I've seen
(01:49):
in the past five months. Why is jewelry so unique to
market, and why is the history so unique as to how it treats
marketing? So I think we need to break it
down for folks out there on jewelry and Jewelers, right?
So there are the brands and we can get into what makes them a
brand, right? No free ads, but Tiffany and
(02:11):
company, right? David Yurman, Rolex Petech
Right, These are. And let's be clear, there's a
little bit of luck with those brands also, right?
This is not all strategy. David Yurman didn't wake up one
day and be like, you know what, I'm going to conquer the world.
And I know how he got a little lucky.
The right celebrity works. So to give a little, some of
this is strategy. Some of this is just blind love.
And I think that's fascinating. We'll get into that maybe later
(02:32):
in the show as well. You know, we've done some
Instagram stuff on, you know, famous people's rings and you
know, what's Selena Gomez wearing?
And so you're you're exactly right.
I mean, even shapes of diamonds have gotten crazy popular
because of celebrities. So marketing, you know, takes
all forms in jewelry, but for independent Jewelers like
Salomon Brothers Jewelers and independents, thousands of them
(02:54):
across the country, it's really fascinating.
We just got back from the JCK show and everyone in there is a
brand and huge air quotes there.You know, in the halls of JCK,
there's like, have you been to so And so, you know, on the 2nd
floor for sure, but the average consumer has no idea who they
are. So it's up to the independent
(03:15):
Jewelers of the world to either make them a brand or we just
continue to make ourselves the brand and we just vet.
And what we're concerned about as our independent store is
making sure the quality is therefrom the vendor, not the
branding from the vendor, the brands coming from us.
Yeah, I would say the quality and the I don't want to say that
they're setting trends, but they're reacting to trends.
(03:36):
So if something is trendy and someone's looking for it, then
that brand is going to be benefit because we're pointing
people in that direction. So and, and you know, again, and
that's what makes it so unique, right?
As I, I, we talk about this, when it started, some of the
brands had a little bit more clout and power, but that's also
because marketing was easier. You did some magazine ads.
There was not this huge completely approached where that
(03:57):
you have 5000 kinds of marketingand everyone doesn't know what
and we missed the digital evolution.
Do you remember when someone would sit in the Delta Sky
Lounge and actually pick up a magazine?
I mean, have you seen anyone pick up a piece of paper, you
know, in the Delta Sky? And it's true.
So that so that that is why. And similarly to a lot of
industries, the tactics changed so quickly that a lot of people
were left behind. And to be honest with you, a lot
(04:19):
of the independent Jewelers wereleft behind.
And what I found is, is that because they're family
businesses, the generational passing is, is, is sometimes
because what happens is one of two things, right?
You either rest on your laurels and do the same thing or you
come in and you change completely, right?
No one pivots. And I will give you credit
because I think you did a reallygood job of sticking with what
worked, which is the traditionalradio, magazines, billboards,
(04:42):
but have peppered in the, the, the modern technology.
Now that being said, it's been hard.
We'll do, we can do our whole own agency, our own show on the
agencies. But that being said, it's kind
of a balance between we'll talk about brand marketing, bus
performance marketing, but I think it's a little bit hedging
your present for your future. You have to mortgage the right
now because otherwise we've justrun $2,000,000 a radio and they
(05:03):
have a constant flux of people coming in because we introduced
ourselves to brand new people every day.
For that being said, are we talking about the Tik Tokers and
the 18 year olds at radio? They won't even remember radio
ever existed. Like we're going to get to a
point where that is going to happen.
So are we hedging our bets moving forward?
All right, so I think now that we set up why this is so
interesting, unique and hard andand you know, let me mention it
really quickly. There's one big corporation in
(05:24):
the industry that has gobbled upeverything.
Signet has gobbled up stores. It's a complete horizontal
monopoly. They own production, they own
big stores, they own e-commerce,they own small stores.
It is a, but that being said, that is the only one private
equity is nowhere to be found. So it is really a bunch of
independent regional based or even state or even city based
Jewelers that are kind of doing their own thing.
(05:46):
And as much as they talk right, like you're the buddy, who do
you think he's going to tell youbusiness is bad?
Like your competition, you're the industry wants us to believe
we're the best. So I think that is set up a
quite a unique thing. Now let's talk a little bit
about one of the things that I find is broken today is we got
so infatuated with data and performance marketing that the
brand marketing kind of slipped to the wayside.
(06:08):
And as somebody who's been around brand marketing for 40
years, talk about why it was so impactful to you and your father
and talk about the that is paying now because it's it's
unbelievable how many people come and look for us by name.
Yeah, I know it's, it's incredible.
And you know, that's a testamentto also getting onto radio when
radio wasn't popular to get onto, right.
Like there was a moment in time where you had to take that leap
(06:31):
of faith. And you know, back in the day of
WSB, you know, one of the most powerful stations in the South.
In the country. In the country, yeah.
And you know, a morning AM spot,you know, with my boy Neil
Bortz, you know, he's doing all right down in sunny Florida.
But you know, back then in 9798992000 and AM morning drive
(06:53):
spot was like $1200, right? And for 30 seconds, it wasn't,
it wasn't easy to do. But my dad had the foresight
that, you know, enough people are listening, enough people are
consuming. And when you hit them over the
head time and time again, I knowsome people don't like it.
But the the coolest part of radio was it was kind of just
putting it in your mind every single morning.
(07:15):
You just kind of woke up up withSalomon Brothers and it wasn't
annoying. It wasn't live share emails,
right? We talk about this all the time
like hey, e-mail me 6 times after I purchase like I'm never
coming back to you again. That's annoying.
Radio was just kind of that, youknow, little spark in your brain
of just hearing it, right? You went from the weather, you
went from sports talk and all ofa sudden Salomon Brothers was
(07:35):
there and that was kind of a cool thing and and he committed
to that and it was only about the brand, right?
You know, just talking about what do we have to offer?
Not just selling you, just telling you what we have and
what we can do. And over the course of, you
know, 20-30 years of just pounding it on radio, like you
said, now we've had a sprinkle and a lot more.
But that really was the leap of faith that he took that built
(07:58):
the brand to what it is today and why people still mention and
ask, I mean, you've been in radio for a long time.
You've heard people come in hereand ask for for those local to
Atlanta, 790, The zone hasn't existed in 20 something years.
Yeah, it's unbelievable, The fish.
The fish dropped a year ago. Earlier this year, the fish
didn't exist. They still come and say it.
(08:19):
And look, you know, first of all, I think radio gets a bad
rap because people don't understand it as a medium.
And one of the things I've come to realize is that you are a
prisoner in your car, right? As laws change and you couldn't
talk on your phone, like, and not only that, like it's a war
zone. Every time you get on the road,
you have to be so focused so that background noise becomes
part of your identity in your day.
(08:39):
I mean, think about it, when you're watching a game with your
kids running around, how much are you really paying attention
to what's going on? You're on your phone, they're
running. You got to buy, buy something
because there's so many, so muchexternal stimuli.
But if you're in your car, you're staying alive.
You're not even trying to get from ABB, you're trying to stay
alive. Especially when Nick is driving.
Especially when Nick is and you're and we had one experience
in the mountains and I didn't even have the right car for it,
(09:00):
but you're trying to stay alive.But you're that connection and
that it's subliminal. And I think that's one of the
things that people forget about branding.
And it's because we want immediate gratification and
instant gratification. They think that if you say we
are the number one jeweler, people are going to come in and
be like, hey, you're the number one jeweler.
I want this and it doesn't work that way.
It's subliminal. It is brand Tiffany.
If you asked 100 people why theylike Tiffany, not one of them
(09:22):
will be able to give you an answer that's consistent and the
same. They just think either it's
because they feel they have to or because of a box.
Well, and I was about to say thething that's the coolest about
Tiffany and the reason I love Tiffany's as a brand and as what
they've done in following their journey because I believe, and
you can comment on this if you're listening to this or
watching on YouTube. You know, when I say Tiffany and
(09:43):
company, you think blue. Yeah, I mean that that's you
don't even think jewelry, you don't necessarily think silver,
which is probably the number oneselling product that they carry,
but you don't think about product, you think about the
box, you think about blue. And I have such incredible
respect for that and that in a marketing deep dive, you know,
and today we're talking about marketing, it's just saying,
(10:04):
hey, packaging itself is so crucial out there.
So anyone listening that's running a company right now,
look at your packaging and you know we're revamping our
packaging. It's on the boat right now,
folks. It's but it's going to be
beautiful and it's something that, you know, we're trying to
commit to because that is half the battle.
I mean, you need to give good service.
(10:25):
You have to give a good product.But from a marketing standpoint,
don't forget about just the little things.
Don't go spend, you know, millions of dollars on Google
and pay per click and all this kind of stuff and forget about
what you're handing to your customer.
And that's what I find the coolest about a Tiffany and kind
of what they were able to do with the blue box.
Yeah, I, I think the next thing that comes to mind is Amex and
(10:47):
the black card. There hasn't been a black card
in so long. I mean, but people still in
their head associate a black card like it's the ultimate
thing, right? They've changed colors.
They're like an Obsidian now. Obviously it's Onyx with the
tone. They have to change it.
But you know, and, and it's, it's really important, but at
the same time, like you can't plan on that being the case.
You have to put yourself in a position to succeed and when it
(11:09):
happens to be ready to capitalize because people
nowadays are so much of a biggerradar for inauthentic fake stuff
than they never have before. Probably because we're just
overwhelmed. I was reading the other day that
like the millennial generation and then generation a little bit
a couple years around it, we're so about be just being
braggadocious on Twitter. It's about everything or any
social media. Look at my day, I did this.
(11:31):
Look at the meal I ate. Meanwhile, they're like scraping
to live by and they're reading ramen so they can afford that
meal. The younger generation is just
obsessed with authenticity, which I find funny because how
authentic is it is You have to tell the freaking world about
it, but it's it's just a different mind state.
And if you're not aware of that now, that being said, right now
they don't have money. So is it our probably is that
our core competency to go after them?
But I do think that trust is an all time low in brands.
(11:53):
Speaking of trust, where do the sports teams fit in on this?
Because I think this has been a newer thing for you.
I think it's something that I I've done well because I've
known the brands and I know how it works.
I know how the contracts are in.But talk about the affiliations
with people like the Braves and Georgia and Georgia Tech because
like it's such a misunderstood part of marketing.
Talk about what benefits those are for you and what your
strategy was to start with thosewith the Braves and then from
(12:15):
there on. Yeah, I mean, listen, it's all
about alignment, right? And it's all about saying to
folks that not only are we local, right, but we are
aligning ourself with incredibleinstitutions.
You know, at the end of the day,if our sporting, you know, teams
didn't take themselves seriouslyif it was a bad experience at a
game. But I mean, what better places
(12:36):
can you go and watch a game thenat Truest Park?
I mean, just one of the coolest ballpark in the country and
you're associating yourself withthe battery, right, And the
Braves. So, you know, when we aligned
with the Braves, we were aligning with the South's team,
right, With Atlanta's team. And the organization though,
that they run and that they haveis very reflective of what we do
(12:58):
here at Sony Brothers. And so that was really it was
aligning with quality and showing people that, you know,
hey, we're big enough, right, tobe able to do this to show a
little bit of strength. I think it does show strength in
marketing when you can do that with a big club like the Braves
and then showing that we're alsolocal and we're Atlanta and
that's why we teamed up with Georgia Tech and the Jackets,
(13:21):
you know, here in Atlanta and then, you know, reaching.
I think it's a little different with the Dogs, right?
I'm obviously a big Dogs fan, but went to the University of
Georgia and when you think aboutthe University of Georgia for
whatever, and maybe this is justme because I'm so I can give a
relatively. Biased opinion here, but.
You know, to me, the University of Georgia is the power in the
state. And when you talk about that G
(13:43):
and you talk about what we're going to do for folks that are
going to see some cool videos coming out later this year, that
we're going to do what that typeof content allows.
In my opinion, it's just pure strength of what our brand is
and aligning with that brand andthose players.
You know, that is something thatwhen people see it, they just
associate quality with quality and you know when they see us on
(14:06):
the field at Sanford Stadium did.
You just drop it. Did you just drop?
But, you know, a lot of fun to be a part of the University of
Georgia, and it is the state's university.
And so it rings true from peoplethat see it in Savannah, GA, to
be able to see in Atlanta, GA, they're getting a very clear
message that, hey, Salomon Brothers Jewelers is here.
(14:28):
And they're powerful and they know what they're doing.
So it's been fun to align with sports teams.
But from your perspective, coming from, you know, the
sporting world, when you hear, Imean, you, you were in the DC
area. Yeah, Maryland.
You've seen all different markets, but when you see a
jeweler with a sports team, whatdo you think?
Yeah. And so I think I'm going to, I'm
going to compare it and bring indigital here.
(14:49):
But I think what we're trying tosay is we like the same things
as you. I think so much of business is
about relating to an individual consumer.
And if you look at real, I don'twant to get data heavy, but if
you look at a Google Analytics subset, sports are always in the
top two or three of almost everybusiness on earth, whether
you're going after men or women.They consume them differently
and their consumption patterns around it are different.
(15:09):
Like there's almost, it's almostbeen a lost art of like, yo, we
like the same things as you. We're people like you.
Look, I saw the game last night.Wow, that was crazy.
It's almost a way to build immediate rapport with people.
And because we are in such a high touch business, rapport is
unbelievably important. So that's, and that's not my,
that's my insider view. And I think that's what's lost
(15:30):
on a lot of people. The other thing is, is and and
this is an old Gary Vee comment,but like today's digital world,
what we're fighting for is attention.
OK, So if I can't garner attention talking about the
Braves in Georgia, I'm never going to be able to garner
attention. So we don't because we are lucky
that we don't. It's not gimmicky and we don't
have to over rely on it, that we're subtle with it.
(15:52):
It's on business cards. We're doing giveaways, but we
don't have to remind people every Tuesday that we're the
that we're the Braves because wehave other things.
So it's almost a conversation starter.
And because this is such a salesoriented business with high
ticket items, sometimes if someone walks in here with AG,
you know, the salesperson's facelights up.
We're going to close that deal. We are going to close that deal.
(16:14):
If they walk in with a Brave set, Georgia Tech, we are going
to close that deal. And the best part is what do you
think's going to happen in September when the Braves, who
are playing better, are in the middle of the playoff run?
Georgia, who's going for a national champions there?
Tech will probably have the bestseason they've had in 20 years.
What do you think is going to happen?
And in September when we are thefocal point of all of that stuff
(16:34):
coming together and culminating and the answer is I don't know.
But I think we put and part of marketing is putting the sales
people in a position to succeed,but also putting our digital
agencies in a position to succeed.
How much easier is it to garner attention for us than a jeweler
who has none of these things? So I think from the outside
looking in that sports partnerships are important, but
(16:56):
if you don't know how to utilizethem and have a strategy behind
those things, then they just become a another form of
marketing that just gets lost inthe shuffle and, and you have to
reinvent yourself, which is, youknow, I'm not in the business of
reinventing ourselves and it's not what we.
Yeah, thankfully we don't need to.
We we've had some great groundwork laid and by our
founder and you know, shout out to big Papa there.
And but you just made such a great point, and I think
(17:18):
everyone needs to take note of it, is that people like to buy
from like minded people. Whether they say so or not,
yeah, it's it's almost a subconscious thing.
Totally. It's we're, we're a Society of
we, we bunched together. We always have.
That is how this human race has expanded.
We want to be around people thatshare values and things with us.
It's unconscious. Completely.
I mean, sure, look no further than marriage, right?
(17:41):
If you don't have the same values, you're going to have a
tough time. You know, when someone walks in
here, like you just said, such agreat point when they have that
G on or the GT. If they do, no hard feelings.
We know who has the bigger checkbook.
But you know that we know that, hey, they have something in
common with us and we have something in common with them
and they're here to buy, you know, a product obviously that
we sell. So that's the easy part.
(18:03):
But really getting along has been great.
So I mean, yeah, that's why I listened when we went to the
Masters, we bought a bunch of cool Masters gear and, you know,
put it on the shelf at the storeand just did a giveaways.
And because that's what I love. And it's it's nice for me to
connect with people that love that as well.
Anything that you guys love thatyou think we should be doing,
please comment on because. You never know, I don't get
(18:24):
enough of those from our salespeople and every brand we
deal with. Hey, you guys should do this.
Our budget's fine. I all right, So I think I want
to to cover two last things. Let's do the one I hate the most
last. So let's start, let's start with
is something that I believe we have to be better AT and I think
you agree. Let's talk about the in store
marketing. Let's talk about the in store
experience. Let's talk about what they call
merchandising. Let's talk a little bit about
(18:46):
that because I think we because we are still providing a service
and because we're so bridal and engagement heavy, we still have
to be. We make sure we have the things
that the people need because we are providing a service to which
is going to change their life, right?
Buying an earrings on a random whim is very different than
committing to an engagement ringfor something that's going to be
for a life. But but talk a little bit about
(19:07):
how you look at the stores of marketing mechanism.
You know, you have three stores.You were the 1 to go out and
scout the locations and all thatstuff.
And you know it, it sounds operational, but think about
that's that. Those are marketing plays.
Peachtree City being by a Costco, whether on purpose or
not, that's a marketing play. So just talk a little bit about
the the in store part of this and talk about how you view
(19:28):
that, whether you did view it asa marketing thing or just come
to realize, but talk about the marketing of that in store
experience. Yeah, for sure.
So, you know, there's experiencefrom the sales staff and all
that kind of stuff. That's one thing.
But yeah, you're asking a great question, something that we
think about all the time as merchandising.
And when your eyes look down into our cases, what are you
(19:49):
seeing and how is your brain right functioning when you see a
sparkly piece, most people get happy.
OK, that's great. And don't look at it online,
you'll never get the same response online.
I don't care what anyone says, you got to go in the store and
see it. Not only just that, right, I
mean, you don't online, it's like it's very impersonal, right
And that's not dogging online. We have a website put a lot of
money into our website, but you know, even if we sold on our
(20:12):
website, which we do, it's stillit's just not the same as coming
in and seeing it in the case. And you know, so we focus a lot
on lighting, right. So lighting is everything
because you want the juries far away.
It's not on you. We wouldn't focus as much on
lighting and we don't. If you think about it, when you
pull that piece out of the the case and it comes up to your
(20:33):
your hand and your face and close to you, you're kind of out
of the lights. But there's a reason why there's
lights in the case. And it's not to trick you or
trick your eye. It is to actually just showcase
the piece and allow you to see it better.
Yeah. And make sure there's not a
shadow casted and the light dispersion is very.
Important. Also, to be fair, I've learned
that the sparkle of a diamond issubjective.
(20:55):
Maybe not Gia declared the rightway, but it is also an important
part of the value proposition ofthe diamond, right?
So you're talking about something that you're using that
has in marketing, but also has utilitarian benefits because you
are trying to show and amplify somebody.
If it is a jewelry store that didn't have good lighting, my
brain immediately goes to because they're trying to sell
you cheap diamonds for more money because you in those
(21:17):
lights, the more light you have on, the more you see
imperfections. But I also have found that those
imperfections are what make a natural and natural in a lab
lab. So seeing those imperfections
has actually come into the valueproposition even more for sure.
And one. Thing I know what I'm talking.
About one of the things that we've struggled with over the
years is, you know, do you want quantity in the case or do you
want cleaner less in there? And and we have.
(21:39):
Found the brands are the brands we deal with answer because you
would mortgage that like a gypsyflea market would just be filled
with their stuff but. We have found that, you know, in
our business and what we do as an independent jeweler is that
people want options and they come here for options, they come
here for price points. One of the things I'm so proud
of is that we offer a price point from low to high.
(22:03):
And I mean and you know folks who don't know us, we're
offering from the lowest of the low to the highest of the high.
So we're talking about diamond studs that are starting at 250,
three, $100, right, that are going to 300.
Feet let me bring a point in here because this is something
that is really that I've had to come to terms with and you gave
me an analogy that I still use to this day.
(22:23):
But right, so, so luxury. OK, I am a fond believer is if
you can afford to walk up to this store, buy a four, $100
pair of earrings without it stressing you, then you
understand what luxury is. Your perception of luxury may be
different than someone can drop 300 grand, but you go into a
Mercedes dealership and they sell $200,000 Mercedes next to
(22:44):
$30,000 Mercedes. So we, we got to stop.
We got to get it out of our headthat luxury is a predefined
thing. Luxury is a higher class of life
to which you work hard to gain. That's right.
And if you do that, then what doyou care if they're $400.00 or
$400,000? A person who can afford $400.00,
even not a credit card or with cash that doesn't have to stress
that purchase is entitled to said luxury as much as someone
(23:07):
who could afford $200,000. So I think it's been the hardest
part of marketing, but it's something that I've actually
found quickly and I'm really proud of and we'll stick behind
those people are hoity toity andsay those are not the people we
want are not only fools, but they don't understand that
people's journeys change, right?400 now could be 400,000 in four
years. You have no idea.
We're not in the business. You're not trying to sell this
(23:28):
business. You're trying to build a long
term value property position, right?
So it's something that I'm the proudest of and then I
completely cut you off at talking about, but go on.
No, I mean listen, not to plug our trade in policy here, but I
am doing it in a genuine way that one of my favorite things
about the trade in policy is actually our diamond studs
because we get to see it grow over time.
You know the engagement ring is very sentimental and people do
(23:50):
trade it up and we do have it often.
But the diamond studs is my favorite, right.
People come in and they buy the half a care total weight and
they buy it for 499 and then they go up and they buy the one
care totally for 999 and so on and so forth.
And it's just so cool to see them along their journey.
You started it. I started it, right.
I mean, you know, our wives havenicer things now for sure than
(24:12):
they did 10 years ago when we got married.
And, you know, it's, it's just acool journey.
And so it's, it's cool that we have a policy that actually
promotes exactly what you just said and that that of course
it's a plug, but it's not a plugin the sense of, you know, a
sales tactic. It's really actually a genuine
fun thing. We probably need to find a way
marketing wise to to do a, you know, now and then.
(24:33):
Yeah, I already have ideas running through my I'm thinking
of how the car brands do. Instead of buying a car, you buy
a subscription so you can swap out.
So instead of buying a diamond, you pay a flat monthly fee that
entitles you to upgrade the diamond over a set time path.
So you are something along thoselines.
But because one of the things is, is that because it doesn't
have sentimental value, it gets lost in the shuffle and you
(24:54):
don't want it to get lost in theshuffle.
So you want it to be something that's always top of mind.
But all right, so I've decided that we're going to turn this
into a 2 parter because we're having a good conversation and
we're keeping just keep going. So let's let's talk digital a
little bit because I don't want to say this is a bait in my
existence, but I want to say that it is such a flooded market
with so much poor information and so little customer service
(25:15):
that it has been quite a frustrating experience.
And from my understanding, you know a lot of people in
different categories who have shared the frustration of the
experience. So without bashing anybody
because this is kind of a cross the industry thing, talk about
some of the frustrations that you've had with just the digital
marketing industry and I'll kindof provide some insights on my
end. And then I think we'll come to
some resolutions and talk about what we've kind of picked up so
(25:37):
other people out there struggling can can have some
insights. Yeah, I mean, listen, I'll kind
of let you share actually more of the I'll let you share more
of my frustrations because you've told them to me.
And, you know, my frustration, though I will say before, you
know, you were able to join us here as the CMO of Salomon
Brothers, you know, has been. I knew something was up, right.
(25:57):
I knew that the agencies, you know, in the people that would
come in here and, and pitch me and tell me how amazing they
were doing. And every single month it was a
green arrow. Everyone was doing great.
And you know, it was so inauthentic.
It was just so you know, the agency was out for themselves to
make themselves look better. And I get that.
(26:20):
But any agency listening to thisshow, you know, my advice is to
be real with your customer and and tell them that, hey, we
didn't do well this month on this certain subset.
Here's why we didn't do well andhere's what we're going to do to
do better. And Oh my goodness, that is like
music to the business owners ears.
I would be so thrilled if somebody said it because they're
(26:44):
so worried about saying, oh, well, you spent whatever it is,
$10,000 this month on Google Adsand they were down.
Traffic was down this month, bounce rate was up this month.
Like no one wants to say that, but if it's true, that's
actually great to learn from it and then to do something with
it. And I just wasn't ever savvy
enough on the digital world. I just knew something was up.
(27:06):
It didn't feel right. My gut didn't feel right.
And so I'll let you talk a little bit more about that.
The one thing I will say to business owners out there that
are watching is don't get caughtup too much with, you know,
something that someone's doing on TikTok.
That's just a lot of fun that doesn't add anything to their
actual business. I think that, you know, envy can
(27:26):
become a downfall of your marketing certainly has in my
mind. We haven't done it, but there's
some really funny cool watch guys out there that are doing
some amazing things that people are watching for entertainment
on their foot. That's awesome.
That's not what we do. And so when I thought about
trying to chase that, you know, you, you kind of sometimes have
to let people do what they do. Tip your hat to them.
(27:48):
Don't ever stop working hard andfind good mediums and good
content. I mean, that's all we work on
every day long. But sometimes make sure the
content is relevant to your business and not just trying to
be funny all the time or trying to chase something you know.
Get out of your box a little bitfor sure, but don't live outside
the box. For sure, and I will say one of
the problems with the modern social media world anything is
(28:11):
people only see the tip of the iceberg.
So they see that this guy is doing this and getting millions
of views. No one sees the five years, 10
years of work that they did consistently posting to get
themselves to the point, right? We just want the end result.
No one understands the work required, right?
But then you have the other sideof it where the people just
think being repetitive without an end goal in mind is the
answer, right? There's a healthy mix.
(28:32):
Look, if you don't set goals forwhat you want to achieve, then
you have nothing to look backwards on in a review if you
succeeded or not. And unfortunately, this is where
these digital agencies have beenfailing, right?
Because they think the data speaks for itself.
They put no accountability on themselves.
If something goes wrong, it's every other thing in the world.
Your landing pages weren't right.
This wasn't right. The market wasn't right.
(28:53):
Meta, make an algorithm change, okay?
I'm not paying you to complain. I'm paying you to achieve a said
goal that we predetermined in the beginning and this is what
it is and. I I don't mean to cut you off.
Please, you know I do it to you all the time.
And again, I hope agencies are listening out there right now
because my goodness, your business will turn around if you
listen to us. We as the business owner see you
(29:13):
as our team member, right? Not somebody that needs to make
excuses. And what you just said, if you
came to me right and told me Jaron Solomon, I'm the CMO of
Solomon Brothers. And by the way, it's because
you're doing this and you're doing this wrong, you're fired,
right? Because you're not being a team
player, you're just blaming me. Sure.
Well, for agencies listening outthere, we're A-Team and it's OK
(29:36):
if things go wrong and we need to fix them together.
But blaming others to try and deflect from yourself is the
worst thing you could possibly we do as an employee to your
boss, of course. And that's what these guys are
doing. And I don't get it.
And it's it's not that they're bad people.
Yeah. It's not that they've it's.
The model, I think it's the model, I think it's the business
model and I think the team is a great thing, right?
(29:58):
Like when if you're the defense on a football team and the
offense just turned the ball over after they did the the
offense, the previous offense, the other team drove the ball
all down. You had an 8 minute play that
you killed yourselves on defenseand then the offense comes out
and throws a pick on the first play.
You're back on the field, you are put in a horrendous position
and your feedback is don't freaking let that happen again.
(30:19):
That is constructive feedback based on the situation which
presented itself. And they go the real iPads.
So. Why they threw the pick?
So I have, I'm coining this termtoday and my my job is not chief
marketing officer. It is chief workaround officer
because all I have to do is findworkarounds to the failures and
excuses that other people make. Sales department.
I love our salespeople, but every day it's another excuse.
(30:42):
And even when I was a sales manager, I told people my job
was to remove excuses from salespeople so they can do be
their best because it is a neat part of thing.
You're selfish. You're working in your own
intentions, which we want you tobe.
But those excuses are natural blockades.
So you remove barriers. If I had a partner who came in
and their only job was to walk in and say here are the six
barriers, here's what we're doing when we remove them this
month as opposed to here are these glamour metrics.
(31:05):
That's partnership, we should bethrough it together.
You know, it would be helpful ifthey said it.
Here's how we're going to help do that.
But it is really bad when you work with an agency partner and
you get off a call and I have A to do list that is 16 points
longer than their To Do List. Like that should set off red
alerts for anybody. But that being said, the people
in the agency are not empowered to be having those conversations
(31:27):
or making the decisions or have experience running a business.
So all they can do is be beholden to the tactics in which
they have been told make them succeed.
And until that model fixes itself and until there's
empowerment. And it's very similar to radio,
right? You have, I had this
conversation, you've had a lot of radio reps you have
gravitated the ones to have the power to make the changes that
benefit your business. Like shout out to Vicki Shelton
(31:49):
and Jason Mosher and people who have been high up enough that
they were able to make those impacts because most salespeople
are not entitled to the make thechanges that are needed to make
these campaigns survive. And I think one of the things
like the way you were really good with me when I was your
radio Rep, you didn't want to bebothersome, OK?
But you not being bothersome bothered me because then I
(32:12):
became bothersome to you becausethat is partnership has to work
together and evolve. And once you become complacent
in anything in marketing, complacency is the enemy, OK?
Even Tiffany, you could say they've relied on that blue,
blue box. But they have changed what
they've marketed, who they've gone after, who the influences
they brought in. They have changed with the
times. They're in a position where they
can achieve it. So all I'm going to say, and
(32:34):
I'll leave it at this is the digital agency model needs to
change. These newer generation of
digital marketers that I'm seeing come out that have a lot
more technology oriented, that empower you, that lets you look
in real time and you can see everything.
I see there's value there. But the problem is then you're
doing all the work, right? So if I'm going to do all the
work, why am I paying you 10%? I should just do all the work.
(32:56):
And I think you're going to havethat struggle where a lot of
these companies are going to bring things in house.
I think similarly to what you did, you can have a lot of
people bringing kind of industryoutsiders that are a little bit
more Jack of all trades than specific silo.
So it'll be interesting. So all right, we didn't do too
bad with that one. I.
Think we? Didn't do too bad with that one.
All right, so this is going to be more of a 30,000 foot
question, but what does the future of luxury jewelry
(33:20):
marketing look like from the brand side, which we have seen
change just just from what you told me to what I've seen, just
the use of technology and to finally embracing to our
business model. What does the future of luxury
jewelry marketing look like? Let's not live with any of our
secrets because we could have courses watching.
I'm just kidding, you know what,you guys aren't good enough as
(33:41):
us anyway, so we're not be able to do the things we're doing.
Tell me what the tell me what the future, what you think the
future looks like. Let's start on the brand side.
What do you think the future of these brands look like, let's
call it, over the next three or four years?
Yeah, I mean, I think that the future for the brands is really
figuring out for all brands specifically, right as well for
(34:02):
these independent Jewelers, I'llcall it not just for Solemn
Brothers, but all the independents out there.
You know, they need to figure out how to help us in store more
instead of externally for them. So a lot of them are getting
caught up in spending a lot of money on marketing, let's say in
the Atlanta market. And OK, if they're spending 200,
(34:22):
three, 100,000 dollars in the Atlanta market, what is that
yielding for them? And I think they're going to
figure out that it's not yielding very much and that the
independent jeweler is actually driving the sales.
And when they figure that out and they're they're figuring it
out as we go, we're pointing that out to them a lot.
But once they can figure out howto support us and then make our
in store experience even better,again, whether that be with
(34:46):
packaging, whether that be gift with purchase, right, for sure,
how do they make it easier? I mean, goodness, you know, one
of our brand shout out to Takoridid try to do something really
cool. And I think that they were a
little bit before their time, but they were essentially
helping people go on their honeymoon with the purchase of a
Takori ring. They were giving out points and
things like that. Well, I mean, is travel, has
(35:06):
travel ever been hotter? I mean, my goodness.
And so I do think that these brands are going to figure out
how to help us out to make the in store, in purchase and after
purchase experience next level because I think that's what
people are looking for. And then it's up to us to
continue to push our brand and our name and getting people to
(35:27):
walk through the door. And as far as the luxury goes,
listen folks, it's only going toget better, right?
Like I just said, the packaging is only going to get better.
The rooms that you sit in here the.
Amex black card is now like 1200but the Amex most platinum card
is like 1200 bucks. They just raised the price they
give you more stuff but the chase sapphire is now 800 from
500. The fees of it because of the
(35:49):
value in the luxury that they give you.
I mean, the world is going and it's a shame because what you're
seeing is the middle class beingstretched in two directions, up
and then down and you're seeing the separation.
But that being said, like we didn't create that.
We have to do our best to marketwithin it.
The only thing I'm going to challenge you on is the brands
is if the brands were spending 300 grand in Atlanta, I'd be
thrilled. The problem is, is that they're
spending the money nationally. If you think about the simple
(36:10):
math, there's 20 big cities in America.
If you're spending 300 grand, you're spending $6 million in
marketing. You know, the size of these
brands, they're not spending sixmil in marketing.
So I think if they actually spent more time identifying who
their premier partners are and working closer with them on a
dual point strategy, they would succeed.
But that is not. They're so focused, I hate to
say it, on the glamour metrics. They love social media shares
(36:33):
and follows folks. Unless you are the top 0.1% of
social media accounts. Those things are.
All wonderful. There's never going to be a way
to correlate or translate those into success of your business
unless you spend a ton of money on it or you are very lucky and
catch a virality. That is the truth of it.
So why do those things? Why not work with a partner And
(36:54):
we try and we try to Co-op and we try to do things that way,
but no one is coming into the store to mention the brand.
So we're not going to use our performance marketing for it.
So we're stuck using brand marketing which still goes back
to glamour metrics. So it's just a vicious cycles.
We got about two more minutes. Let's close up.
What about the future of SalomonBrothers?
What do you think the next couple years look?
Like, oh, goodness, yeah. I don't know if I can give too
(37:14):
much away, but certainly, you know, my idea is to grow and to
become bigger and bigger, especially in the state of
Georgia, in the Atlanta DMA. And, you know, that's my hope.
And that's why we've partnered with these sports teams that
we've talked about, and that's why we're aligning ourself
there. So I mean, my ultimate goal is
to, you know, really brought in my reach, you know, in the South
(37:37):
and making sure that we are serving our clientele to the
best of our ability and definingthat ability because, you know,
the resources that we have, whatwe're able to do, what we're
able to bring to the table, We need to make sure that we are
able to get that across for sureto the consumer.
Because I can tell you right now, I of course, I'm 100% bias,
but when people walk in to any of our three locations
(38:00):
currently, I don't think they'vewalked into as nice of a jewelry
store as inviting of a jewelry store, the jewelry store with a
bar in it, the jewelry store with salespeople that are
smiling and having fun that they're not reliant.
You know, one of the things about doing incredible amount of
volume, which is what our model is, right?
We are a high volume, high turn idea that that's our whole
(38:22):
thing. But yet in a very luxury way.
I mean, we're so unique in that regard that we are high end
luxury with high volume and highturn on our product.
And because of that, none of oursales, those people are beholden
to 1 sale. It doesn't for sure make or
break their week. And it's just all about
accumulating over time. So when people come in here and
meet our incredible team, they're just going to get the
(38:45):
same experience over and over. And over they're playing the
long game. They.
Are they're playing, they've been here for a long time.
A lot of the folks and and thosethat are new here are one of the
things we ask in our interviews to people is what is your five
year plan? What is your 10 year plan?
You got to buy in and if it's not to be?
Without jewelry, not buying, without buying, you're screwed.
You know, I'll, I'll leave it atthis.
I think that our goal as a marketing institution is to
(39:06):
carve out our own path. I think that we're going to hit
some hiccups along the way. I think I don't want to say
we're going to do everything in house, but I'm starting to see
the value proposition of doing it in house because it's such a
unique industry. And I think that that an in
house agency and an in house marketing strategy will pay
dividends and other business models as we develop and grow.
So we are going to carve our ownpath.
And I'm curious to see what thispodcast looks like in 100
(39:29):
episodes because what we're going to learn together along
this ride is going to be, it's going to be amazing.
So you've been listening The Legacy of Luxury and we will
catch you next time. This is Legacy of Luxury with
Sharon Solomon and Nick Constantino from Solomon
Brothers Jewelers. Big news pepperoni fans, Marco's
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Welcome to the legacy of luxury with Salomon Brothers Jewelers.
Host Nick Constantino and SharonSolomon will talk to industry
experts, share captivating stories, and much more.
(00:44):
Don't miss out on this captivating journey through the
world of opulence. Now let's explore the legacy of
luxury with Salomon Brothers Jewelers.
Welcome to Legacy of Luxury. Today we're going to talk about
marketing and we're going to kind of make this a hybrid
episode. A little marketing Mad Men, a
little legacy of Luxury, but a compelling conversation
(01:06):
nonetheless. Jaron, how you doing bud?
Doing great, good to be back. Good to have you back.
So I think as we get into the feel and kind of feel this thing
out because like look, we're both awesome, but like we can't
imagine that we're just going tomagically start doing a show.
So I think I've really enjoyed this experimental phase that
kind of get the vibe and and seewhat people want.
Honestly, like I love jewelry, Ilove everything about it.
(01:27):
But like, at some point you're going to be like, Oh my
goodness, we just have to reset what we're talking about, right?
Unless we start inventing our own styles, but that goes into
our white label brand, which we're going to start in the
future. And it's going to be a whole
podcast that itself. So we're not revealing too much,
but all right, So I think beforewe start with a real marketing
conversation, I'm going to ask you kind of a conceptual
hypothetical question. And it's based on what I've seen
(01:49):
in the past five months. Why is jewelry so unique to
market, and why is the history so unique as to how it treats
marketing? So I think we need to break it
down for folks out there on jewelry and Jewelers, right?
So there are the brands and we can get into what makes them a
brand, right? No free ads, but Tiffany and
(02:11):
company, right? David Yurman, Rolex Petech
Right, These are. And let's be clear, there's a
little bit of luck with those brands also, right?
This is not all strategy. David Yurman didn't wake up one
day and be like, you know what, I'm going to conquer the world.
And I know how he got a little lucky.
The right celebrity works. So to give a little, some of
this is strategy. Some of this is just blind love.
And I think that's fascinating. We'll get into that maybe later
(02:32):
in the show as well. You know, we've done some
Instagram stuff on, you know, famous people's rings and you
know, what's Selena Gomez wearing?
And so you're you're exactly right.
I mean, even shapes of diamonds have gotten crazy popular
because of celebrities. So marketing, you know, takes
all forms in jewelry, but for independent Jewelers like
Salomon Brothers Jewelers and independents, thousands of them
(02:54):
across the country, it's really fascinating.
We just got back from the JCK show and everyone in there is a
brand and huge air quotes there.You know, in the halls of JCK,
there's like, have you been to so And so, you know, on the 2nd
floor for sure, but the average consumer has no idea who they
are. So it's up to the independent
(03:15):
Jewelers of the world to either make them a brand or we just
continue to make ourselves the brand and we just vet.
And what we're concerned about as our independent store is
making sure the quality is therefrom the vendor, not the
branding from the vendor, the brands coming from us.
Yeah, I would say the quality and the I don't want to say that
they're setting trends, but they're reacting to trends.
(03:36):
So if something is trendy and someone's looking for it, then
that brand is going to be benefit because we're pointing
people in that direction. So and, and you know, again, and
that's what makes it so unique, right?
As I, I, we talk about this, when it started, some of the
brands had a little bit more clout and power, but that's also
because marketing was easier. You did some magazine ads.
There was not this huge completely approached where that
(03:57):
you have 5000 kinds of marketingand everyone doesn't know what
and we missed the digital evolution.
Do you remember when someone would sit in the Delta Sky
Lounge and actually pick up a magazine?
I mean, have you seen anyone pick up a piece of paper, you
know, in the Delta Sky? And it's true.
So that so that that is why. And similarly to a lot of
industries, the tactics changed so quickly that a lot of people
were left behind. And to be honest with you, a lot
(04:19):
of the independent Jewelers wereleft behind.
And what I found is, is that because they're family
businesses, the generational passing is, is, is sometimes
because what happens is one of two things, right?
You either rest on your laurels and do the same thing or you
come in and you change completely, right?
No one pivots. And I will give you credit
because I think you did a reallygood job of sticking with what
worked, which is the traditionalradio, magazines, billboards,
(04:42):
but have peppered in the, the, the modern technology.
Now that being said, it's been hard.
We'll do, we can do our whole own agency, our own show on the
agencies. But that being said, it's kind
of a balance between we'll talk about brand marketing, bus
performance marketing, but I think it's a little bit hedging
your present for your future. You have to mortgage the right
now because otherwise we've justrun $2,000,000 a radio and they
(05:03):
have a constant flux of people coming in because we introduced
ourselves to brand new people every day.
For that being said, are we talking about the Tik Tokers and
the 18 year olds at radio? They won't even remember radio
ever existed. Like we're going to get to a
point where that is going to happen.
So are we hedging our bets moving forward?
All right, so I think now that we set up why this is so
interesting, unique and hard andand you know, let me mention it
really quickly. There's one big corporation in
(05:24):
the industry that has gobbled upeverything.
Signet has gobbled up stores. It's a complete horizontal
monopoly. They own production, they own
big stores, they own e-commerce,they own small stores.
It is a, but that being said, that is the only one private
equity is nowhere to be found. So it is really a bunch of
independent regional based or even state or even city based
Jewelers that are kind of doing their own thing.
(05:46):
And as much as they talk right, like you're the buddy, who do
you think he's going to tell youbusiness is bad?
Like your competition, you're the industry wants us to believe
we're the best. So I think that is set up a
quite a unique thing. Now let's talk a little bit
about one of the things that I find is broken today is we got
so infatuated with data and performance marketing that the
brand marketing kind of slipped to the wayside.
(06:08):
And as somebody who's been around brand marketing for 40
years, talk about why it was so impactful to you and your father
and talk about the that is paying now because it's it's
unbelievable how many people come and look for us by name.
Yeah, I know it's, it's incredible.
And you know, that's a testamentto also getting onto radio when
radio wasn't popular to get onto, right.
Like there was a moment in time where you had to take that leap
(06:31):
of faith. And you know, back in the day of
WSB, you know, one of the most powerful stations in the South.
In the country. In the country, yeah.
And you know, a morning AM spot,you know, with my boy Neil
Bortz, you know, he's doing all right down in sunny Florida.
But you know, back then in 9798992000 and AM morning drive
(06:53):
spot was like $1200, right? And for 30 seconds, it wasn't,
it wasn't easy to do. But my dad had the foresight
that, you know, enough people are listening, enough people are
consuming. And when you hit them over the
head time and time again, I knowsome people don't like it.
But the the coolest part of radio was it was kind of just
putting it in your mind every single morning.
(07:15):
You just kind of woke up up withSalomon Brothers and it wasn't
annoying. It wasn't live share emails,
right? We talk about this all the time
like hey, e-mail me 6 times after I purchase like I'm never
coming back to you again. That's annoying.
Radio was just kind of that, youknow, little spark in your brain
of just hearing it, right? You went from the weather, you
went from sports talk and all ofa sudden Salomon Brothers was
(07:35):
there and that was kind of a cool thing and and he committed
to that and it was only about the brand, right?
You know, just talking about what do we have to offer?
Not just selling you, just telling you what we have and
what we can do. And over the course of, you
know, 20-30 years of just pounding it on radio, like you
said, now we've had a sprinkle and a lot more.
But that really was the leap of faith that he took that built
(07:58):
the brand to what it is today and why people still mention and
ask, I mean, you've been in radio for a long time.
You've heard people come in hereand ask for for those local to
Atlanta, 790, The zone hasn't existed in 20 something years.
Yeah, it's unbelievable, The fish.
The fish dropped a year ago. Earlier this year, the fish
didn't exist. They still come and say it.
(08:19):
And look, you know, first of all, I think radio gets a bad
rap because people don't understand it as a medium.
And one of the things I've come to realize is that you are a
prisoner in your car, right? As laws change and you couldn't
talk on your phone, like, and not only that, like it's a war
zone. Every time you get on the road,
you have to be so focused so that background noise becomes
part of your identity in your day.
(08:39):
I mean, think about it, when you're watching a game with your
kids running around, how much are you really paying attention
to what's going on? You're on your phone, they're
running. You got to buy, buy something
because there's so many, so muchexternal stimuli.
But if you're in your car, you're staying alive.
You're not even trying to get from ABB, you're trying to stay
alive. Especially when Nick is driving.
Especially when Nick is and you're and we had one experience
in the mountains and I didn't even have the right car for it,
(09:00):
but you're trying to stay alive.But you're that connection and
that it's subliminal. And I think that's one of the
things that people forget about branding.
And it's because we want immediate gratification and
instant gratification. They think that if you say we
are the number one jeweler, people are going to come in and
be like, hey, you're the number one jeweler.
I want this and it doesn't work that way.
It's subliminal. It is brand Tiffany.
If you asked 100 people why theylike Tiffany, not one of them
(09:22):
will be able to give you an answer that's consistent and the
same. They just think either it's
because they feel they have to or because of a box.
Well, and I was about to say thething that's the coolest about
Tiffany and the reason I love Tiffany's as a brand and as what
they've done in following their journey because I believe, and
you can comment on this if you're listening to this or
watching on YouTube. You know, when I say Tiffany and
(09:43):
company, you think blue. Yeah, I mean that that's you
don't even think jewelry, you don't necessarily think silver,
which is probably the number oneselling product that they carry,
but you don't think about product, you think about the
box, you think about blue. And I have such incredible
respect for that and that in a marketing deep dive, you know,
and today we're talking about marketing, it's just saying,
(10:04):
hey, packaging itself is so crucial out there.
So anyone listening that's running a company right now,
look at your packaging and you know we're revamping our
packaging. It's on the boat right now,
folks. It's but it's going to be
beautiful and it's something that, you know, we're trying to
commit to because that is half the battle.
I mean, you need to give good service.
(10:25):
You have to give a good product.But from a marketing standpoint,
don't forget about just the little things.
Don't go spend, you know, millions of dollars on Google
and pay per click and all this kind of stuff and forget about
what you're handing to your customer.
And that's what I find the coolest about a Tiffany and kind
of what they were able to do with the blue box.
Yeah, I, I think the next thing that comes to mind is Amex and
(10:47):
the black card. There hasn't been a black card
in so long. I mean, but people still in
their head associate a black card like it's the ultimate
thing, right? They've changed colors.
They're like an Obsidian now. Obviously it's Onyx with the
tone. They have to change it.
But you know, and, and it's, it's really important, but at
the same time, like you can't plan on that being the case.
You have to put yourself in a position to succeed and when it
(11:09):
happens to be ready to capitalize because people
nowadays are so much of a biggerradar for inauthentic fake stuff
than they never have before. Probably because we're just
overwhelmed. I was reading the other day that
like the millennial generation and then generation a little bit
a couple years around it, we're so about be just being
braggadocious on Twitter. It's about everything or any
social media. Look at my day, I did this.
(11:31):
Look at the meal I ate. Meanwhile, they're like scraping
to live by and they're reading ramen so they can afford that
meal. The younger generation is just
obsessed with authenticity, which I find funny because how
authentic is it is You have to tell the freaking world about
it, but it's it's just a different mind state.
And if you're not aware of that now, that being said, right now
they don't have money. So is it our probably is that
our core competency to go after them?
But I do think that trust is an all time low in brands.
(11:53):
Speaking of trust, where do the sports teams fit in on this?
Because I think this has been a newer thing for you.
I think it's something that I I've done well because I've
known the brands and I know how it works.
I know how the contracts are in.But talk about the affiliations
with people like the Braves and Georgia and Georgia Tech because
like it's such a misunderstood part of marketing.
Talk about what benefits those are for you and what your
strategy was to start with thosewith the Braves and then from
(12:15):
there on. Yeah, I mean, listen, it's all
about alignment, right? And it's all about saying to
folks that not only are we local, right, but we are
aligning ourself with incredibleinstitutions.
You know, at the end of the day,if our sporting, you know, teams
didn't take themselves seriouslyif it was a bad experience at a
game. But I mean, what better places
(12:36):
can you go and watch a game thenat Truest Park?
I mean, just one of the coolest ballpark in the country and
you're associating yourself withthe battery, right, And the
Braves. So, you know, when we aligned
with the Braves, we were aligning with the South's team,
right, With Atlanta's team. And the organization though,
that they run and that they haveis very reflective of what we do
(12:58):
here at Sony Brothers. And so that was really it was
aligning with quality and showing people that, you know,
hey, we're big enough, right, tobe able to do this to show a
little bit of strength. I think it does show strength in
marketing when you can do that with a big club like the Braves
and then showing that we're alsolocal and we're Atlanta and
that's why we teamed up with Georgia Tech and the Jackets,
(13:21):
you know, here in Atlanta and then, you know, reaching.
I think it's a little different with the Dogs, right?
I'm obviously a big Dogs fan, but went to the University of
Georgia and when you think aboutthe University of Georgia for
whatever, and maybe this is justme because I'm so I can give a
relatively. Biased opinion here, but.
You know, to me, the University of Georgia is the power in the
state. And when you talk about that G
(13:43):
and you talk about what we're going to do for folks that are
going to see some cool videos coming out later this year, that
we're going to do what that typeof content allows.
In my opinion, it's just pure strength of what our brand is
and aligning with that brand andthose players.
You know, that is something thatwhen people see it, they just
associate quality with quality and you know when they see us on
(14:06):
the field at Sanford Stadium did.
You just drop it. Did you just drop?
But, you know, a lot of fun to be a part of the University of
Georgia, and it is the state's university.
And so it rings true from peoplethat see it in Savannah, GA, to
be able to see in Atlanta, GA, they're getting a very clear
message that, hey, Salomon Brothers Jewelers is here.
(14:28):
And they're powerful and they know what they're doing.
So it's been fun to align with sports teams.
But from your perspective, coming from, you know, the
sporting world, when you hear, Imean, you, you were in the DC
area. Yeah, Maryland.
You've seen all different markets, but when you see a
jeweler with a sports team, whatdo you think?
Yeah. And so I think I'm going to, I'm
going to compare it and bring indigital here.
(14:49):
But I think what we're trying tosay is we like the same things
as you. I think so much of business is
about relating to an individual consumer.
And if you look at real, I don'twant to get data heavy, but if
you look at a Google Analytics subset, sports are always in the
top two or three of almost everybusiness on earth, whether
you're going after men or women.They consume them differently
and their consumption patterns around it are different.
(15:09):
Like there's almost, it's almostbeen a lost art of like, yo, we
like the same things as you. We're people like you.
Look, I saw the game last night.Wow, that was crazy.
It's almost a way to build immediate rapport with people.
And because we are in such a high touch business, rapport is
unbelievably important. So that's, and that's not my,
that's my insider view. And I think that's what's lost
(15:30):
on a lot of people. The other thing is, is and and
this is an old Gary Vee comment,but like today's digital world,
what we're fighting for is attention.
OK, So if I can't garner attention talking about the
Braves in Georgia, I'm never going to be able to garner
attention. So we don't because we are lucky
that we don't. It's not gimmicky and we don't
have to over rely on it, that we're subtle with it.
(15:52):
It's on business cards. We're doing giveaways, but we
don't have to remind people every Tuesday that we're the
that we're the Braves because wehave other things.
So it's almost a conversation starter.
And because this is such a salesoriented business with high
ticket items, sometimes if someone walks in here with AG,
you know, the salesperson's facelights up.
We're going to close that deal. We are going to close that deal.
(16:14):
If they walk in with a Brave set, Georgia Tech, we are going
to close that deal. And the best part is what do you
think's going to happen in September when the Braves, who
are playing better, are in the middle of the playoff run?
Georgia, who's going for a national champions there?
Tech will probably have the bestseason they've had in 20 years.
What do you think is going to happen?
And in September when we are thefocal point of all of that stuff
(16:34):
coming together and culminating and the answer is I don't know.
But I think we put and part of marketing is putting the sales
people in a position to succeed,but also putting our digital
agencies in a position to succeed.
How much easier is it to garner attention for us than a jeweler
who has none of these things? So I think from the outside
looking in that sports partnerships are important, but
(16:56):
if you don't know how to utilizethem and have a strategy behind
those things, then they just become a another form of
marketing that just gets lost inthe shuffle and, and you have to
reinvent yourself, which is, youknow, I'm not in the business of
reinventing ourselves and it's not what we.
Yeah, thankfully we don't need to.
We we've had some great groundwork laid and by our
founder and you know, shout out to big Papa there.
And but you just made such a great point, and I think
(17:18):
everyone needs to take note of it, is that people like to buy
from like minded people. Whether they say so or not,
yeah, it's it's almost a subconscious thing.
Totally. It's we're, we're a Society of
we, we bunched together. We always have.
That is how this human race has expanded.
We want to be around people thatshare values and things with us.
It's unconscious. Completely.
I mean, sure, look no further than marriage, right?
(17:41):
If you don't have the same values, you're going to have a
tough time. You know, when someone walks in
here, like you just said, such agreat point when they have that
G on or the GT. If they do, no hard feelings.
We know who has the bigger checkbook.
But you know that we know that, hey, they have something in
common with us and we have something in common with them
and they're here to buy, you know, a product obviously that
we sell. So that's the easy part.
(18:03):
But really getting along has been great.
So I mean, yeah, that's why I listened when we went to the
Masters, we bought a bunch of cool Masters gear and, you know,
put it on the shelf at the storeand just did a giveaways.
And because that's what I love. And it's it's nice for me to
connect with people that love that as well.
Anything that you guys love thatyou think we should be doing,
please comment on because. You never know, I don't get
(18:24):
enough of those from our salespeople and every brand we
deal with. Hey, you guys should do this.
Our budget's fine. I all right, So I think I want
to to cover two last things. Let's do the one I hate the most
last. So let's start, let's start with
is something that I believe we have to be better AT and I think
you agree. Let's talk about the in store
marketing. Let's talk about the in store
experience. Let's talk about what they call
merchandising. Let's talk a little bit about
(18:46):
that because I think we because we are still providing a service
and because we're so bridal and engagement heavy, we still have
to be. We make sure we have the things
that the people need because we are providing a service to which
is going to change their life, right?
Buying an earrings on a random whim is very different than
committing to an engagement ringfor something that's going to be
for a life. But but talk a little bit about
(19:07):
how you look at the stores of marketing mechanism.
You know, you have three stores.You were the 1 to go out and
scout the locations and all thatstuff.
And you know it, it sounds operational, but think about
that's that. Those are marketing plays.
Peachtree City being by a Costco, whether on purpose or
not, that's a marketing play. So just talk a little bit about
the the in store part of this and talk about how you view
(19:28):
that, whether you did view it asa marketing thing or just come
to realize, but talk about the marketing of that in store
experience. Yeah, for sure.
So, you know, there's experiencefrom the sales staff and all
that kind of stuff. That's one thing.
But yeah, you're asking a great question, something that we
think about all the time as merchandising.
And when your eyes look down into our cases, what are you
(19:49):
seeing and how is your brain right functioning when you see a
sparkly piece, most people get happy.
OK, that's great. And don't look at it online,
you'll never get the same response online.
I don't care what anyone says, you got to go in the store and
see it. Not only just that, right, I
mean, you don't online, it's like it's very impersonal, right
And that's not dogging online. We have a website put a lot of
money into our website, but you know, even if we sold on our
(20:12):
website, which we do, it's stillit's just not the same as coming
in and seeing it in the case. And you know, so we focus a lot
on lighting, right. So lighting is everything
because you want the juries far away.
It's not on you. We wouldn't focus as much on
lighting and we don't. If you think about it, when you
pull that piece out of the the case and it comes up to your
(20:33):
your hand and your face and close to you, you're kind of out
of the lights. But there's a reason why there's
lights in the case. And it's not to trick you or
trick your eye. It is to actually just showcase
the piece and allow you to see it better.
Yeah. And make sure there's not a
shadow casted and the light dispersion is very.
Important. Also, to be fair, I've learned
that the sparkle of a diamond issubjective.
(20:55):
Maybe not Gia declared the rightway, but it is also an important
part of the value proposition ofthe diamond, right?
So you're talking about something that you're using that
has in marketing, but also has utilitarian benefits because you
are trying to show and amplify somebody.
If it is a jewelry store that didn't have good lighting, my
brain immediately goes to because they're trying to sell
you cheap diamonds for more money because you in those
(21:17):
lights, the more light you have on, the more you see
imperfections. But I also have found that those
imperfections are what make a natural and natural in a lab
lab. So seeing those imperfections
has actually come into the valueproposition even more for sure.
And one. Thing I know what I'm talking.
About one of the things that we've struggled with over the
years is, you know, do you want quantity in the case or do you
want cleaner less in there? And and we have.
(21:39):
Found the brands are the brands we deal with answer because you
would mortgage that like a gypsyflea market would just be filled
with their stuff but. We have found that, you know, in
our business and what we do as an independent jeweler is that
people want options and they come here for options, they come
here for price points. One of the things I'm so proud
of is that we offer a price point from low to high.
(22:03):
And I mean and you know folks who don't know us, we're
offering from the lowest of the low to the highest of the high.
So we're talking about diamond studs that are starting at 250,
three, $100, right, that are going to 300.
Feet let me bring a point in here because this is something
that is really that I've had to come to terms with and you gave
me an analogy that I still use to this day.
(22:23):
But right, so, so luxury. OK, I am a fond believer is if
you can afford to walk up to this store, buy a four, $100
pair of earrings without it stressing you, then you
understand what luxury is. Your perception of luxury may be
different than someone can drop 300 grand, but you go into a
Mercedes dealership and they sell $200,000 Mercedes next to
(22:44):
$30,000 Mercedes. So we, we got to stop.
We got to get it out of our headthat luxury is a predefined
thing. Luxury is a higher class of life
to which you work hard to gain. That's right.
And if you do that, then what doyou care if they're $400.00 or
$400,000? A person who can afford $400.00,
even not a credit card or with cash that doesn't have to stress
that purchase is entitled to said luxury as much as someone
(23:07):
who could afford $200,000. So I think it's been the hardest
part of marketing, but it's something that I've actually
found quickly and I'm really proud of and we'll stick behind
those people are hoity toity andsay those are not the people we
want are not only fools, but they don't understand that
people's journeys change, right?400 now could be 400,000 in four
years. You have no idea.
We're not in the business. You're not trying to sell this
(23:28):
business. You're trying to build a long
term value property position, right?
So it's something that I'm the proudest of and then I
completely cut you off at talking about, but go on.
No, I mean listen, not to plug our trade in policy here, but I
am doing it in a genuine way that one of my favorite things
about the trade in policy is actually our diamond studs
because we get to see it grow over time.
You know the engagement ring is very sentimental and people do
(23:50):
trade it up and we do have it often.
But the diamond studs is my favorite, right.
People come in and they buy the half a care total weight and
they buy it for 499 and then they go up and they buy the one
care totally for 999 and so on and so forth.
And it's just so cool to see them along their journey.
You started it. I started it, right.
I mean, you know, our wives havenicer things now for sure than
(24:12):
they did 10 years ago when we got married.
And, you know, it's, it's just acool journey.
And so it's, it's cool that we have a policy that actually
promotes exactly what you just said and that that of course
it's a plug, but it's not a plugin the sense of, you know, a
sales tactic. It's really actually a genuine
fun thing. We probably need to find a way
marketing wise to to do a, you know, now and then.
(24:33):
Yeah, I already have ideas running through my I'm thinking
of how the car brands do. Instead of buying a car, you buy
a subscription so you can swap out.
So instead of buying a diamond, you pay a flat monthly fee that
entitles you to upgrade the diamond over a set time path.
So you are something along thoselines.
But because one of the things is, is that because it doesn't
have sentimental value, it gets lost in the shuffle and you
(24:54):
don't want it to get lost in theshuffle.
So you want it to be something that's always top of mind.
But all right, so I've decided that we're going to turn this
into a 2 parter because we're having a good conversation and
we're keeping just keep going. So let's let's talk digital a
little bit because I don't want to say this is a bait in my
existence, but I want to say that it is such a flooded market
with so much poor information and so little customer service
(25:15):
that it has been quite a frustrating experience.
And from my understanding, you know a lot of people in
different categories who have shared the frustration of the
experience. So without bashing anybody
because this is kind of a cross the industry thing, talk about
some of the frustrations that you've had with just the digital
marketing industry and I'll kindof provide some insights on my
end. And then I think we'll come to
some resolutions and talk about what we've kind of picked up so
(25:37):
other people out there struggling can can have some
insights. Yeah, I mean, listen, I'll kind
of let you share actually more of the I'll let you share more
of my frustrations because you've told them to me.
And, you know, my frustration, though I will say before, you
know, you were able to join us here as the CMO of Salomon
Brothers, you know, has been. I knew something was up, right.
(25:57):
I knew that the agencies, you know, in the people that would
come in here and, and pitch me and tell me how amazing they
were doing. And every single month it was a
green arrow. Everyone was doing great.
And you know, it was so inauthentic.
It was just so you know, the agency was out for themselves to
make themselves look better. And I get that.
(26:20):
But any agency listening to thisshow, you know, my advice is to
be real with your customer and and tell them that, hey, we
didn't do well this month on this certain subset.
Here's why we didn't do well andhere's what we're going to do to
do better. And Oh my goodness, that is like
music to the business owners ears.
I would be so thrilled if somebody said it because they're
(26:44):
so worried about saying, oh, well, you spent whatever it is,
$10,000 this month on Google Adsand they were down.
Traffic was down this month, bounce rate was up this month.
Like no one wants to say that, but if it's true, that's
actually great to learn from it and then to do something with
it. And I just wasn't ever savvy
enough on the digital world. I just knew something was up.
(27:06):
It didn't feel right. My gut didn't feel right.
And so I'll let you talk a little bit more about that.
The one thing I will say to business owners out there that
are watching is don't get caughtup too much with, you know,
something that someone's doing on TikTok.
That's just a lot of fun that doesn't add anything to their
actual business. I think that, you know, envy can
(27:26):
become a downfall of your marketing certainly has in my
mind. We haven't done it, but there's
some really funny cool watch guys out there that are doing
some amazing things that people are watching for entertainment
on their foot. That's awesome.
That's not what we do. And so when I thought about
trying to chase that, you know, you, you kind of sometimes have
to let people do what they do. Tip your hat to them.
(27:48):
Don't ever stop working hard andfind good mediums and good
content. I mean, that's all we work on
every day long. But sometimes make sure the
content is relevant to your business and not just trying to
be funny all the time or trying to chase something you know.
Get out of your box a little bitfor sure, but don't live outside
the box. For sure, and I will say one of
the problems with the modern social media world anything is
(28:11):
people only see the tip of the iceberg.
So they see that this guy is doing this and getting millions
of views. No one sees the five years, 10
years of work that they did consistently posting to get
themselves to the point, right? We just want the end result.
No one understands the work required, right?
But then you have the other sideof it where the people just
think being repetitive without an end goal in mind is the
answer, right? There's a healthy mix.
(28:32):
Look, if you don't set goals forwhat you want to achieve, then
you have nothing to look backwards on in a review if you
succeeded or not. And unfortunately, this is where
these digital agencies have beenfailing, right?
Because they think the data speaks for itself.
They put no accountability on themselves.
If something goes wrong, it's every other thing in the world.
Your landing pages weren't right.
This wasn't right. The market wasn't right.
(28:53):
Meta, make an algorithm change, okay?
I'm not paying you to complain. I'm paying you to achieve a said
goal that we predetermined in the beginning and this is what
it is and. I I don't mean to cut you off.
Please, you know I do it to you all the time.
And again, I hope agencies are listening out there right now
because my goodness, your business will turn around if you
listen to us. We as the business owner see you
(29:13):
as our team member, right? Not somebody that needs to make
excuses. And what you just said, if you
came to me right and told me Jaron Solomon, I'm the CMO of
Solomon Brothers. And by the way, it's because
you're doing this and you're doing this wrong, you're fired,
right? Because you're not being a team
player, you're just blaming me. Sure.
Well, for agencies listening outthere, we're A-Team and it's OK
(29:36):
if things go wrong and we need to fix them together.
But blaming others to try and deflect from yourself is the
worst thing you could possibly we do as an employee to your
boss, of course. And that's what these guys are
doing. And I don't get it.
And it's it's not that they're bad people.
Yeah. It's not that they've it's.
The model, I think it's the model, I think it's the business
model and I think the team is a great thing, right?
(29:58):
Like when if you're the defense on a football team and the
offense just turned the ball over after they did the the
offense, the previous offense, the other team drove the ball
all down. You had an 8 minute play that
you killed yourselves on defenseand then the offense comes out
and throws a pick on the first play.
You're back on the field, you are put in a horrendous position
and your feedback is don't freaking let that happen again.
(30:19):
That is constructive feedback based on the situation which
presented itself. And they go the real iPads.
So. Why they threw the pick?
So I have, I'm coining this termtoday and my my job is not chief
marketing officer. It is chief workaround officer
because all I have to do is findworkarounds to the failures and
excuses that other people make. Sales department.
I love our salespeople, but every day it's another excuse.
(30:42):
And even when I was a sales manager, I told people my job
was to remove excuses from salespeople so they can do be
their best because it is a neat part of thing.
You're selfish. You're working in your own
intentions, which we want you tobe.
But those excuses are natural blockades.
So you remove barriers. If I had a partner who came in
and their only job was to walk in and say here are the six
barriers, here's what we're doing when we remove them this
month as opposed to here are these glamour metrics.
(31:05):
That's partnership, we should bethrough it together.
You know, it would be helpful ifthey said it.
Here's how we're going to help do that.
But it is really bad when you work with an agency partner and
you get off a call and I have A to do list that is 16 points
longer than their To Do List. Like that should set off red
alerts for anybody. But that being said, the people
in the agency are not empowered to be having those conversations
(31:27):
or making the decisions or have experience running a business.
So all they can do is be beholden to the tactics in which
they have been told make them succeed.
And until that model fixes itself and until there's
empowerment. And it's very similar to radio,
right? You have, I had this
conversation, you've had a lot of radio reps you have
gravitated the ones to have the power to make the changes that
benefit your business. Like shout out to Vicki Shelton
(31:49):
and Jason Mosher and people who have been high up enough that
they were able to make those impacts because most salespeople
are not entitled to the make thechanges that are needed to make
these campaigns survive. And I think one of the things
like the way you were really good with me when I was your
radio Rep, you didn't want to bebothersome, OK?
But you not being bothersome bothered me because then I
(32:12):
became bothersome to you becausethat is partnership has to work
together and evolve. And once you become complacent
in anything in marketing, complacency is the enemy, OK?
Even Tiffany, you could say they've relied on that blue,
blue box. But they have changed what
they've marketed, who they've gone after, who the influences
they brought in. They have changed with the
times. They're in a position where they
can achieve it. So all I'm going to say, and
(32:34):
I'll leave it at this is the digital agency model needs to
change. These newer generation of
digital marketers that I'm seeing come out that have a lot
more technology oriented, that empower you, that lets you look
in real time and you can see everything.
I see there's value there. But the problem is then you're
doing all the work, right? So if I'm going to do all the
work, why am I paying you 10%? I should just do all the work.
(32:56):
And I think you're going to havethat struggle where a lot of
these companies are going to bring things in house.
I think similarly to what you did, you can have a lot of
people bringing kind of industryoutsiders that are a little bit
more Jack of all trades than specific silo.
So it'll be interesting. So all right, we didn't do too
bad with that one. I.
Think we? Didn't do too bad with that one.
All right, so this is going to be more of a 30,000 foot
question, but what does the future of luxury jewelry
(33:20):
marketing look like from the brand side, which we have seen
change just just from what you told me to what I've seen, just
the use of technology and to finally embracing to our
business model. What does the future of luxury
jewelry marketing look like? Let's not live with any of our
secrets because we could have courses watching.
I'm just kidding, you know what,you guys aren't good enough as
(33:41):
us anyway, so we're not be able to do the things we're doing.
Tell me what the tell me what the future, what you think the
future looks like. Let's start on the brand side.
What do you think the future of these brands look like, let's
call it, over the next three or four years?
Yeah, I mean, I think that the future for the brands is really
figuring out for all brands specifically, right as well for
(34:02):
these independent Jewelers, I'llcall it not just for Solemn
Brothers, but all the independents out there.
You know, they need to figure out how to help us in store more
instead of externally for them. So a lot of them are getting
caught up in spending a lot of money on marketing, let's say in
the Atlanta market. And OK, if they're spending 200,
(34:22):
three, 100,000 dollars in the Atlanta market, what is that
yielding for them? And I think they're going to
figure out that it's not yielding very much and that the
independent jeweler is actually driving the sales.
And when they figure that out and they're they're figuring it
out as we go, we're pointing that out to them a lot.
But once they can figure out howto support us and then make our
in store experience even better,again, whether that be with
(34:46):
packaging, whether that be gift with purchase, right, for sure,
how do they make it easier? I mean, goodness, you know, one
of our brand shout out to Takoridid try to do something really
cool. And I think that they were a
little bit before their time, but they were essentially
helping people go on their honeymoon with the purchase of a
Takori ring. They were giving out points and
things like that. Well, I mean, is travel, has
(35:06):
travel ever been hotter? I mean, my goodness.
And so I do think that these brands are going to figure out
how to help us out to make the in store, in purchase and after
purchase experience next level because I think that's what
people are looking for. And then it's up to us to
continue to push our brand and our name and getting people to
(35:27):
walk through the door. And as far as the luxury goes,
listen folks, it's only going toget better, right?
Like I just said, the packaging is only going to get better.
The rooms that you sit in here the.
Amex black card is now like 1200but the Amex most platinum card
is like 1200 bucks. They just raised the price they
give you more stuff but the chase sapphire is now 800 from
500. The fees of it because of the
(35:49):
value in the luxury that they give you.
I mean, the world is going and it's a shame because what you're
seeing is the middle class beingstretched in two directions, up
and then down and you're seeing the separation.
But that being said, like we didn't create that.
We have to do our best to marketwithin it.
The only thing I'm going to challenge you on is the brands
is if the brands were spending 300 grand in Atlanta, I'd be
thrilled. The problem is, is that they're
spending the money nationally. If you think about the simple
(36:10):
math, there's 20 big cities in America.
If you're spending 300 grand, you're spending $6 million in
marketing. You know, the size of these
brands, they're not spending sixmil in marketing.
So I think if they actually spent more time identifying who
their premier partners are and working closer with them on a
dual point strategy, they would succeed.
But that is not. They're so focused, I hate to
say it, on the glamour metrics. They love social media shares
(36:33):
and follows folks. Unless you are the top 0.1% of
social media accounts. Those things are.
All wonderful. There's never going to be a way
to correlate or translate those into success of your business
unless you spend a ton of money on it or you are very lucky and
catch a virality. That is the truth of it.
So why do those things? Why not work with a partner And
(36:54):
we try and we try to Co-op and we try to do things that way,
but no one is coming into the store to mention the brand.
So we're not going to use our performance marketing for it.
So we're stuck using brand marketing which still goes back
to glamour metrics. So it's just a vicious cycles.
We got about two more minutes. Let's close up.
What about the future of SalomonBrothers?
What do you think the next couple years look?
Like, oh, goodness, yeah. I don't know if I can give too
(37:14):
much away, but certainly, you know, my idea is to grow and to
become bigger and bigger, especially in the state of
Georgia, in the Atlanta DMA. And, you know, that's my hope.
And that's why we've partnered with these sports teams that
we've talked about, and that's why we're aligning ourself
there. So I mean, my ultimate goal is
to, you know, really brought in my reach, you know, in the South
(37:37):
and making sure that we are serving our clientele to the
best of our ability and definingthat ability because, you know,
the resources that we have, whatwe're able to do, what we're
able to bring to the table, We need to make sure that we are
able to get that across for sureto the consumer.
Because I can tell you right now, I of course, I'm 100% bias,
but when people walk in to any of our three locations
(38:00):
currently, I don't think they'vewalked into as nice of a jewelry
store as inviting of a jewelry store, the jewelry store with a
bar in it, the jewelry store with salespeople that are
smiling and having fun that they're not reliant.
You know, one of the things about doing incredible amount of
volume, which is what our model is, right?
We are a high volume, high turn idea that that's our whole
(38:22):
thing. But yet in a very luxury way.
I mean, we're so unique in that regard that we are high end
luxury with high volume and highturn on our product.
And because of that, none of oursales, those people are beholden
to 1 sale. It doesn't for sure make or
break their week. And it's just all about
accumulating over time. So when people come in here and
meet our incredible team, they're just going to get the
(38:45):
same experience over and over. And over they're playing the
long game. They.
Are they're playing, they've been here for a long time.
A lot of the folks and and thosethat are new here are one of the
things we ask in our interviews to people is what is your five
year plan? What is your 10 year plan?
You got to buy in and if it's not to be?
Without jewelry, not buying, without buying, you're screwed.
You know, I'll, I'll leave it atthis.
I think that our goal as a marketing institution is to
(39:06):
carve out our own path. I think that we're going to hit
some hiccups along the way. I think I don't want to say
we're going to do everything in house, but I'm starting to see
the value proposition of doing it in house because it's such a
unique industry. And I think that that an in
house agency and an in house marketing strategy will pay
dividends and other business models as we develop and grow.
So we are going to carve our ownpath.
And I'm curious to see what thispodcast looks like in 100
(39:29):
episodes because what we're going to learn together along
this ride is going to be, it's going to be amazing.
So you've been listening The Legacy of Luxury and we will
catch you next time. This is Legacy of Luxury with
Sharon Solomon and Nick Constantino from Solomon
Brothers Jewelers. Big news pepperoni fans, Marco's
(39:53):
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