A select 225 industry executives were treated to two days of world-class learning, robust conversation and business networking at Symposium ’24, a forum presented by The Plumb Club in partnership with JCK and with Jewelers Mutual as the founding sponsor. 

Below are some of the exciting presentations featured during this amazing event. Due to copywriting restrictions, not all presentations are shown.

Title/Speaker:  – Deliver a Better Experience, For Every Kind of Customer – Kelly McDonald

Credential/Bio: Marketing and Advertising Specialist, Top Expert in Consumer Trends, Generational Differences, Leveraging Customer Experience. Founder McDonald Marketing – twice named “Top Agency” by Advertising Age

Session Description: To stand apart from competition, retain existing customers and grow business, it’s about offering an experience like no other. This engaging and high content session covered eight ways to leverage macro trends to show customer that you “get them”. These tactics will raise the bar, keep customers coming back, and foster higher employee engagement and retention, with specific no-cost tactics that can be applied right away.

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Title/Speaker: Shopping in a PostPan World: A Hard Look at the Impact of COVID on our consuming culture – Paco Underhill

Credential/Bio: Environmental psychologist/Founder of Envirosell. New York Times Bestselling author: “Why We Buy”, “Call of the Mall”.

Session Description: The pandemic either altered or accelerated many shopping trends. As a result, the tools and tactics of retail have had to change. Using global examples, with a focus on the US, Underhill reviewed these shifts and educated retailers on how they best adapt to selling to a post-pandemic customer.

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Title/Speaker: Insights unleashed: Navigating the Retail Revolution – Krystle Craycraft

Credential/Bio: SVP of Marketing and Digital for Jewelers Mutual.

Session Description:   Jewelers Mutual presented insights and trends that will enable retailers to make important business decisions in 2024 and beyond. Through Jewelers Mutual’s extensive research and its access to various industry advisory councils and think tanks, it shared leading, new research that applies to today’s retail buyer. Attendees walked away with information and tools to help them navigate, elevate and grow their businesses into the future.

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Title/Speaker:  Business Development in a World That Never Stops Changing – Frank Cespedes 

Credential/Bio: Senior Lecturer and Harvard Business School, Faculty Chair, Aligning Strategy and Sales. Author of 6 recognizable books

Session Description: The focus of this session was sales management and linking business development investments with company’s growth strategy, which had two parts. The first, a discussion of a case study; and, second, a presentation and Q&A about what is and is not changing in sales as a result of online technologies and the implications for sales hiring, training, and performance management practices on customer experience.

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Title/Speaker: Adornment and Evolution of the Jewelry Customer: A Summary of Findings from Prototype Jewelry Store/Department Studies  –Paco Underhill

Credential/Bio: Environmental psychologist/Founder of Envirosell. New York Times Bestselling author: “Why We Buy”, “Call of the Mall”.

Session Description: There’s been an “intrusion” in adornment, that lay in the crossover between jewelry and “craft” and that competition for jewelry retail has gotten more interesting. Underhill took the audience through this growing evolution, and highlighted the differences in customer behavior, within the same store, depending upon the location of that store. 

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Title/Speaker: What Responsibility Means Right Now – Tiffany Stevens and Melanie Grant

Credential/Bio: Tiffany Stevens, CEO & General Counsel: Jewelers Vigilance Committee. Melanie Grant, Executive Director: Responsible Jewelry Council

Session Description: There are so many challenges and opportunities today to do better business. Your customers are evolving and the laws dealing with your products are changing. How do you manage to be responsible and compliant while still courting new customers and getting them in the door. Learn about strategies to marry responsible messaging with your own branding and understand the most current laws impacting what you can sell and what you can say. Update on G7.

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Title/Speaker: No One is Thinking About Your Brand. Here’s How to Get Them To– Aliza Licht

Credential/Bio: Founder of LEAVE YOUR MARK. Brand Marketing, Social Media, and Personal Branding Expert. Bestselling Author of “Leave Your Mark: Land Your Dream Job. Kill It In Your Career. Rock Social Media” and “ON BRAND: Shape Your Narrative. Share Your Vision. Shift Their Perception”. One of Business Insider’s “Top 20 Most Innovative Career Coaches”

Session Description: Gone are the days of hoping your brand speaks for itself. Breaking news: No one is thinking about your brand. The good news is repetition is reputation. Strong brands control their narrative, share compelling stories, and set themselves apart from the pack. They also know how to convey who they are, no matter the medium. Do people perceive your brand the way you want them to? Are you cultivating customer brand loyalty and trust? Are you leaning into innovation and social media? In this talk, Aliza Licht explored effective ways to build brand affinity that sticks and how to make your brand shine bright like a diamond.

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