Suzanna Hammond passes
PR guru Suzanna Hammond has died
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Jewellery stalwart Suzanna Hammond, the luxury and lifestyle PR guru, has died. Suzanna was a well known, well liked personality within the jewellery industry, who was always perfectly turned out, with a glamorous aura and friendly and warm personality to match. She had set up Hammond PR in the early 1990s after being on the board at Ogilvy Mather and became the go-to agency for jewellery and luxury sectors.
Suzanna and her team achieved a reputation for their professionalism, intelligent strategies and considered advice, advising on corporate social responsibility and liaising with government for the BG Group and BG Foundation. When working with the Arcadia Group, Hammond PR masterminded the re-launch of Topshop at Oxford Circus.
“Suzanna had a real flair for pitching a story with legs, humour and where possible with an added touch of glitter.”
Hammond PR won the PR Week Consumer Campaign of the Year award twice in a row. Once for the British Tomato Growers Association for a humorous campaign to launch the British Tomato brand – Sex, Bugs and Rock ‘n Roll. And again for States of Jersey with an imaginative campaign featuring TV’s favourite detective Bergerac trying to solve the mysterious disappearance of the precious Jersey Royal potatoes, positioning the Jersey Royal as ‘Brown Gold’.
However, Suzanna's real love was always for the luxury jewellery and lifestyle sector.
Suzanna was a familiar figure at jewellery industry trade events both in the UK and abroad - she led the UK PR team for Baselworld for twelve years as well as for International Jewellery London (IJL) being the trade face for over fourteen years.
She and her team created the Bright New Gems initiative for IJL, now in its nineteenth year - a mentoring scheme for graduating BA and MA jewellery designers. Suzanna’s love of the buzz around, shows, talent, promotion and relationships was truly infectious, and many a young designer and start-up benefitted from her know-how and knowledge. She enjoyed nurturing happy relationships with colleges and universities in order to help their graduates take a leap into the commercial world as well as forging new introductions with industry to create opportunities and new connections leading to work and employment.
Loved for her enthusiasm, Suzanna ran her marketing communications and PR business through referrals and word of mouth, which is a testament to the quality of her work and the relationships she created with her clients. She retained her client base year after year and favoured a 360 degree’ approach based on a blend of consultancy, marketing and PR support, backed up by relevant experience and impressive contacts which worked well for clients that included industry establishments such as The Goldsmiths’ Craft and Design Council and The Houlden Group, newcomer Colormond, as well as well-known names such as de Grisogono, Richard Ogden, Leo de Vroomen, Philippa Herbert and Bernard Delettrez and iconic designers, Fei Liu and Tomasz Donocik and Zeemou Zeng, Victor Wong, Beau Han Xu and Isabella Liu – all of whom became good friends.
Suzanna Hammond was a friend of Benchpeg, encouraging, promoting and endorsing its work from the outset. Suzanna had the ability to make you feel valued and important to her, and without fail, and always had a broad smile for you when you bumped into her.
Benchpeg will miss her very much, and is all the greater for having had the privilege of knowing and working with her, like so many in the jewellery industry over the years who’s careers she touched.
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