Weekly Round-up: February 3, 2012

Happy February!  Let's take a closer look at some of this weeks top news stories from the PR and social media world...

Social bowl, Super media
This year's Superbowl is one for the record books. For the first time ever in superbowl history, a social media command center, made up of 50 social media gurus, has been established in downtown Indianapolis - where the Superbowl is being held - to provide internet users with all the necessary information they need. President and CEO of Raidious say's "it's probably the future of big-event social media." Well, I am certainly looking forward to seeing what changes this may bring!

The new age of media
For any one interested in media relations, here you can find really useful information reguarding the traditional media market, and what you can do to be successful in it.

Valentine Jewels
Thanks to a survey done by the 'NRF' -National Retail Federation - many women (and hopefully me too!) will have a reason to smile this Valentine's Day.  With numbers at the highest they've been in 10 years, more than 8 in 10 men surveyed will be dazzling their loved ones with jewelery this holiday.

Show don't tell
Thanks to social media platforms - businesses are able to gain a following and expand their business by connecting with every different kind of person. But telling people how great you are isn't the best way to do things.  Follow this advice and you're sure to be successful.

Luxury market and sales strong for savvy high-end brands

Today, like every day after New Years for the past decade, I started the work year by researching luxury holiday sales. After a 2011 that overflowed with mind-numbing negativity in the media and among many high-end companies, I’m thrilled to report to the luxury industry: the sky may be a different shade of blue than you’ve seen before, but it most certainly is not falling.

As you’ve probably already heard, retail sales for the 2011 holiday season increased more than analysts anticipated. While the final numbers aren’t yet in, the increase is expected to be around 3.5% over the 2010 holiday season.

One of the strongest categories cited again and again in media reports? Luxury goods. Indeed, affluent American consumers (those with the top 10% of household incomes), who represent 35 percent of overall retail sales, are spending.

• According to ABC News, luxury is on fire. They quote Howard Davidowitz, chairman of retail consulting and investment banking firm Davidowitz & Associates: "When we look at luxury sales on a national level, we see they're doing just fantastic. Saks and Neiman's, they're terrific. Coach is fine, Nordstrom is fine. Bulgari and Tiffany, tremendous." 
• MSN, meanwhile reports: "'Twas the season when wealthy people unscrewed the vice clamps that had been on their wallets and decided to stimulate the economy. Tiffany and Coach were among the winners this holiday season, according to Jason Asaeda, retail analyst at S&P Capital IQ. He rates both as "strong buys" and points out that wealthy consumers are attracted to the exclusive merchandise being sold by department stores.”
• NBC reports that luxury retailers like Chanel and Gucci reported better than brisk business this holiday season; Neiman Marcus sold out of the ten 2012 Ferrari sports cars it offered in its Christmas book of fantasy gifts for a whopping $395,000 each; and Saks Fifth Avenue reported a resurgence in full-priced selling. 
• In a post holiday report, National Jeweler says that, for some independent fine jewelers, the end of the holiday season was strong enough to draw comparisons with post-recession seasons, while others reported that they saw fewer customers but that those who did come in made bigger purchases. 
• In November, high-end department store sales rose 6.5 percent over the same period in 2010, compared to a 0.3 percent loss for mid-tier department stores, according to Bloomberg data.
• According to Reuters, Wall Street analysts expect higher-end chains like Saks and Nordstrom to report strong seasonal sales, helped by the continued recovery of high end spending and a stock market that rebounded after swooning earlier in the fall.

So, while luxury shoppers are clearly not in hibernation, they are shopping differently than they traditionally have. For starters, online shopping hit a record a record $35.27 billion this holiday season, up 15 percent versus the corresponding period last year, according to comScore. This season also saw 10 days in which online sales surpassed $1 billion in one day. And, according to USA Today successful luxury goods firms are utilizing social media and digital marketing techniques to drive traffic and, ultimately, sales. 

Jewerly Spakles this Holiday Season

The economic recession devastated the American luxury market, that’s no surprise. What is a surprise is the increased demand this season for perhaps the most quintessential luxury item: jewelry.

Some encouraging stats:

-The percentage of people who bought jewelry during “Black Friday Weekend”, Nov. 26-28, increased from 11.7 percent to 14.3 percent. That is close to a three percent increase.

-In a recent study from the National Retail Federation, the percentage of people saying they will be giving jewelry as gifts has increased from 18.4 percent to 20.3 percent.

-According to “Cotton Lifestyle Monitor” jewelry is ranked at number five as planned holiday gifts in 2010. Jewelry didn’t rank at all in 2009.

The jewelry industry may not draw out the 2 a.m. crowd on Black Friday, but the increase in jewelry sales this past weekend was felt immediately by both retailers and designers. It also helped spark optimism for the economy and retail sales in general.

“While Black Friday weekend is not always an indicator of holiday season performance, retailers should be encouraged that a focus on value and discretionary gifts has shoppers in the spirit to spend,” said Matthew Shay, National Retail Federation, president and CEO.

Looking at the bigger picture, the fact that people are looking at jewelry a lot more this holiday season could mean that American’s are ready to start spending on luxury items in general again. It might be possible that this is the first sign of the recession being a part of the past.

Are Celebrity Brands Still Relevant (and Working)?

So, another celebrity has jumped into the "designer" fray. Christie Brinkley--model, mother, serial-wife--is adding jewelry designer to her resume. Brinkley teamed up with retailer Ross-Simons to launch the Christie Brinkley Collection. While the line is actually well positioned with great prices (ring, below, is $125) and stylish (if not innovative, with floral, heart and boho themes) design, I'm curious about the whole "celebrity" angle. Is it still relevant? Does this strategy work in this economy? 

It may very well be that I'm jaded. First, I wrote through the years about far too many "celebrity" fashion and jewelry lines, most of

 which barely registered a blip on the mainstream style radar

 (um, Brody Jenner, anyone?). Second, I'm currently absorbed with the business of independent designers, artists and boutique luxury-service providers. Granted, this is a definite PR success for Ross-Simons (if this were just an unbranded line I and many others probably wouldn't pay it much attention). But, given that consumers seem to be focused on value over image right now, it seems to me that, while celebrities are still helping to drive fashion trends, the general idea of celebrity brands may be reaching the saturation point. I'm very curious to hear thoughts on the subject...

Fashion Trends from the Tony's

Old habits die hard and, after a decade covering fashion and jewelry (and noticing that none of the jewelry industry mags reported on the Tony Awards today), I couldn't resist lending a hand, donning my old "fashion editor" hat, and offering my expert trend report (aka: spouting off my opinion).

First, my personal favorite. Seriously, had my invitation to the awards not been lost in the mail, I totally would have worn  the same ensemble as Anne Hathaway (right). Love how she went subdued in black and diamonds (appropriate for the times), but then added her own personal touch (and, perhaps, a statement on optimism) with those killer red shoes. Perfect!

Okay, now for the trends... Honestly, not much new to report in the jewelry category. Dangly drop earrings were the fav (no shock there), though I was a little surprised to see a bit more "chandelier" than we have during the past year. Something to note, in jewelry, we're seemingly moving away from the linear drop earrings and the bolder shaped drops, and back toward the more feminine, chandelier-ish look.

The big trend in fashion? Jewel tones. Vibrant-hued gowns (greens and purples seem to be the most popular, see below), especially with coordinating gemstone cocktail rings. And, for a rare something-new-under-the-sun take: those jewel tones paired with black (love it!) Both dresses with black accents... either in the design, like Lauren Graham, (left) or matched separates like Hathaway's ensemble. Also: vibrant jewels set in blackened metals. No doubt this trend: saturated hues are something to keep in mind for fall and holiday.

qd59yzian4

My Greatest Joy: New Talent!

I discovered an amazing new jewelry designer today: Bigio. They are a very small mom-and-pop comapny with not a lot of exposure (though won a recent Spectrum Award). As I've said before: old (editor) habits die hard, so I am THRILLED to introduce this talent to a wider audience. After so long as a jewelry editor, I can be a bit jaded. As such, it isn't often that someone places a necklace on me and I am so distracted that I have a hard time continuing my conversation! And that is exactly what happened today. Their website doesn't do them justice, but check it out here and take a little time to navigate around to discover some of their work. I p-r-o-m-i-s-e... you won't be disappointed!