Bridal flourishes designed to be worn exclusively on one’s wedding day is a thing of the past for Mayors, a heritage luxury watch and jewelry brand endeavoring to modernize the category.
Jewelry demand in the U.S. increased by 28 percent during last year, according to the World Gold Council. Within Mayors, the brand significantly outperformed with a 60 percent growth across the category, while its Diamond Bridal Jewelry had a slightly higher gain, delivering a 62 percent increase in sales for the business. And what’s more, its engagement ring category increased by 23 percent, further cementing the sense that the brand should focus on a younger, more modern audience.
Its approach to bridal encompasses more than just engagement rings, which can be a one-time purchase, Mayors explained. “Client styles and tastes have exceeded this singular category to include diamond bands typically purchased as anniversary milestones, wedding day and reception jewelry and fine jewelry as a self-purchase and gifting category,” they noted.
Related Galleries
And now Mayors, a century-old brand gone modern that operates under its parent company Watches of Switzerland, is repositioning its bridal category through a new campaign that will launch in June. Led by Jay Gullion, its in-house creative director and photographer and David Thielebeule, a stylist and former editor in chief of Grazia USA, the duo developed a visually striking campaign that spotlights lead launch model Bri Chen, alongside six featured ‘brides,’ representing the brand’s wide range of clientele, Mayors said.
Additional talent includes Paige Watkins, Chanel Celaya, Xin Yu, Stephanie Silva, April Schutte, and Farhiya Shire, “each of whom have distinctive looks that will resonate with a diverse consumer target.”
Select jewelry in the campaign features Mayors’s own in-house collection of best-selling fine jewelry silhouettes and exclusive pieces from brand partner Benjamin Javaheri at Uneek. The brand partnered with bridal gown designer Galia Lava to provide dresses, and Jimmy Choo for footwear.
Jay Gullion, Head of Creative for Watches of Switzerland Group, said that “The idea for this concept for bridal came from when my wife and I looked at the bridal space and how fashion is continually evolving and merging, allowing brides to portray themselves in any way they have dreamt about. One of the key components to the campaign centers around the design of the Mayors product.”
“The core pieces from the brand are timeless, elegant, simple, and precisely finished in their execution. This allows the modern woman to really let her unique personality come through in the way she styles and wears the jewelry – not just on the wedding day, but every day.”
Set within the dreamy landscape of New Mexico’s White Sands National Park, a shocking natural white desert setting that appears surreal, its campaign “strives to represent the lens through which fashion-forward women see themselves against the backdrop of modern commitment, and the collective investment into diamonds and fine jewelry,” Mayors explained. “Additionally, the creative team captured the seven brides in studio for a digital and social campaign that highlights the diversity in the casting, styling, and personality of the modern bride, the perfect complement to the hero campaign.”
The campaign will appear across mobile, digital, social, print, and outdoor advertising nationwide in tandem with a digital and social focused cinematic film and behind-the-scenes video that features interviews with each of the seven brides. Further, the brand worked with a Nashville-based team of musicians “to produce multiple custom tracks that bring the campaigns to life,” Mayors added.
David Hurley, President and Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Mayors’s parent company, Watches of Switzerland, said that the brand is “excited to begin this new chapter for Mayors. We see a tremendous opportunity to reposition the store from its current iteration as a favorite local jeweler to a national fine jewelry resource. Our first step was to create a bridal campaign that would speak to our vision of the modern client, their style and what they look for in a shopping experience.”
For Mayors, that opportunity is coupled with a growth mindset. The campaign is a continuation of a series of initiatives by the Watches of Switzerland-owned multi-brand store, which includes updated store designs as well as an expansion beyond its Southeastern U.S.-regional footprint, Mayors said.
Also, this year, Watches of Switzerland announced the acquisition of Betteridge Jewelers, which increases the company’s presence through its additions of the Northeast and Mountain regions, as it will now operate in new cities such as Greenwich, Conn., and Aspen and Vail, Colo.
Part of its strategy in meeting customers’ wants and needs is purely experiential. Mayors said that its retail locations will continue to undergo refurbishments under the original strategy of Watches of Switzerland, modernizing the boutiques, including the addition of hospitality lounges built into each of the locations. The lounges offer a slew of services beyond shopping, inclusive of custom menus by location that will feature local artisans for everything from cocktail ingredients to the artwork on display, they said.
“Our store design and visual merchandising highlights diamonds and fine jewelry nearest our hospitality lounges allowing clients to experience shopping for luxury pieces in a relaxed setting. By merchandising these categories together instead of a stand-alone section, clients are better able to see themselves within the Mayors lifestyle and it is much more reflective of how a client organically builds their jewelry wardrobe.”
Mayors continued, “This allows for clients to be fully immersed in the experience and provides a meeting place for clients who would like to take a moment out from shopping and consider their next investment piece. As a multi-branded retailer, Mayors will continue to add resources and best-in-class creatives to support the ever-growing image campaign roll outs for both our own jewelry and brand partners.”
As Mayors looks ahead, from a marketing perspective, the brand is hoping for a heightened brand awareness. “We will continue to expand our national presence as a diamond and fine jewelry destination and through consistency of programming and regional alignment – making Mayors more of a national brand.”