Poonam Soni and Vikram Raizada enthrall jewellery enthusiasts with exclusive Workshop at the Make In India Week in Mumbai

‘Revolutionizing the jewellery industry through globalization’ workshop steals the show with invaluable insights and compelling narrative

Mumbai: Poonam Soni, one of the key pioneers of bespoke jewellery and Vikram Raizada, a renowned industry professional with a career spanning over 24 years in sectors ranging from luxury to fashion and ecommerce to media, presented a workshop on ‘Revolutionizing the jewellery industry through globalization’. This one of its kind and only jewellery workshop within the mammoth Make in India week in Mumbai took place on February 17th on the Luxe Day.

Poonam Soni with her discerning presentation led the 60-odd audience through India's journey of evolution by way of fashion in the jewellery industry to think corporate. Soni who has worked with LVMH at the 'Incredible India Show', the Spanish government, Prince Albert in the Eco Art parade and recently participated in the New York fashion weeks, also brought in to the spotlight the ever evolving jewellery trends in India, the award functions, jewellery shows, technological prowess in production and the emergence of a whole new industry of jewellery publications.

Raizada began his presentation by explaining significance of the gems and jewellery industry in the Make in India Movement which has brought in a new wave of industrialization to the country.  He highlighted growth potential of the industry by emphasizing on the estimate that the current gems and jewellery retail market size i.e. $50 billion dollar is expected to touch $100 billion-mark by 2020. According to Raizada, the macro triggers to such growth are some key shifts at the consumer-end such as transition from fitting in (to the convention) to standing out of the conventional imagery (which eventually led to the rise of fashion in jewellery) or from investment to adornment and other significant developments such as rise of individualism and, of course, growth of social media and the digital influence.  According to the latest data available, over 125 million Indians are on Facebook, over 50 million Indians are using WhatsApp and over 75% luxury sales are estimated to be influenced by social media.

“Indian consumers are showing greater interest in trends. Quick adoption of fast fashion is a reality in India.  Spanish fashion brand Zara clocking $100 million in sales in India within five years of its India launch proves the fact,” explained Raizada to an enthralled audience.

“The days of launching handful of campaigns in print or launching two collections a year are gone. In this year of social media, jewellers need to create continuous dialogue with the consumers. Consumers are now playing an extremely pro-active role by commenting on various social media platforms,” said Raizada.

“Luxury consumer decision journey is now fragmented and comprises of multiple touch points. Erstwhile passive monologues have become dynamic ‘multilogues'. Building brand equity is more a marathon than a sprint which involves developing brand awareness, reputation and category relevance,” said Raizada who worked with renowned brands  and companies such as Amazon India, Tara Jewels, Lakme Fashion Week, MTV, Vh1, Gucci, Rosy Blue, Cadbury's and Parle Soft Drinks to name a few.

The presentations by Soni and Raizada were a winning combination of luxury and jewellery market statistics which enthralled the audience. Enthusiastic participation by the audience in the brief Q & A session after the presentations ended the session on an extremely encouraging note.