The Pandora Story Part 2

A Recap

We have already discussed in the previous post how Pandora went from a small store in Copenhagen, to manufacturing in Thailand to becoming a global empire for jewelry, the largest in terms of volume!
However, in terms of sales, Pandora has had a bit of a rocky patch. It is no doubt that products like this experience a spike during Black Friday and Christmas, but the question is, how do they stay relevant consistently. It's all about how they interact with their groundswell. In this post, we will look at people's awareness of the Pandora brand, we will do a SWOT Analysis and we will speculate how they can do better in terms of listening to the groundswell and responding back.

"Halloween is around the corner," says Pandora, "Trick-or-TREAT yourself with some of our favorite charms this month"

Brand Awareness / Social Mention

Pandora is doing well in terms of passion, they have successfully reached a 51%.  This means that there is a greater likelihood that people are talking about the brand repeatedly. The sentiments from the audience are more positive than negative. The sentiment is more positive and neutral, as opposed to negative.

We can also say that their reach has expanded because of their latest re-branding effort on August 29, 2019. Pandora's re-brand is an effort to encourage people to personalize and customize their jewelry. This further encourages diversity, self-expression and confidence. The event in Los Angeles (of painting the streets pink) featured #PandoraMuses like model & activist Georgia May Jagger and consultant & writer Margaret Zhang.
This is a way to energize the groundswell! People took pictures in the streets that turned pink and shared it on social media.

Keywords: When searching on Social Media, there are always certain keywords that tend to be picked up. Since Pandora announced that the new face of their organization will be Millie Bobby Brown (from the Netflix Series Stranger Things), the words "Millie", "Bobby" and "Brown" appeared on the keywords. Also, the words collection and charm, which are also common words that we can see on the Pandora website. Their popular collections are Pandora X Disney and the Fall Collection.

A SWOT Analysis

Strengths: This particular brand seems to know their target audience and their changing needs. The target market today is politically aware, diverse and focused on self and identity expression.
According to the book we read (Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies), "Companies can connect with their users using this new technology or tap into conversations that are already happening". Pandora definitely taps into existing conversations, let's look at their pop culture collections, their seasonal collections and their newest product.
The Pandora O pendant combines the use of necklaces along with their signature charms.

Weaknesses: Although Pandora has become synonymous with affordable jewelry, they still have not been able to surpass their competitors. Tiffany and Co. has an under $250 range and Kay Jewelers has promotions so often, how will Pandora differentiate themselves? As seen in the social mention analysis, Pandora needs more passionate customers who are loyal to the brand. The graphic shows how Pandora and Tiffany are on the competing range, but still the interest for jewelry in general seems to be higher.

Opportunities: In a tough market, Pandora is relying on various opportunities to make its mark. They are bolstering their brand loyalty by re-branding and using influencers. According to this Reuters article, Pandora is currently doing the following:
1. Double market investments in Italy, the UK and China: This makes sense as Italy is #2 on the interest map and the UK is #5 and China has a huge untapped market. They can also try and boost sales in other

2. Bring in celebrities and digital media influencers to boost sales: Which is what they do in their celebrity collaborations and events.

Threats: Although Pandora has a relatively global reach, they can increase their visibility in countries like USA and the UK where there are the presence of competing brands. Since Pandora plans to market to the general public and not to a niche market, their biggest threat is the large number of competitors. Here is how little interest exists for Pandora as compared to jewelry in general. That means there is a demand for jewelry, but is there the same demand for Pandora?

Recommendations 

1. Instagram: Pandora can focus social media efforts on Instagram and Facebook both. Since more youth is switching to Instagram, more brands are concentrating their marketing efforts of Instagram. This Entrepreneur article highlights how brands like Airbnb, Tesla and Lego leverage the power of Instagram. 

2. Activations and Pop-ups: The re-launch event in Los Angeles proves that an innovative activation idea can go far, especially for a brand like Pandora that is launching new collections and products so often. 

Conclusion

Alexander Lacik, the chief executive of Pandora told NY times "After some soul searching, we've worked out where we need to be: Pandora provides you with the canvas and some brushes and inspiration, but ultimately, you create the picture" 

I think this quote aptly summarizes the new vision of Pandora. They still have a long way to go, more of the groundswell to impact and more change to create, but it's going to be a great journey!