b'THE STATE OF THE THE JEWELRY THE COLOREDMAJORS DIAMOND DESIGN STONE MARKETINDUSTRYFor a designer or jeweler, its easy to see how daunting crafting a marketing and branding strategy is in an ever-changing digital world, but theres good news to having so many ways to connectJEWELRY BRANDS with consumers. DOING IT RIG HTThe rise of social media has made the barrier for entry for a brandA lot of peopleOur experts weigh in on the jewelry much lower than it ever has been,build for thebrands that deliver a clear message to says Simon Mortimer, who worked as a creative director at agencies advis- short termtheir audiences. ing the likes of the BBC and Wimble- instead of the don and now owns his own creativelong game andAlison Louagency, A-B-D. thats a huge, He and other experts say that,huge misstep.Jenna Wise: It sets a concise idea of what its jewelry stands for.regardless of the seemingly constant Jenna Wise, advent of new media platforms, a solidThe Stone Set marketing strategy will always startStudiowith the basics, which requires a good deal of foundational introspection. START HEREFirst of all, what is branding? Its any aspect of the brand that is being expressed through any touchpoint that is public facing, explains Jenna Wise, a brand con-sultant and advisor who works with companies ranging from publiclySpinelli Kilcollintraded global giants to emerging, independent design brands. JW: Spinelli Kilcollin has done a Building a successful brand isdynamite job of creating a brand from in itself a thousand little actions.one design concept. It has designer Yves Its putting commas in the rightSpinelli popping into the social feed at place when youre writing text certain moments. Its always educating Its defining a mission, values andabout the product. It never feels like what differentiates a company in thetoo much. The way the brand delivers marketplace. Its having the right im- content is incredibly on point. agery, its having a cohesive website.Its a lot. And each action is important.All those touchpoints through which someone connects with the brand are an opportunity to establish a relationship, says Mortimer.MEET THE EXPERTSCoach recruited JENNA WISE directly out of college to joinSIMON MORTIMER got his start in graphic design, its new global web and digital media division and launch theeventually growing into the role of creative director. In brand on social media. The company was an ahead-of-the- London he worked with several well-known companies, curve digital and e-commerce leader, investing in the arenafrom sports teams to hotel chains. In 2014 he made the before many of its competitors. It was there that Wisemove stateside, continuing his creative work before launching his own met creative strategist Emerald Carroll; the two went on tostudio, A-B-D Agency, an acronym for Associates By Design. create jewelry editorial website The Stone Set.Continued on page 5452 STATE OF THE MAJORS 2019'