The Story Behind the 2018 CPAA Pearl Supplement: Why We Made Changes

New York City, June 22, 2018. By now, many of you have noticed a beautiful Tahitian-pearl-covered publication that poly-bagged with the May issue of Instore magazine. That supplement is dubbed Pearls and is the annual pre-Las Vegas publication of this nonprofit. CPAA has put one together for the past 10 years at the request of members who want to reach jewelry store owners attending the Las Vegas trade shows. And if you haven’t already noticed, this year’s publication is different from those of the past. Why? Because every aspect of the CPAA has been scrutinized for improvement since my arrival in January, so naturally the supplement, too, came under the microscope.

CPAA 2018 Supplement cover

My friend and partner at CPAA, Kathy Grenier, has been the sole force behind the supplement. She did a masterful job doing everything from writing content to planning out each page. But when our combined skills teamed up in 2018—I have a 20-year background in jewelry and fashion publishing—she and I decided that we had the know-how and ability to produce everything ourselves. By utilizing our own talents—writing, photo shoot experience, marketing, and Rolodexes full of talented photographers and art directors—we could produce our own supplement and mail it to retailers via the industry partner who offered the best value. Every company is spending smarter these days, so, of course, CPAA should as well. We shopped around, looked at costs versus benefits, and chose a publishing partner that gave our participating members the best deal on our stunning and well-written 28-page mini magazine.

Ted Morrison shooting loose pearls for the CPAA supplement

Loose pearls on set for the shooting of the 2018 CPAA supplement! 

By partnering with Instore, we reached the entire population of U.S. jewelry retailers, got a beautiful printed publication, a digital book that was distributed via email, and the comfort of knowing the CPAA was supporting a beloved and respected industry trade publication. Plus, we had enough money to design every inch of the book. We worked with the talented photographer Ted Morrison of New York City to obtain gorgeous still-life photos of loose pearls that are featured on nearly every editorial page as well as the front and back covers. Our award-winning art director Todd Gast lent his expert visual eye to every page—including the ads, all of which featured a custom company bio and original photography. Our copy editor Richard Dalglish made sure that every bit of copy was wittily written and expertly polished. We saved so much money by taking the entire production in house and partnering with Instore that we were able to offer our members this stunning new look at a much lower cost than in the past.

Loose pearls on set at Lenflash Studio in Manhattan, where we shot the layouts for all the ads in the supplement

More loose pearls shot at Lenflash for the ads in the supplement

Every page, no matter the subject, is tied together through a common design theme. Every pearl image celebrates the beauty of that variety. Every story is written to appeal to merchants who are considering how to spend their open-to-buy dollars at the upcoming trade shows. And every inch of the supplement celebrates these organic and sustainable gems that grow in myriad colors, shapes, and sizes.

We hope you enjoy the supplement—see the digital book here.

Want to take part in the next one (sorry to those few companies we had to turn away, we ran out of space and time!), see something change, or have an idea for a different one? Let me or Kathy know at Jennifer@jenniferheebner.com or Kathyspearl@gmail.com. [You must be a member to buy an ad.] And if there’s any way CPAA can better serve our pearl-loving members, please know that we value your opinions and feedback, so do reach out.

This is proprietary CPAA content and may not be duplicated.