WHILE OTHER PARTS of the world will be struggling with the pandemic for the next 2-3 years, Americans are vaxxed up and ready to spend their quarantine savings. And do you know what they’re buying?
Optimism.
After more than 18 months of living in fear and frustration, all faces are turning like sunflowers to the brightest light they can find. Bright palettes in fashion. Bright futures in real estate. Bright colors in computers. Bright themes in weddings.
What are you doing to be that bright attraction for your customers?
Tiffany gets it. LVMH’s first big move in their Tiffany rebranding has been to paint Tiffany stores around the globe lemony sunshine yellow. Pre-pandemic, Tiffany blue was pretty bright — particularly for a luxury jewelry brand. But post-pandemic? Something brighter needs to be said.
Optimism is a big theme, and it’s more nuanced than simply bright colors. So let’s break it down to see what you should be considering for your in-store and online messaging to convey the feeling that consumers are looking for.
1. Show a Positive Outlook
Let’s face it: By about 10 months into the pandemic, we were all channeling a bit of Eeyore. But now it’s time for your messaging to put Pooh front and center. Look for ways to inject positive ideas in your social media, email messages, billboards, radio ads, and store signage. People want to feel good, and they will appreciate any brand that assists them to do that.
2. Encourage Appreciation
Optimists consistently demonstrate appreciation, and it’s difficult to tell whether the appreciation leads to the optimism or vice versa. Either way, appreciation is a solid value to communicate right now. It’s always good to demonstrate public appreciation for your customers, your suppliers, and your employees. Now is a great time to start.
3. Share Good News
It’s easy enough to find bad news; just open any news app. You know what’s harder to find? Good news — and optimists are consistently observed to be good-news-bearers. Jump on that with your messaging. Share customer good news stories, have a good-news of the week (or day!) social media post, and put business promotions in a good news framework, such as, “Good News! We’re having a customer night out on Tuesday!” “Good News! We have some fantastic new styles from your favorite designers!”
4. Renewal is an Important Part of Optimism
If you’re like most jewelry retailers, you managed to sell down a lot of inventory during the pandemic. Sure, it feels good to be sitting on a pile of cash for once, but this isn’t time to rest on your golden laurels. It’s time to introduce some new styles, new designers, and new ideas! Yes, buy smart — we don’t need to return to those 0.9 turns-per-year days. But get some fresh new inventory in your store and make sure everyone knows about it.
So go on … channel Pooh. You may be surprised at just how sweet the honey of optimism can be.