One of Rordan Shane’s favorite parts of his job as president and CEO of Shane Co. is hearing stories from the sales staff about customers and the meaning jewelry brings to their lives, whether it is a teen’s first pair of gold earrings, a new mom’s charm bracelet, or a loving husband’s wedding band.
Shane says the family-owned fine jeweler’s new brand campaign, Made to Shine, focuses on customer feelings and memories about jewelry. The campaign includes radio and television advertising, online videos, social media posts, and a consumer contest.
Made to Shine, which debuted in June, is meant to make you feel real emotion when you watch the commercial or hear the stories of actual Shane Co. customers, Shane says. Jewelry at its core is about finding meaning in the things you wear and love, he notes.
“This is a continuation and complement to what we’ve done for more than 50 years. Our brand positioning is we are your friend in the jewelry business,” Shane says. “It’s part of our longstanding mission of being customer-focused.… We want to celebrate the realness of our products and the significance it brings to the wearer and the giver.”
Made to Shine’s commercial hits that mark by showing several different people and their jewelry—including a teen dressed for a dance wearing layered gold chains, and a nurse in work scrubs touching what looks like her engagement ring on a chain. The camera lingers on their faces, smiling as they put on or check their jewelry. If you tear up at commercials, there’s a chance one or more of these images might get you as they are emotional and, indeed, meaningful.
While the commercial features actors, the Made to Shine campaign’s Real Stories nationwide contest, which started July 12, invites customers to share their personal stories of how jewelry has had an impact on them, for the chance to be featured in a Shane Co. radio ad. Twelve people who enter their real-life stories in the contest will be randomly selected to receive $1,000, to use “to shine in any way they want,” Shane says.
“My family and Shane Co. want people to shine because that makes us shine as well,” Shane says. “The whole campaign is inspired by authenticity and realness, so there’s no better way to get something real and authentic than showcasing real people. We want to touch people’s hearts and relate to their stories.”
Shane says such stories make him proud of his family business, mentioning one he heard not long ago from a Shane Co. employee about a man who’d come into the store for help repurposing his wedding jewelry. The man’s wife had recently died after 64 years of marriage, and he wanted to use her diamonds in a new ring he could wear to honor their relationship.
“He hadn’t taken off his wedding band since the day he got married,” Shane says. “Those kinds of stories are so meaningful.… That’s what rings most true to us and what we see every day in our stores. That’s the point to jewelry—to show emotion and have real feelings.”
Top: A mother and daughter enjoying a moment together is one of the images in the new Shane Co. campaign Made to Shine. (Photos courtesy of Shane Co.)
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