[masterslider id=”37″]
Whether you’re a first time exhibitor at JA New York, or you’ve been exhibiting with us for years, it never hurts to brush up on some simple ways to enhance your experience and create a booth space you can be proud of. See below for a few tips on making JA New York work for you!
Exhibitor Resources:
The JA New York Operations Manager, Genevra Rao, does an amazing job of providing information that will keep exhibitors organized and ahead of deadlines. The Exhibitor Resource Guide has downloadable pdf’s containing everything from order forms to “Exhibiting A-Z” to information about press. These are all great tools for figuring out what showcases you want, what lighting you should order, how many chairs you’ll want in your space and anything else you might not even know you need!
Wall Art:
When envisioning your booth space, make sure that all visual elements effectively convey your brand’s DNA. The artwork on your walls can be logo-centric, lifestyle or logo with jewelry. Shown below are some great examples of booth walls from Aspen True, Roman & Jules, and Gumuchian.
If you’re familiar with these brands, you’ll know that these displays are definitely in keeping with their overall brand identity. The floral display ties into Aspen True’s source of inspiration, nature, while Roman & Jules creates jewelry for the bold, contemporary couples like the one shown in their creative. Gumuchian’s displays incorporate a character developed by Myriam Gumuchian’s daughter, Sew Sketchy, who is the epitome of glamorous fashion, just like Gumuchian’s jewelry.
Displays:
It’s important to have professional displays for your jewelry so that the pieces sit properly in your cases. There are many companies available to help you with this, including one company who is new to the March JA New York Show, Presentation Box + Display. Be sure you give yourself plenty of time in the creation of new displays, turn-around times vary, and make sure the color and fabric you choose is again, in keeping with your overall brand. As seen below, black provides a great background for the complex texture in jewelry by Eva Stone, the soft cream color helps Anzie play up their colorful gemstone jewelry, and the textured gray of Monica Rich Kosann‘s displays are the perfect complement to her jewelry’s richness. As an aside, when your displays start to show wear and tear, which they will over time, replace them!
Merchandizing your Booth:
It can be tempting to jam every piece of jewelry you’ve ever made into your case, hey, you’re proud of it! But you will be doing yourself a great disservice if you do this. You need to allow the buyer’s eye to “breath” as they view your collection or they won’t be able to focus on anything. Here are some point by point tips for merchandizing:
- Tell tight, concise stories of your collections (if a collection consists of 18 pieces of aquamarine, show 6-8 pieces)
- Group by stone color and/or metal color
- Use trays to house the remainder of the product you’re not showcasing and house them in an organized manner so you can easily access them
- Allow your merchandise to be viewed from left to right
- Use positive and negative space
- Create depth and dimension by using risers or other props
- If this isn’t your area of expertise, delegate this job to someone who has an eye for it!
Here is a staged “Before and After” of a case of Carolina Bucci jewelry–please note, we purposefully made the before look messy to illustrate our point, Carolina is an excellent merchandizer!
You can also pull in other elements into your case to further tell your story and make the case look a little more interesting–river rocks, bamboo, coffee beans, aquarium gravel and marbles are all great examples of low-cost ways to line the bottom of your case before arranging your jewelry displays. Again, be sure that whatever you select is in keeping with your brand identity and is not too loud or colorful, you don’t want buyers to be distracted from the main event–your jewelry!
Booth Etiquette:
Much of what I’m about to say here might seem like common sense, but it’s like my dad always told me, sometimes common sense isn’t so common! So you’re at your beautifully merchandized booth, your walls look great, you’re excited to show off all of your hard work. As the buyer’s roam through the halls, engage with all of those that catch your eye with an inviting smile. A “good morning!” or “good afternoon!” can be very effective. When a buyer does stop by, engage in a conversation, not a monologue about you or your jewelry. Read the customer and check your own energy–are you being too warm, too standoffish, do you appear desperate? Adjust your energy as you think is necessary. Some other (not so) common sense rules:
- If you can avoid it, don’t eat at your booth. If you have to have a snack, make sure it’s something that is odor-free that can quickly be swallowed if someone suddenly arrives, like an energy bar.
- Keep your counters clean and clutter free. Bring windex and polish your cases often.
- Have a small mirror handy but make sure it’s not intrusive.
- Make sure your line sheets are well organized so you can quickly provide information and pricing on product when asked.
- Make sure you have post cards or business cards with your contact information.
- Collect cards from people who show an interest in your brand, and make a note on the back of their card with key points to remind yourself later what you spoke about.
And I know I said it above, but it’s so important, I’ll say it again….SMILE! I can’t tell you how many booths I’ve shied away from because the people behind the cases were scowling like the bad guy from a horror movie! And hey, I know it’s tough to smile for three straight days–I worked as a bartender for years and I wasn’t always in the mood to smile–but working for tips, I had to force myself. I promise, if you force a smile you’ll actually trick yourself into being in a good mood (but I don’t think the guys from RMC Gems had to force these bright smiles!).
In a following post, we’re going to talk a bit about marketing and promotion, stay tuned…!