subject: The jewellery [print this page] The jewellery The jewellery
"We're changing the demographic again, "says James. "I require to be like Giorgio Armani and appeal to people on different cost levels."
But irrespective of materials or cost levels, Daisy is keen to stay within the aspirational fashion sphere and to reinforce its position as such it signed model Cara Delevinge as the face of the brand.
James describes signing Delevinge, goddaughter of actress Joan Collins who some have tipped as the face of 2010, as "a expensive exercise" but they believes it is worth it. "Daisy is not a flash in the pan and they would like to invest in the brand in the same way as thomas sabo ringe has," they states.
Gaining article in women's consumer magazines is the final aim for every aspiring jewellery brand and from the outset James was keen to forge links with various titles and even moved his office from Portobello Road, spiritual home of Westminster Silver Guild, to central London to be closer to the magazines' HQs.
Daisyhas had some success in achieving article and desired to reinforce this with an marketing campaign. This however, proved to be expensive when James was quoted 12,000 for a single full-page commercial in Grazia journal. Undeterred, James continued to woo the consumer journalists without blowing his budget and it paid off.
Grazia got back in contact with him and asked him to provide goody bags for its Style Hunter feature and they agreed. In return, when Daisy held a party in Portobello, Grazia acted as an official partner, providing magazines for the goody bags, sending photographers and ensuring the party was full of fashionistas from its office.
This type of reciprocal marketing is a strategy that some bigger jewellery brands have been employing for some time. Stephen
Webster, for example, has links with Grey Goose vodka; the drinks brand provides the jeweller with free vodka for its events and in return Webster promotes Grey Goose, going as far as being pictured with a bottle in the background of photoshoots.
As well as working with Grazia, Daisy has forged a powerful relationship with nail varnish brand OPI. At the same party that was supported by Grazia, OPI had a table in the Portobello Road members club with beauticians on hand to provide free manicures for guests.
These partnerships help Daisy to appear like a bigger organisation than it actually is, which is inherent to its designs as it is setting itself up as the next gigantic thing in branded jewellery and its designs to exceed the boundaries of the United Kingdom market.
To support this international growth Daisy has designs to exhibit at international watch and jewellery fair BaselWorld. James visited the show for the first time this year and was impressed with what they saw.
Not plenty of British brands exhibit at the show, but James believes its key to becoming an international player and is hoping to join the exhibitor list in the next three years.
"I was phenomenally impressed; it's a different league and I can't wait to exhibit there," says James. "There is no way that they can avoid doing the show as they must get our product to that audience."
And while talk is cheap, Daisy has already taken its first steps on the road to global distribution. The brand has already had considerable success signing up retail partners in the Republic of Ireland through distributor AE Mollins, where the brand is now stocked in 45 stores.
"It's daunting, but it's fascinating with the abroad markets, as you never know which one is going to work out," says James. "We found with Ireland that when they began to do press there it had an immediate effect as it's a tight community."
But looking further afield, Daisy is in talks now with Canadian retailers and hopes to enter the market in August or September. And even further afield, it's entered in to negotiations with retail stores in Australia.
James also has his sights set on Japan, the Middle East and South The united states, and believes Daisy's London connection will see it well in abroad markets. "We will have London as part of the branding," they adds.
The other key to unlocking the brand's global potential, according to James, is the net. "If you require to become a worldwide brand, the simplest and cheapest way to spread the word is online," they says.
The brand has started trading online at its web-site daisyjewellery.com, which hosts the brand's full range of 750 stacking rings. The issue of brands selling direct to consumers online is a sensitive one, and usually comes with some backlash from retail stockists, but James is satisfied that by doing so, Daisy will be helping its retail partners than stealing business from them.
"It's not a egocentric decision and it's not making money for us" says James. "We're building a brand and we're building it from scratch; they couldn't depend on our stockists to raise our profile, they must do it and five times they have it will increase sales for them in the medium term."
Dasiy has worked with design agency Amazing, the same agency that has created its web-site, on a virtual stacking ring tool. The net based programme allows users to pick from a choice of rings to generate a stack which is then displayed on a virtual hand. The skin tone of the hand can be changed to match the users' and is completed off by applying a virtual slick of OPI nail varnish.
James says the tool, which allows users to post their designs to Facebook, has gigantic viral potential and will help to spread the word about Daisy. "We require to be the driving force behind the idea and tell millions of people about this, and the stack ring design tool will do this," they says.
They also intends to make use of the intelligence garnered from the net application to move the brand forward by taking note of popular and unpopular ring styles. "It's a chance for us to get much closer to our customers and check out new products," says James. "We require them to be involved in the development of the brand in lieu of standing back and waiting to see what goes in the net. It doesn't work like that any more."
Another sales coup that James believes will raise the profile of the brand is a deal with Ernest Jones. The brand will be stocked at 20 Ernest Jones stores around the United Kingdom in prime shopping centre locations, as well as on the retailers transactional web-site, ernestjones.co.uk.
The deal with Ernest Jones has ensured Daisy a high-profile position in the United Kingdom market. "They appear to know their stuff inside out and have helped move our business forward," says James of the team at Ernest Jones.
Daisy teamed up with an American designer to generate a special display unit for Ernest Jones that James believes will make selling stacking rings simpler. "The hardest thing about stacking rings is the display," they says.
The matt black display, which took three months to create, is the size of an Apple Mac screen and can be displayed in a variety of ways including under counters and in windows. The display has space for promotional materials, tens of rings displayed on removable horizontal and vertical display solutions, and also has a moveable coloured model of a hand which can be used to view the rings.
