Kay Jewelers is embarking on a revitalization strategy to target the next generation of jewelry shoppers.
The over 100-year-old Signet Jewelers-owned brand is undergoing a “brand evolution,” according to Kay Jewelers’ brand president Bill Brace, who explained the strategy is to target a younger customer base.
“It’s really a component of a much broader strategy to really move Kay into the future,” he said. “[Customers] want to be spoken to in a way that resonates with the way they think about their relationships and the people that matter most to them. The expectations they have around experience and how they shop for jewelry has changed and continues to evolve. That’s what we’re really responding to and reacting to and working to stay out in front of.”
Brace explained the strategy is aimed at “Zillennials,” customers who are on the cusp of Millennials and Gen Z. The strategy came about after Kay Jewelers did an analysis on this demographic to see their perceptions of the brand and found that they are looking for more personal and authentic connection when shopping for jewelry.
The multifaceted strategy includes a new advertising campaign, modernized stores in new locations and a new product line, called Studio by Kay Collection, that offers trendy fashion jewelry options.
The campaign leverages the brand’s signature “Every Kiss Begins With Kay” slogan and enlists a group of diverse couples.
A campaign image from Kay Jewelers.
Courtesy of Kay Jewelers
“We would look at what their love looks like, the photos and the videos they’d send to us, versus what we were depicting love looks like,” said Erica Scott, vice president of marketing at Kay Jewelers. “It was very clear that we were disconnected and there was a gap there. Jewelry is just so fun because we’re in the business of love and what we were getting wrong is that love is really personal and very playful — where we had been was almost a very performative state of mind.”
As part of the strategy, Kay Jewelers is investing more than $60 million to modernize more than 200 storefronts across the country, in addition to opening several stores through this year and 2025.
Brace stated Kay Jewelers has a “modern hometown strategy” for retail, meaning it opens locations in communities that are “underserved from a jewelry standpoint.”
Part of the retail modernization is to put a larger emphasis on customization. Brace said many customers aren’t aware of the range of customizations Kay Jewelers offers — ranging from engravings to bespoke pieces — so, the brand will be spotlighting these services with dedicated customization areas in-store.
Additionally, stores will offer Kay’s new Studio by Kay Collection, which is the brand’s line of fashion jewelry ranging in price from $199.99 to $2,199.99. The collection offers styles like gold chunky pieces, chain-link bracelets and lab-grown diamond pieces.
“It’s continuing to bring very fashion-forward, modern designs for a younger generation,” Brace said. “Just like the generations before us, there’s an evolution of what design aesthetic customers are looking for. We continue to see an evolution of style preferences for our customers, so Studio is intended to be a real bull’s-eye shot in terms of representing the more fashionable choices that customers are looking for today.”
A campaign image from Kay Jewelers.
Courtesy of Kay Jewelers
The collection taps into many areas Kay Jewelers’ target demographic is interested in, such as gold chunky styles and lab-grown diamonds and men’s jewelry, which has been a booming category at more affordable jewelry retailers, Brace said.
Kay Jewelers’ revitalization strategy comes at a time when parent company Signet is experiencing challenges in the market. The company saw fourth-quarter sales ending Feb. 3 fall 6.3 percent to $2.5 billion year-over-year and same-store sales down 9.6 percent.
The company, which also owns Zales, Jared and Blue Nile, among others, is forecasting first-quarter sales of between $1.47 billion and $1.53 billion.
“Jewelry is kind of an interesting business because it is a high-value, low-frequency category,” Brace said. “The absolute critical business objective is to bring new customers in and so this shift and evolution across our messaging, our connected commerce experience and our merchandise strategy is all aimed at bringing in this next generation of customers, which when we establish relationships with our customers, we’re very good at nurturing those relationships and translating them into purchases over the course of a lifetime.”
Last fall, Zales embarked on a similar rebranding strategy with a new campaign aimed at targeting younger customers.
