A few years ago, white scrawl on a black billboard along Interstate 95 in Philadelphia screamed: “I hate Steven Singer!”Speculation swirled among those who saw it. A popular theory was that it was the work of a jilted girlfriend.
In fact, the sign was paid for by Steven Singer Jewelers, a 35-employee retail store on Philadelphia’s historic Jewelers’ Row.
The ad is part of a long process to cultivate the store’s image as an irreverent and fun place for guys to buy diamond jewelry. Over the years, the business has marketed itself with humorous ads and gimmicks that, while offending some people, tend to appeal to its coveted younger male audience. Along with the billboards, efforts include spots and giveaways on radio shows that have a mainly male following, including shock jock Howard Stern’s; sponsorship of chicken-wing eating contests; and hosting what it calls the world’s largest bubble bath in the store each year, where lingerie-clad women wade through bubbles.
This lower-brow style is a sharp departure from the soft music and romantic imagery traditionally used by jewelry retailers — and has set the business apart from its competitors.
Such strong differentiation can be crucial for a small business that has to compete against many — and often much bigger — rivals. For a small firm, “if you’re not different [than your competitors], you’re not going to get the awareness,” says Derrick Daye, managing partner at Blake Project, a branding company in Tampa, Fla.
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