Last Updated on February 12, 2019 by TPS Blog Admin
Scholarship Pearl Essay Winner: Reinventing Grandma’s Pearls
Here at The Pearl Source, we understand the value of education. Getting a quality education is never free. There are many costs that come with higher education, from tuition to books, from supplies to living expenses. A scholarship helps with these costs.
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2017 Pearl Essay Scholarship Winner
In an effort to help with the costs of going to college, we award scholarships annually. These $1,000 college scholarship awards may be used at any higher learning institution. For 2017, we asked applicants the following:
Pearls are classified as an old fashioned jewelry item. How would you market or brand pearls to make them trendy again?
After careful consideration, and we had some amazing submissions, we finally chose our 2017 The Pearl Source Scholarship Winner:
Larsen Hodges
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The World is My Oyster
Reinvent grandma’s pearls. Give them new life. Take them clubbing. Think outside the oyster.
A classic, hand-knotted strand of graduated pearls is not typically the go-to piece in a twentysomething’s jewelry box, but modern sophistication does not have to exclude the bounty of the sea.
No matter how much I love my grandmothers, looking like them at age 17 or being perceived as an octogenarian is not on my bucket list. While I love my own pearls as well and wear them, I am admittedly in a minority. The difference is, however, I don’t dress, act, or look like my grandmothers. The world is my oyster and I want to live life to its fullest!
Image Source: Etsy
Thinking Outside the Oyster
Pearls have a reputation for being staid and old-fashioned–or at least that is what a plain strand of white pearls blending with its neutral background on a barren website says to today’s younger generation. It represents Grandma’s pearls, lifeless in a box. No matter how young at heart Grandma may be, that is not what a woman aspires to be when she is young.
Pearls have the stigma of Grandma’s perceived lifestyle, and unfortunately, that also means: lifeless, lackluster, zapped, tired. Pearls–beautiful, shiny, colorful, lustrous pearls–have lost their appeal to the younger generation, but that appeal can be rebranded and reborn. One has to think outside the oyster.
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Pearls for the Hip 20s & 30s
In order to appeal to twenty-and thirty-somethings, an iconic look and face must represent the true natural beauty of pearls. The fresh face of the new pearl.
Pearls must be reexamined and given new life, and that is best accomplished by giving them a younger, hipper, more spontaneous look. We want to take them out for a night on the town.
Put pearls with denim. Why not?
Image Source: May Kool
Pearls & a Zest for Life
Women want to be energized and appear eternally youthful. A dull and boring advertisement or website portrayal is anything but inspiring. A young woman does not want to put on a necklace that screams “dull” as she stands at a bar surrounded by a hip crowd.
She wants her accessories to reflect that she is fun, in-the-know, trendy, and lives in the moment. Pearls, in any form, need to be portrayed with wild abandon, throwing caution to the wind, and giving the air of youthful confidence and zest for life!
Picture a close-up of a twenty-something young woman. Wispy hair, with a floppy hat partially covering one side of her forehead. She wears skinny jeans. A luxurious sweater. A long strand of pearls is casually tied around her neck, gently cradled in cashmere.
Image Source: Etsy
The light is diffused, softly ebbing to the edge of the image. She is blowing a pile of pearls of all shapes and colors like glitter off her hand, eyes closed. Dream-like. Passionate. The pearls seem to float and disperse like they were weightless. They float like glitter.
She becomes the standard for excellence, beauty, and success. Our modern age sophisticate is playful and spontaneous, yet classic. Her success is marked by her pearls. My generation wants it all.
The Iconic Faces of the New Pearl Generation
This is our generation’s, Audrey Hepburn. Our Elizabeth Taylor. Which iconic face appeals to our generation? Emma Watson? Natalie Portman?
The savvy young woman, smart, job offers in hand, out of college. She is on top of the world, and her pearls mark her brilliance, sass, and success. Think hip. Spontaneous. Fun.
Image Source: Ali Express
A website and marketing campaign must be aligned with the desired audience. Pearls, no matter Tahitian, cultured, or natural, must shine against their backgrounds. White pearls on a white background are like white bread.
Pearls must swim off the page and off the screen, bathed in youthful spontaneity and glee. A youthful campaign with a current face will represent success and beauty to a new generation.
Pearls can and should be showcased in their full glory and are deserving of a colorful rebirth.
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