The model and entrepreneur Miranda Kerr has signed on as a Michael Hill ambassador. Photograph courtesy of Michael Hill. Back when the first Michael Hill Jeweller store opened in Whāngarei, north of Auckland, New Zealand, in 1979, the eponymous founder’s aim was to make buying jewellery less intimidating for customers. The store was designed with a large, welcoming entrance and customers were warmly invited to try on the wares. Four decades on, retail conditions have changed dramatically, along with the cost of metals and the weight given to sustainability. Hill, now 85, is still involved in the business, but in 2021 Jo Feeney was brought in as chief marketing officer, joining a company that was primed for change.
A marketing guru with a passion for helping brands, Feeney came to the jeweller from McDonald’s, where, among other firsts, she was part of the team that introduced touch-screen kiosks. Feeney has been tasked with driving Michael Hill into a more premium, aspirational space, and has embarked on what she calls a “holistic brand transformation”. This month, the Australian model and entrepreneur Miranda Kerr joins Michael Hill as its first-ever ambassador, a role she’ll take on for 18 months, augmenting a host of micro influencers and helping to spearhead the brand’s move into the high Jewellery space as it begins to sell items priced several hundred thousand dollars. “Getting close to a million dollars,” Feeney says.
Kerr, who appeared in a Michael Hill catalogue as one of her very first modelling jobs, today sits atop a minor beauty empire with her Kora Organics range. Says Feeney, “She’s built a really successful career alongside her amazing modelling career, and she’s built her own business, which is very sustainably focused. That’s part of our long-term brand positioning — to be one of the most sustainable jewellery brands in the world.”
Michael Hill’s revamp comes on the back of what the company concedes has been a “challenging period”, which included a spate of “ram-raid” and “smash-and-grab” burglaries in New Zealand. In the 26 weeks ending December 1, 2023, total sales were up 4.1 per cent on 2022, at $362.8 million, but down compared with the first half of 2023.
Laboratory-grown diamonds, which are certified sustainability rated and climate neutral, make up about 10 per cent of Michael Hill’s diamond mix, and the company plans to increase the offering across diamond fashion in 2024. “We thought it was going to be that younger audience who genuinely are more sustainability-focused,” Feeney says of the market. “It’s fair to say over the last six months or so it’s become a little bit more mainstream.” Lab-grown diamonds have the same chemical, physical and optical properties as natural diamonds, she notes. “As people understand that, they have really adopted them more.
“It’s not just about us winning in that space, it’s about us helping drive everybody else to be better when it comes to sustainability,” Feeney continues. A certified member of the Responsible Jewellery Council, Michael Hill sources only conflict-free natural diamonds, and consumers can recycle their gold at Michael Hill.
Feeney says that while the brand remains faithful to its millions of loyalty members, “we definitely want that new customer to see us differently”. The brand’s expansion into high jewellery “takes us into that evening and event space, the red carpet, Oscars-wearable-type pieces”.
Michael Hill’s rebranding coincides with the opening of its first global flagship store, in Chadstone, Melbourne. The space has been designed with creative agency The General Store and has its own bespoke scent and soundtrack. The Sydney-based artist Dina Broadhurst contributed a custom artwork.
Reflecting on the brand’s transformation, Feeney says, “I wanted it to be done in a way that in 10 years’ time, if someone came and sat in my chair, they’re not going to feel the need to make any other change. It should really be a lasting change.”
