Marketing ways of craft objects in Turkey: Observing small-scale batch designers and entrepreneurs in jewelry market

The market is a complex mix with its producers, craftspeople, well-known brand companies, small craft stores, galleries, museums, consumers and even government agencies. It is easier to understand jewelry entrepreneurs as being part of this unity and that everything affects the other. So a wide range of literature is reviewed on marketing, consumption culture and the current market situation in Turkey. As a result of research on marketing literature, possible marketing ways of the designer-makers are examined by a marketing mix. Considering that production, design and marketing are directly related to sales and consumers, this study focused on the business processes of the jewelry designer-makers. Therefore this study includes; their craft designs and the values attached to them, pricing policies, how designers promote these crafts to their consumers, points of sale, the people they work with, their communications with their consumers and their related networking, the overall business processes and the physical possibilities they offer to their consumers. In a part of this thesis interviews are conducted with the designer-marketers who have been in the jewelry craft market for many years in Turkey. All these designer-marketers have started working in the jewelry craft market with a small budget and become personal brands in Turkey. The different viewpoints of Nelli Gavriyeloğlu, Arman Suciyan, Zeynep Erol, Verda Alaton, Ela Cindoruk-Nazan Pak and Burcu Büyükünal who were interviewed for this thesis, provided valuable inputs to this study in terms of the findings of this research. Throughout the collected data from the internet, observations throughout the thesis and interviews with these designer-makers; their marketing ways were primarily separated and categorized. Throughout observations during those interviews, the study reached the conclusion that designer-makers do not just craft an object; but also produce and sell emotions, thoughts, lifestyles, status and products through their crafts. Throughout literature researches, interviews and observations, this study determined the main aim of the thesis which is the current marketing ways of the jewelry designer-makers. Moreover, the methods of adding value to the crafts are observed throughout these marketing ways. In addition to these findings, issues are discussed such as; designers' perspectives on their work and marketing, the importance of brand integrity and how the designer-marketers provide this. The effects of fast consumption culture onto designers' work, and marketing difficulties experienced by designer-makers due to market structure is also discussed. Moreover, although their crafts and perspectives were different, some common themes of the jewelry craft designers were observed.