Dear Lilian,

2020 marks our 100th year in business. What should we do to celebrate our business anniversary?

Eisabetta Molina
Garavelli

Hello Elisabetta and my beloved readers!

First, my apologies for missing Las Vegas Jewelry Week! I missed spending time with all of you, but the PR Advisor was needed in Montreal to assist a fabulous Quebecois husband and wife jewelry duo in charting a new course for their business.

In our two intensive days together, I made them laugh, I made them cry, I made them dig deep into their souls to get to the very truth of their business. They emerged from their two days with me battered, bruised, but reborn with a new strategy and a clear direction. I can’t call victory until our work together takes hold and they’re raking in the dollars. I’m by their side until this happens.

If your business could use the same two-day intensive session, don’t hesitate to contact me. My passport is my most prized non-jewelry possession, so anywhere you may be in the world, I’m here for you.

This is why I missed you all during Las Vegas. I hope all of you are raking in the dollars from the shows!

Now to you, Elisabetta, and the many options you have for celebrating this momentous occasion of your business anniversary.

I have no doubt your great grandfather, Mario Garavelli, is looking down with tremendous pride at the work you and your brother have done to take his vision to new heights. While you absolutely must celebrate what your family has accomplished, Garavelli’s story doesn’t belong to you alone. It also belongs to your customers.

Without your customers – both the retailers that enthusiastically stock your collection and the women who proudly adorn themselves in Garavelli – this centenarian anniversary would never have been possible.

You MUST include them in your celebration.

Yes, have a party and do everything every brand does to celebrate their 100th year. Run ads in magazines, redo your website with anniversary branding and blah, blah, blah, snooze.

When you’ve gotten all of that out of your system, it’s time to truly and personally acknowledge the role of your customers in this achievement.

Between now and eight months before your official anniversary date, I want you to pull out your rolodex. Yes, rolodex! We’re talking 100 years here! We need to build a comprehensive list and I seriously doubt your great-grandfather Mario, grandfather Aldo or father Averne kept their customers’ list in Outlook!

You’re going to contact every still-living person who has ever added $1, one euro or one lira to the Garavelli coffers, Elisabetta, and tell them why they’re an important part of your celebration. You’re going to ask them, per favore, to write a statement, send a picture, make a video – anything they’d like to do – talking about their relationship with Garavelli.

Ask for confessions on what Garavelli has meant to them. How did they discover Garavelli? What made them buy the pieces they own? How do those pieces make them feel when they wear them? What do those pieces mean to them? Why have they kept their relationship with Garavelli all these years?

These people shaped Garavelli into the illustrious, international company of today, and they, too, deserve to feel some personal pride in your company’s 100th year celebration.

These confessions, along with whatever photos and videos you’re able to obtain, should then be used to create a tribute website to your customers. We want the Garavelli story told in their words, not your own.

What makes a better impression? Me telling you how great I am, or 1000 people telling you how great I am?

Exactly.

Launch the website three to four months before your official anniversary date and use social media to tease out the confessions showcased on the site.

And before you throw the greatest centenarian anniversary party Valenza has ever seen, take those confessions, along with photographs of your jewelry throughout the years, and create a limited-edition book. This book is your gift to everyone that offered a confession and those that attend the party.

What do you think of “Garavelli Confessions: 100 Years” as a book title? Non importa. We can figure that out later!

It’s one thing to simply thank your customers, and quite another to make them an integral part of your business anniversary celebration.

What makes a better impression? Me thanking you for being a great customer? Or me thanking you for being a great customer while I’m flying you on a private jet to a secluded island where you will be pampered to your heart’s content?

Exactly.

Without 100 years of fabulous customers, Garavelli would not be what it is now.

If you’re going to say grazie, say grazie mille.

This is where I kindly remind you I have a passport, some yet-unstamped pages, and a yearning to continue my tour of Italy. I’ll be mailing you one euro to contribute to the Garavelli coffers so I, too, may get an invitation to your business anniversary grand gala!

Addio, mio caro amico, Elisabetta. I’m excited to see what you do.

And to my dearest readers, until next time!

Arrivederci!