When Matthew Patton, owner of Cut Fine Jewelers in Baton Rouge, La., was pitched the idea of making short promotional videos for his store by an outside marketing agency, he immediately thought of “cheesy commercials and stock images and Photoshopped jewelry,” he recalls.
But when the agency’s owner promised the videos would feel like slices of real life—not canned commercials—Patton was swayed.
The finished short videos not only feel like clips from the lives of fashion-minded millennials, they also possess a professional polish that feels more music video than marketing message.
For Patton, it all came down to feel. “I wanted something real,” he says. “It was more about selling a lifestyle than about selling jewelry.”
In a town filled with venerable jewelers, Patton wants to distinguish Cut, formerly an appointment-only shop that’s currently undergoing a complete renovation at the hands of Stuller Interiors, as a next-generation retailer.
“I don’t want to be your daddy’s jewelry store,” he says. “You know, that old-school jewelry store that feels like a museum.”
He reports that the videos were made quickly, and on a “shoestring budget.” Their ultimate purpose? To generate buzz for the young brand. “Baton Rouge is a very booming town, there’s a lot of action,” he says. “But there’s still a good-old-boy mentality here. If I do the same things they do, I’m not going to be [competitive]. I want my company to be the center of attention.”
The revamped Cut Fine Jewelers is expected to open in mid-October.
Article by Emili Vesiliand, Senior Editor, JCK Magazine