Underwood Masters Art of Ads

What do former Miami Dolphins Coach Don Shula, golfer Raymond Floyd and Stephens Inc. Chairman Jack T. Stephens, have in common? They all know to go to Underwood’s Inc. in Fayetteville to avoid buying “leaky” diamonds.

Bill Underwood, president of the jewelry store, starting doing radio ads for his Dickson Street business in 1959 and TV spots by 1963. Early on, he had to drive to what was then the area’s only TV station, KFSM in Fort Smith, to do the “face-on” portions of the ads.

From the beginning, he built name recognition for Underwood’s with catchy phrases and straight-talk. Today, his quips about low-grade diamonds that leak light from the bottom rather than shining with brilliance are local lore.

“The ‘leaky diamonds’ phrase actually was first said by a customer who brought in a piece for us to look at,” Underwood said. “Then we had the ‘floating gold’ ads at a time when cheap gold was being sold at 70-90 percent discounts. We just want our customers to understand quality.”

Craig Underwood, Bill’s son and the company’s vice president, said the firm’s marketing paid off when Floyd once asked Stephens for a good jewelry store reference. Stephens suggested Underwood’s, but Floyd initially dismissed the Arkansas store until he was visiting with his neighbors — Don and Maria Shula.

Maria is from Fort Smith, and upon hearing that Floyd wanted to buy his wife a 10-caret diamond ring she convinced him to look no further than Fayetteville.

Underwood said the firm’s entire marketing strategy was designed to eliminate some of the intimidation factor most customers feel when purchasing big ticket items such as jewelry. Floyd, obviously, only needed the “word-of-mouth.”

A hallmark of the campaigns has been honesty, which Underwood said is backed up by three employees —him, son Craig and sales manager Cindy Coeney — who all hold the distinction of being certified gemologist appraisers.

Over the years Underwood’s has gotten so good at advertising that it has formed its own ad agency subsidiary, The William Gravely Agency Inc., which produces and places all of Underwood’s spots.

Craig does most of the production work using the more than $150,000 worth of recording equipment the store has acquired over the years.

In 2000, the firm used new equipment to start converting its semiannual mailing of 6,000 VHS tapes to customers to DVDs. With a nonlinear editing system and Hitachi studio-grade TV camera on hand, Underwood’s makes sure its message sparkles on screen.