Ambition A.M. meets Claudia Bradby, founder of Claudia Bradby Jewellery, to talk about the power of narrative when building a successful independent brand.
Claudia Bradby, 55, founded Claudia Bradby Jewellery in 2003 on a mission to make pearls – which have long been worn as a sign of wealth and status – available and wearable for everyone.
After she secured one of her first big brand collaborations with Kate Middleton and women’s clothing brand Jigsaw in 2010, her designs have since become something of a fashion statement for many.
The brand’s pieces – which start at £75 and can cost up to £200 – have adorned many high-profile names, including the Princess of Wales herself, English actor Helen Mirren and singer-songwriter Sam Smith.
These high-profile customers have catapulted Claudia Bradby Jewellery into the limelight.
In June, after an online redesign and push in marketing efforts, Claudia Bradby’s online sales were up 44 per cent year-on-year, with overall net revenue up 23 per cent.
The team has also started ramping up its sustainability efforts — with an eye on B-Corp status in the near future — having partnered with 1 per cent for the Planet, an initiative that pledges one per cent of annual turnover to social and environmental causes.
All about the narrative
“I have always loved stories – fictional and life stories – but it took me a while to realise that in the world of business, particularly running a small one, these are crucial,” Bradby says.
“They are crucial in allowing people to engage with your brand, and, inevitably, they forge the strongest connection with those for whom the stories truly resonate – your customers and advocators.”
Claudia Bradby
Indeed, many of her freshwater pearl collections are inspired by and created based on her own personal experiences — including titles such as ‘meditative’, ‘the world is your oyster’, and ‘stronger together’ — which she believes connects with her audience fairly well.
However, over the past few years Claudia Bradby Jewellery has had to compete with a range of new challengers that have entered the market.
“One of the challenges we’ve had over the last two years is a lot of brands have piled into the pearl market,” she says.
She says the secret to staying ahead is staying true to the brand’s authenticity and offerings while finding new and innovative ways to communicate that to an audience.
Especially when the pearl industry is often “unregulated in terms of standardisation of quality.”
“We’ve done a whole piece of work over the last six months to just reconfirm everything that you get from Claudia Bradby,” she says.
“We’ve [even] done some education pieces around what is a pearl.”
The power of transition
Launched over two decades ago, Claudia Bradby Jewellery has taken its founder on a journey — a journey that’s not always been easy.
Bradby laughs as she recalls all the mistakes she’s made over the past two decades, but despite these errors, she’s maintained the path to growth.
In the past few years, pivoting to focus on online sales and customer outreach has been crucial for the brand’s survival.
“I think the thing that will keep us growing is understanding our customer better,” she says.
Indeed, with a new re-brand strategy in full swing and a growing passion for the product she is creating, things might begin to look up for the jeweller — and time is no obstacle for someone determined to succeed.