Marketing JVD Claddagh Rings
Each JVD Claddagh Ring comes with its own custom gift box
A couple of months ago I was having a post-meeting coffee with a friend of mine, Joe Duff. We both do voluntary work for the local community council and after a particularly long meeting we took to the local hostelry to diagnose and solve the world’s most pressing problems.
We didn’t get very far. We started talking about Joe’s passion, custom jewellery - or jewelry, if you’re reading this in North America. Joe shared with me his story and career so far, and how he developed his own unique Claddagh Ring design back in 1999, which featured a classic Celtic knot within the heart emblem. The Claddagh ring design and history is fairly well-known to me, since I wear one myself, and have done ever since I first visited Galway in the mid-1990’s.
Joe mentioned that he had a certified ‘maker’s mark’ for his custom jewellery, and in fact has had one since 1993. The conversation then went something like as follows:
‘And do you market and sell your Claddagh Rings online?’
‘No, I should do though.’
‘How come?’
‘Well, the marketing part is not my thing. I prefer to concentrate on designing and making the rings. I have had dealings with people about a website in the past…’
‘But that was over 15 years ago that you first developed your Claddagh Ring design…’
‘I know, I’ve had a few false starts, and it didn’t work out.’
‘Well I do marketing for a living, you know: strategy, digital marketing, traditional marketing, that kind of thing. I could talk to a few people.’
‘That would be great.’
The more I thought about it, the more I felt that Joe’s fascinating story and craft was one that belonged online. It was time to make up for lost time, the loss of almost two decades of hiding his light under a bushel.
Fast forward those couple of months, and Joe now has his online presence, his window on the world and the world’s window on him and his creations. Joe does the making, and I do the marketing.
You can visit the JVD Claddagh Rings shop here.