Director of century-old jewellery brand H. Sena, Medhanie Sena says there’s no better time to rebrand than during a pandemic
The jewellery industry may not have been the hardest hit by the pandemic — many brands with an online presence are reporting 300%–400% growth in recent months — but smaller bespoke jewellery brands like H. Sena have certainly felt its wrath.
The very nature of a bespoke business is about building relationships with clients through interpersonal connections and word-of-mouth marketing. To make matters worse, Covid-19 travel restrictions have also soured business for H. Sena, whose clientele comprises both locals and foreigners who fly in to have their jewellery custom-designed.
According to its young director, Medhanie Sena, her biggest challenge now is staying relevant to a younger tech-savvy customer base who favour big brand franchises over smaller ateliers. “Whilst we do have a loyal clientele, the majority of them are in the boomer generation who have been with us for years mostly via word-of-mouth recommendations,” she shares.
Medhanie plans to modernise the business is by pivoting online with a strong social media presence. “Nowadays we cannot solely rely on word-of-mouth; we have to try reaching out to new and local audiences by digitising our business. Even though we have always had a website and are on social media, we have never fully tapped on their potential to showcase our brand in proper light.”