With half a century of retail history in and around Phillip Street, the lovely Underwood Jeweller’s store has longstanding claims to the retail title ‘Jewel of Parramatta’. The store owners are working hard to keep the brand identity strong in conjunction with Realise Business Advisor Sue Walsh.
Store founder and master Jeweller Chris Underwood has a long association with Parramatta. The business actually began in 1968 from a shed in his grandmother’s Parramatta home where, after finishing his apprenticeship, he began designing and crafting jewellery. Two years later, Chris opened his first retail store in Phillip Street.
Underwood Jewellers has occupied several nearby locations but now sits in Phillip Street once more. Like other businesses, it has been heavily impacted by several roadblocks, including Covid-19, reduced foot traffic and a lack of major jewellery exhibitions and events.
Since October last year, Sue Walsh has been working with partner Susanne Underwood to develop a marketing strategy that will deliver a more cohesive and far-reaching brand presence to maximise cut through and increase sales.
The business currently has a solid local brand presence. They have also been undertaking several marketing activities, including social media posts, promotions, customer feedback surveys and sponsorship. The success of these activities can now be boosted by developing and implementing a new marketing and social media plan with components complementing each other to build a strong and consistent brand identity.
Identifying unique attributes
Identifying the store’s unique points of difference has been a critical component of the new marketing and social media plan. Sue has worked with Susanne to detail the jeweller’s strengths that include the sale of estate and pre-owned jewellery, in-depth experience and knowledge to understand their customer’s purchases and their small business agility reflected through their quick turnaround response time. Underwood Jewellers take pride in delivering the best customer experience.
They have also worked together to identify other areas of the business that will support the success of the new marketing activities, including engaging administration support and an additional member of the sales team.
They are currently working together to implement a strong marketing plan that involves developing their brand proposition through:
- Conducting a competitor analysis that will help identify the unique strengths of the business
- A revamp of the store’s website to allow for easy updates and search engine optimisation (SEO), strengthening their online presence
- A consistent approach to the use of store photography across all marketing materials
- A social media calendar to plan for upcoming promotional opportunities and provide consistency in their marketing communications.
Susanne Underwood said of her experience working with Sue Walsh, “Sue from Realise Business has been interested and attentive to our marketing. With Sue’s guidance, attention to the fundamentals and recommendations regarding forward planning strategies, we know we will have a much better result than we would have without her support. We have enjoyed working with Realise Business and highly recommend them.”
A special offer from Underwood Jewellers
In addition to the traditional Mother’s Day, Christmas and Valentine’s Day jewellery store promotions, Underwood Jewellers have a calendar of promotional offers in the pipeline to maintain customer interest in the store.
Take advantage of their current offer today:
Spend $120 or more in-store to receive a gold edge book jewellery box. Offer valid until 31 August 2021.
If your Parramatta-based business needs advice about revamping and streamlining its marketing strategy book your free advisory session with a Realise Business Advisor today.
