For the past 15 years BC Clark Jewelers has celebrated Mother’s Day starting in early May with its Pay It Momward gift drop event. Since the event’s inception in 2009, Pay It Momward has evolved and grown into one of the store’s most anticipated events of the year. Social media platforms, including TikTok in more recent years, have created much of the community buzz and excitement for the Mother’s Day free gift drop event.
Many retail jewelers do well with embedding themselves in the community and markets served. But BC Clark Jewelers is a total powerhouse when it comes to community outreach, name/brand awareness and market penetration. For starters, the jeweler has been one of the longest-running retail jewelers in Oklahoma, the Midwest and the country. Since 1892, BC Clark Jewelers has grown from one small store in Purcell, Oklahoma to three stores in Oklahoma City.
And, a discussion of BC Clark’s community loyalty wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the store’s famous Anniversary Sale Christmas Jingle. In 1956, BC Clark paid an ad agency $300 to create a jingle for the store’s pre-Christmas Anniversary Sale. Six years later a new jingle was introduced. After numerous complaints by phone to the store, the original jingle was brought back in Christmas 1963. It’s been going strong ever since.
The jingle is so entrenched in Oklahoma City’s seasonal celebrations it is played on local radio stations along with familiar traditional and contemporary Christmas songs. The jingle has its own website, Facebook page (and other social media platforms). It can even be downloaded from Spotify, and YouTube videos have thousands if not 1 million-plus unique views. Some years BC Clark will conduct a man-on-the-street sing along video as part of its Christmas advertising. Citizens of Oklahoma sing it dutifully, on cue and in full, without hesitation.
With so much loyalty and name recognition in the Oklahoma City market it’s no wonder an event dedicated to mothers has performed so well over the last decade plus. BC Clark’s Director of Marketing Courtney Sivard is quick to give other retail jewelers credit for the free gift drop event idea on other gift-giving holidays – most notably Valentine’s Day. But BC Clark is one of the first to dedicate such an event exclusively to Mother’s Day, according to Courtney.
When a store event celebrates milestone anniversaries they’ve hit marketing and promotional pay dirt. In 2009, the Mother’s Day gift giveaway, drop site event was called OMG, which was shorthand for “Our Mother’s Day Gift to You,” according to Courtney. When the power of the hashtag became more popular in social media #PayItMomward was born.
“It was a little catchier and easier for people to digest,” says Courtney. “What made it unique was no one we knew of in our market had done something similar. It was a completely free promotion for people around the city to participate in that was all based on luck. We partnered with YWCA for the charity give back that year. We are proud to say, we have trademarked ‘Pay it Momward’ so we intend to keep its legacy alive long into the future.”
Social media websites were up and running when Pay It Momward got its start, but BC Clark relied on word-of-mouth and old media favorites including press releases to raise awareness of the event. (In recent years digital countdown billboards for Pay It Momward have been hugely successful in building awareness and excitement for the event.) But in 2012, BC Clark’s marketing management team at the time tweaked and tinkered with ways to increase awareness and participation on social media starting with Facebook.
And, as the event’s social media postings grew beyond Facebook, new platforms such as Instagram and more recently TikTok have taken community awareness, involvement and engagement to new levels. Of course old habits die hard. Facebook was the first social media platform for the contest. This platform continues to be the social media destination leader.
“Facebook by far has been our most successful by being the most followed on social media,” says Courtney. “I believe that the reason for this is because at its inception Facebook was the social media platform that BC Clark used the most and that our customers did. As our followers of this have gotten younger, the other social media platforms have added a boost, but most still use Facebook to follow. Some of that is also the difference in the algorithm between Meta platforms/TikTok. It is typical for Facebook to show those who interact with your post quicker, where Instagram, a lot of time, people won’t see it in real time.”
The gift-giving portion of the event is straightforward – 21 gifts during the 10 days leading up to Mother’s Day. (The final gift is dropped and promoted on Mother’s Day.) The total dollar amount spent on gifts ranges from $1,500 to $2,000, or roughly $100 per gift. The math isn’t that exacting with some gifts tipping the dollar scale more than others based on informal criteria. Essentially, “we tend to pick pieces of jewelry that any mom who finds it can wear and enjoy,” says Courtney.
And, such a hotly anticipated event is a perfect opportunity to include leading designers, Courtney added. Also, when buying jewelry at trade shows, BC Clark buyers can’t help but bring back items exclusively for the Pay It Momward event.
Drop sites are decided by the marketing team. Weekend days have “double drops” which help amp up the social media gains. But it’s Oklahoma. Weather conditions have a role in gift-drop decisions. In 2023, Oklahoma had 74 tornadoes, according to National Weather Service records. But the main goal is to drop gifts where the moms are – parks, book stores, grocery stores, and retail outlets to name a few.
Since year one of the event BC Clark has added a cause marketing component to Pay It Momward. The first year was the YWCA. Event followers and enthusiasts have suggested charities or churches over the years. But more recently Pay It Momward’s cause-marketing connection has been Infant Crisis Services (ICS).
“This year, on top of donating to ICS, our incredible family of employees also came together to donate over 236 pounds of diapers, wipes, and other necessities to ICS,” says Courtney. “In addition, we did an anonymous drop that was not posted inside of the ICS store, for a deserving mom to find.”
Pay It Momward has given BC Clark an incredible market and marketing trifecta. The physical presence of three stores increases market dominance and foot traffic. The Anniversary Sale Christmas jingle offers top-of-mind awareness before and during the busiest shopping time of the year. And, Pay It Momward is such a self-driving social media sensation it’s practically self-aware.
“Tags and Shares on social media have grown to more than we could ever have hoped to on our own,” says Courtney. “It truly is an event that belongs to the community and they help to keep it popular and going year after year. Also, the marketing metrics and social media gains have their place. But this has never been the aim of this promotion. It is about celebrating our community and the important women who help keep it going.”
