BASECREATIVE
Brand strategy and refreshment for a leading Swiss pearl jewellery brand
Client
Hodel
Project Type
Brand Management
Marketing Communications
Packaging Design
Photo Shoots
Branded Environment
Industry
Jewellery
Fashion
Luxury
Consumer Goods
Retail
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Background
Hodel is one of the foremost pearl jewellers in the world, renowned for creating some of the pearl industry’s most innovative signature designs. As the majority of its business comes from Asian markets, the Swiss brand was seeking to refresh and localize its image in its respective markets.
Challenge
Hodel is one of the top five pearl brands in the world, however it lacked recognition from consumers compared to other brands in the same tier. The challenge for Hodel was to create a value proposition that not only works for their high-end and accessible products, but also that they could claim to raise and differentiate their profile while sustaining future growth.
Our task was to refresh the Hodel brand so that its offerings could be positioned as a premium product from Switzerland and could compete for market share within the world’s top five pearl jewellery brands.
Business Strategy
Pearls are some of the great mysteries of nature that have been revered for centuries and are the source of many great legends. It was believed in folklore that when you wore pearls your dreams would depict your future love. Conducting extensive qualitative research, we found out that young women in Asia would still associate pearls with love, and that they portray a mysterious beauty – one that women seek to possess.
Business Insight
Hodel’s products were largely inspired by imagination combined with expert technique. Informed by our research insights and Hodel’s core values, we created the positioning “Where pearl dreams are born” – Hodel’s pearls possess the power to make your dreams come true in the same way the dreams of inspiration and passion create the designs of Hodel. This positioning was brought to life in all touchpoints – marketing materials, POS, brochures, website, etc.
Like other luxury product categories, the brand needed a fully integrated eCommerce site to capture sales online at home and abroad and reach a wider audience while expressing the brand values eloquently.
Gearing towards the growing online luxury consumers in China, we designed a cutting-edge eCommerce system – with a unique gift selector section that expressed all the key elements of the brand personality and DNA in a story-telling and engaging way.
Based on the new positioning, Hodel needed a new art direction and photoshoot style that resonated with Hodel’s target audiences – emphasizing the imaginative, seductive and elegant personalities of the brand.
We created various photoshoots and advertising visuals for both the high-end category and the fashionable everyday selections, consistently underlining women’s dream of enhancing their natural beauty with the gracefulness and elegance of pearls.
In addition to design and art direction, we also set up a tone and manner for the brand that would reflect its mysterious, seductive personality, could be applied across multiple touchpoints, including social media, website, and advertising, and be understood by staff and partners of the brand.
We created brand writing that explored the many facets of the positioning “where pearl dreams are born”, with the aim of bringing out the imaginations of the target audience. Through techniques of story-telling, we managed and designed the website and a variety of marketing materials with unique storylines and enthralling narrative.
As an exquisite, world-leading jewellery brand, Hodel aimed to engage with customers and potential business partners at trade shows and jewellery fairs. We had to ensure the experience was appealing and delivered the brand’s core values.
Informed by the brand’s elegant, modern designs and its desire to bring dreams to life, we created a luxurious multi-level booth that was modular in construction and could be assembled rapidly. The modular approach also ensured minimal design and fabrication will be needed in the future.
Research indicated that the current packaging was not functional enough as customers were frequently buying sets – earrings, bracelets, necklaces. An economic design system was also needed that would work across all box sizes and would be adaptable enough to fit in all retail locations.
Different ranges of packaging were created – elegant lacquered wooden boxes for the high-end products and high-quality paper boxes for the mid-range products. By undertaking audits of third party retailers, we also helped to refine the current POS and showcase system and reworked it into several heights and textures that could work in any retail point.
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