2005

CIBJO Studies Jewelry Marketing "Challenges"

June 2005

CIBJO, the World Jewelry Federation, has launched a Marketing Strategy Commission to work on increasing the appeal of jewelry. The Commission, headed by Taqhid Abdullah of Dubai, identified several “causes for concern”:

* Jewelry is under pressure from other lifestyle products.

Our industry is still made up primarily of small and fragmented entities. Organizations with the resources to make a meaningful contribution are few and far between.

* However, competing lifestyle brands (Nokia, Ipod, Sony) enjoy the backing of multinationals with huge budgets and modern marketing skills.

* There is a failure to attract youth and modern consumers.

* Marketing organizations like the World Gold Council and De Beers “have not been as effective as expected in making lasting contributions for the benefit of the global jewelry industry.”

“The jewelry industry does not have a marketing advantage anymore,” it says. “To counter this negative trend, we will need the support and financial backing from all those who depend on the jewelry industry for their livelihoods .... All must come together in a unified global initiative to promote jewelry as a single category.”