The Ukrainian jewelry market is going through interesting times. Quarantine has seriously affected demand, changed people’s attitude towards jewelry, and forced manufacturers to seriously
How to create a successful jewelry brand in a crisis, what is the role of a personal brand in positioning a company, what methods of online and offline promotion are relevant for the jewelry niche, and where the industry is heading after the pandemic, the Web promo editors discussed with Irakli Makatsaria, the creator of the jewelry brand Makatsaria jewelry .
Irakli, in November 2019 you presented your own jewelry brand – Makatsaria Jewelry. This was a rather risky decision, given the many years of market stagnation and the increase in product prices in 2019, which led to a decrease in purchasing power. Why all the same jewelry? How was the idea born, and how did its implementation begin?
“ Everything starts with faith. Believe in yourself, in your idea, in the possibility of its successful implementation. When we created Makatsaria Jewelry, we saw it as more than just a jewelry brand. We created something bigger, with deep philosophy and vision. We created a brand with a continuation of my own soul and worldview.
The idea of creating Makatsaria Jewelry was born during a conversation with my close friend, the highest level jeweler, Kakha. It has been working on the Ukrainian market for many years, so from the very beginning, we had an absolutely accurate understanding of all the processes taking place in it. Yes, we were aware of the risks and possible difficulties, but we also understood that our aspirations, hard work, and focus on results can overcome any obstacles.
What goals did you set for yourself during the launch and what are the brand’s ambitions for the future?
‒ We have a lot of grandiose plans, each of which consists of dozens of smaller ones. We are gradual, step by step, moving towards the realization of each of them. After all, every small victory brings us closer to the big one. Our main goal, at this stage, is to make Makatsaria Jewelry a recognizable and beloved brand in the Ukrainian and Georgian markets.
Summing up what has been said, is Makatsaria jewelry about business, about charity, or about yourself?
‒ Makatsaria Jewelry is just a fusion of all of the above. I, as a person, create a business, one of the directions of which is charity.
What kind of marketing did the nascent brand have? How were you going to compete, what were you betting on and where were you going to get clients from? What role has your personal brand played in the development of the company?
‒ Everything ingenious is simple. In today’s world, people are not looking for empty, pompous jewelry without a soul. Most often, they come for a special emotion, for a story.
If the created product does not carry an emotional component, it will not find a response in the hearts of the public. Not many jewelry brands are ready to go for it, because we have only one competitor now.
We create jewelry that speaks of the human soul. About her perfection, laid down by nature itself. Nature does not like complexity, it is based on simplicity, which allows you to achieve the maximum result in the shortest way. We recreate this trait in our jewelry. The simplicity of forms, non-standard cuts of stones and their combinations, recognizable design – we give our customers the lightness that everyone aspires to. We like to create universal products, unisexual transforming products. We do not dictate our vision to our clients, we break boundaries and stereotypes, being inspired by the world around us and, as a result, we create jewelry that is recognizable and loved by many.
Great emphasis in the marketing of the jewelry brand was placed on the charitable component. Was it a strategic decision or rather because you yourself are not indifferent to various social problems? Did the idea work and why?
‒ Charity is often seen as following some fashion trends. For me, it’s not. I have the desire and ability to help where needed. In an ideal world, there would be no need for charity, but the reality is that often the lives of hundreds of others depend on the desire to help some people.
Good deeds are not something strategically planned, they are the call of the heart, an integral part of humanity.
Martin Coney, the creator of incubators for premature babies, was called a madman, he died in poverty and oblivion. But it was his invention that saved more than 6.5 thousand lives of children. In fact, he sacrificed everything to save others. How can one, knowing the history of Martin’s life, remain uninvolved in someone else’s grief?
We started raising funds to buy a device for the perinatal department in Kyiv. The device will be installed by the end of the year, and we do not plan to stop there.
Do you have your own production or do you have a contractor for this purpose? Why did you choose one or the other option? Talk about its advantages and disadvantages.
‒ Thanks to my partner Kakha, whom I mentioned earlier, we were able to launch our own jewelry production. This allows us to be independent of contractors.
We can say that our own production gives us 100% freedom of creativity. There can be no disadvantages in this.
The very specificity of jewelry production is extremely convenient. If the product has lost its relevance, we can always make something new out of it, relevant for the current moment.
Why did you choose the Ukrainian market and not the Georgian one? Was the national factor taken into account when creating collections?
‒ To begin with, it is worth noting that these two markets are very similar to each other. The choice fell on Ukrainian due to the fact that the whole team and production are located here. But very soon it is planned to open the first showroom in Georgia.
How was the range of the band formed? What trends are you focusing on? As far as I know from the statistics, silver is in high demand. In your catalog, on the contrary, gold prevails. Why?
‒ When we first started creating jewelry, we did not have a clear understanding of what metal would be in high demand. We have released several collections of gold and silver, deliberately providing equal conditions for these two metals.
I tend to believe that the pandemic has had an extremely strong impact on the jewelry market and demand. The buyer considers the purchase of jewelry as, among other things, an investment in precious metal.
Makatsaria Jewelry products are made of high-quality materials, they are weighty, but have an exquisite design – I think this combination was to the liking of our customers.
Now, looking back, what would you change about the brand’s marketing? And what does your marketing “ look like ” now?
– There is a wonderful phrase from one cartoon: “The past is forgotten, the future is closed, the present is granted “. I am not a fan of modeling situations from the past. We live now, in the present moment, wherever we go without the work done before. Therefore, nothing needs to be changed.
I have a great team with which we are going this way. The fact that we are only taking our first serious steps does not so much create difficulties as it allows us to look at things with a fresh, unclouded look, soberly assess the situation and learn from our mistakes. We absorb information from opinion leaders in marketing and adapt flexibly to the situation. I believe that the result of our work speaks for itself.
You must have heard Bill Gates’ famous quote: ” If you’re not on the internet, you’re not in business. ” This begs the question, why doesn’t Makatsaria jewelry have its own website? I was very surprised when I didn’t find you online. After all, it is a key sales channel in the modern world.
‒ Now we are at the stage of great changes, to which we were pushed, in part, by quarantine. The site is already being prepared for release, we are in the process of writing a marketing strategy for the next six months. Ahead of us is the brand’s birthday, which is celebrated on November 20, and we are preparing a lot of changes and updates for it.
Social media is another powerful sales channel. How do you use it? How do you develop your Facebook and Instagram pages? Do you run ads there or is it more of an image story?
‒ Our social media pages are a way to communicate with customers and build our image. This is the most convenient way to tell the audience about us because 80% of the population are visuals. Now, as part of the brand strategy change, both communication and approach to it are changing. We want to make the purchase experience more comfortable and faster, and we put a lot of effort into this.
Now no one is ready to spend a lot of time even on such a pleasant process as buying a piece of jewelry. And we understand this and adapt.
Our advertising budgets are not so large yet, because Makatsaria Jewelry is a young brand and we treat all costs very thoughtfully.
Is contextual advertising present in the promotion of jewelry?
– So far, we have not used the possibilities of contextual advertising. There are reasons that make it, at the moment, impractical. In the future, when the brand becomes more popular among the masses, we plan to expand advertising tools.
Is Makatsaria Jewelry on TV? How relevant is this method for promoting a jewelry brand?
– I believe that the 21st century is not the time for television advertising in the jewelry industry. The viewer sees an advertisement for a jewelry brand, but he does not see its philosophy and depth, it seems that jewelry is “something for the elite”.
Earlier you mentioned Bill Gates and the need for an online presence. And I also tend to the point of view that the Internet is the most comfortable way to communicate.
In the web space, the boundaries are erased, this allows you to look at brands closer, get acquainted with their features and ideas.
Influencers are a more relevant than ever way of promotion. Do you use this kind of ” personal recommendations ” to promote your brand?
– Influencers for us are more than an actual way of promotion. But we are not ready to cooperate with every opinion leader. It is important for us to see that the life values of the influencer coincide with ours. Then harmonious cooperation is possible. We are currently looking for brand ambassadors.
What other sales channels do you use or plan to use?
– There are some interesting ideas. We will not reveal all the cards at once. Most of all, we are currently working on increasing the comfort of the buyer, on reducing the time spent on the purchase. The Makatsaria Jewelry website, which is currently being created, will also help with this.
How important is PR in promoting a jewelry brand? What should it be based on?
– I am very careful about PR. I don’t think any event should create a newsbreak. I live as I see fit, within the framework of my system of life values. If this causes an internal response in a person, if my worldview is close to him, he will react to it. But I will never do anything out of the box to draw attention to myself. A brand is a part of my life, not a tribute to fashion trends.
How do you feel about collaborations? Are there any bold marketing decisions planned in the near future?
– Collaborations are always an extremely interesting experience. When there is synergy between two personalities or brands, the result can exceed all expectations. In the future, we are definitely planning a number of collaborations.
Quarantine has had a negative impact on many niches of the commodity business. How has the jewelry market reacted to the coronavirus situation? Has the form of communication with customers changed?
Our world has changed, and so everything has changed. During the quarantine period, we, like any business, found ourselves in a difficult situation. But, thanks to balanced and deliberate actions, we managed not to stop the work process, we even managed to solve the problem with international delivery in a short time.
Thanks to the high professionalism and wise decisions of my partner, we managed to keep all jobs, without layoffs and layoffs. This is a significant advantage of online sales – they are flexible and allow you to quickly respond to unforeseen circumstances.
Some of your sales were offline, as the products are presented in Zarina chain stores. How did you compensate for the temporary closure of stores?
– Jewelry House ZARINA is one of the most stable players in the market, with a solid history. The brand has built a strong system of communication and values. I have experience working with clients individually. During the quarantine period, ZARINA did not stop the work of the online store, delivering orders in compliance with all security requirements. Therefore, despite the colossal difficulties, trade did not stop and we survived this difficult period.
What policy did your company choose during the quarantine – reduction of budgets for promotion or, conversely, increase or optimization?
– An integrated approach is important in everything. We are able to respond quickly and adapt to any situation. We did not stop working, set up international delivery, and continued to sell online. Despite the big changes, our team coped with them perfectly.
What are the biggest challenges your brand has faced in quarantine? What decisions were made and what was the result?
“The biggest obstacle for us was the closed borders. I spent the entire quarantine in Georgia and could not be physically present during important decisions. But the digital era erases all boundaries, therefore, we could quickly communicate with the team on all issues, and this feature of work during the quarantine period did not create significant obstacles for us.
What are the current trends in the jewelry market in Ukraine and what forecasts do you make for the near future?
– Now it is important to understand that the client comes, first of all, for emotions. I’ve said this before: no one needs soulless jewelry. Now the client wants to communicate with the world through his jewelry, tell about himself, about what is dear and loved. In the jewelry market, we implement this in the following way: we have a customization service that allows everyone to create their own unique piece of jewelry. We provide the basis, and the client chooses the desired metal, stones, and engraving.
Another fundamental trend is versatility. Therefore, we offer our clients transformable jewelry, for example, a choker that turns into a bracelet or 2 in 1 earring. In fact, we offer the client not just a piece of jewelry. We offer an individual approach at every stage, which is now highly valued and resonates in the hearts of our customers.
