Luxury Jewelers TAG Heuer and Tiffany Rank High in Digital Competence
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29.10.09, 12:04
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Retail
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In a new study conducted to measure the digital competence of luxury jewelry and watch brands, TAG Heuer and Tiffany and Co. came out at the top of their categories.
National Jeweler notes that the L2 Luxury Lab of the New York University (NYU) Stern School of Business designed the "Digital IQ" ranking system to measure digital competence. The study covers the jewelry and watch categories as well as other sectors including automobiles, beauty and skincare, credit cards and more.
The various brands were allocated a "Digital IQ" based on their search engine optimization; brand translation (the aesthetics of their digital media) as well as their messaging and conveyance of the brand’s heritage. Also ranked was their leveraging of the medium, as well as their use of technology and interactivity, and effectiveness of their user interface. In addition, ranking applied to the brand’s use of social media.
Luxury Lab founder Scott Galloway, a clinical associate professor at the Stern School of Business, stated that the goal is to "provide a robust tool that diagnoses digital strengths and weaknesses, helping companies achieve greater return on incremental investment."
The top eight brands ranked in the study each received Digital IQs above 140, which placed them in the "Genius" class. This indicates that digital competence serves as a competitive advantage for the brands and that their sites are search optimized, aesthetically engaging, functional and interactive. This grade also indicates that the brands are innovative users on social media platforms and mobile devices.
Luxury watch brand TAG Heuer was the only watch brand to rank in the Genius category. According to the study, "great search optimization and thoughtful user interface lift TAG Heuer over mega-brand Rolex."
Tiffany and Co. was the highest-ranking jewelry company at No. 13. With a score of 129, it was placed in the "Gifted" class. The study noted that Tiffany's "elegant e-commerce platform and visually oriented product search" helped the luxury jewelry brand to attain the top ranking among jewelry brands.
Companies in the Gifted class received scores between 110 and 140, with the designation meaning that the brands' sites are crawlable, brand-enhancing and e-commerce enabled, and that the brands are also experimenting with a variety of Web applications.
Also in the Gifted class were luxury watch brand Rolex, ranking 13th, as well as Swarovski at 21 and Cartier at 22.
Several luxury jewelry brands were ranked in the "Average" class, with scores between 90 and 110. Among these brands were Chopard, Hublot, Movado, Van Cleef and Arpels, Omega, Bulgari and Piaget.
Finally, luxury watch and jewelry brands ranking as "Feeble," (with scores below 70 on the Digital IQ scale) included Buccellati, Franck Muller, Graff, Bulova and Faberge. Brands falling into this category do not demonstrate commitment to the requisite resources that the brand and opportunity warrants.
The study praised the watch sector in terms of social media. Findings reveal that watch brands have more presence on social media platforms than most luxury brands.
Regarding the jewelry category, the study noted that the category has the greatest number of players in the "Challenged" and "Feeble" classes, citing weak website traffic, poor user interfaces and limited use of social media.
The study discovered that none of the jewelry brands analyzed in the jewelry category feature a YouTube channel; David Yurman is the only brand with a Twitter account and a modest number of followers. Cartier and Tiffany were the only luxury jewelry brands with a significant number of fans on Facebook.
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By: Rachel Lieberman, Israel Diamond Industry Portal
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