• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, March 8, 2012

When it comes to jewelry, women want to share. At least that’s the philosophy driving the success of Pandora, the Danish company that makes those pretty little charms jangling on so many women’s wrists these days.

Pandora just shot to No. 2 among jewelry brands on Unity Marketing’s Luxury Tracking survey, second only to Tiffany, and blowing past Cartier, Bulgari and David Yurman.

“It’s got very smart marketing,” Pam Danziger, Unity’s president, tells Marketing Daily. “The price points are very attractive, and because women can personalize the pieces, the company has transformed the purchase from just buying jewelry to making a memory.”

Beads, charms and baubles can commemorate anything from the birth of a child to a new car to a promotion at work, and range from $25 to $850. The average Pandora household spends about $400 per year adding to each bracelet or necklace, which typically winds up sporting between 15 and 17 charms and beads. Many women rearrange and freshen up the mix on a daily basis, or have one dedicated just to their family, or one for more dressed-up occasions. 

“Most jewelry is exclusive, and it’s about something I have, that you don’t have,” Angel Ilagan, the brand’s VP of marketing in North America, tells Marketing Daily. “Pandora is much more inclusive, and it’s a conversation starter. It celebrates what a woman has accomplished.”

While the brand is facing some struggles globally as it wrestles with inventory issues, North American revenues rose 12.4% last year, in local currency. The product has been available in the U.S. since 2003, and he says the company it’s setting its sight one expanding West Coast sales.

The company’s success depends on three core audiences, he explains. The first are women, 18 to 54, “who use our charm bracelets to communicate who they are, and use the charms to share their stories,” he says. “Second, there are the male gift givers in her life, who are likely to give her a new charm several times a year, on any one of the 12 gift occasions we’ve identified. A third audience that’s emerging for us is younger women, say between 13 and 24, who we are targeting via their mom.”

To reach all three groups, he says the company spends about $50 million in marketing in North America, ranging from TV, print, online, mobile, and direct mail, including efforts timed to remind customers of upcoming anniversaries and birthdays. “We are in the affordable luxury segment,” Ilagan says. “There’s no guilt associated with it, and it’s longer-lasting than flowers.”

Because it gets women talking, he says it makes sense that the brand engages consumers so well, both on Facebook, and among its club members. (A study from L2 last year ranked the brand No. 1 for fan engagement in the jewelry category.) Pandora fans aren’t just highly engaged, though, they’re big recommenders, “with 93% of those who buy the product recommending to a friend, family member or loved one.”

The products, crafted in Thailand, are sold in more than 65 countries on six continents through over 10,500 points of sale, including more than 670 concept stores.