Drafting New Customers

NFL draft day has come and gone but it was more than just a drafting of athletes. While you may have been too busy watching the draft and celebrating or mourning your team’s pick to consciously notice, a certain jeweler was busy trying to draft us to their team. Pandora jewelers played several commercials during the draft showing top draft picks like Geno Smith and Eric Fisher, presenting their mothers with Pandora bracelets on draft day accompanied by a heart felt message. Last year was a difficult year for Pandora, experiencing a 30% drop in profits. They hope that this marketing tactic will ramp up their mother’s day sales by associating their brand with rising success and stardom. 

These men are about to be millionaires and the first thing they purchase is a Pandora bracelet for their mothers. Pandora hopes that men will jump on the bandwagon and treat their mother’s to the same kind of gifts.  So will this work for them? Just like Super Bowl winners say they are going to Disney World, will draft picks say they are buying their mothers Pandora? The potential for continued success through this type of campaign really depends on the success of these athletes this season. Pandora is really taking a gamble with this advertisement. Just because a player does well in college, it does not mean that his talents will transfer to the pros. There is a large chance that, no matter what the talent, these men will not live up to expectations. So, if this were to come into fruition, Pandora would be associating themselves with something that doesn’t live up to expectation. Not the greatest idea for a company that depends on its customers coming back several times a year to make a profit. Pandora took a risk with this one and we’ll see if it paid off come mother’s day and whether or not we see similar ads next year.