DE BEERS TO SPEND P270M MARKETING DIAMONDS IN CHINA, US
De Beers, the diamond mining major this week disclosed it will spend as much as $ 20 million (about P270 million) to support consumer demand in natural diamonds for the 2023 holiday season in the United States and China, its two biggest markets.
The company, which is led by Al Cook, also stated it is reintroducing its ‘A Diamond is Forever’ tagline. According to a statement, the investments will be incremental to the company’s current brand activities and will see the return of the highly successful ‘Seize the Day’ campaign, with a modern sensibility to reflect the priorities and values of a new generation of end clients.
The investment will be used to support a broad media mix in the above markets, targeting end clients with an energetic ‘just in time message’ for the major gift giving holiday season. The campaign will include traditional media – print, out of home, and digital – and a robust investment into influencer-developed content ensuring the key attributes of natural diamonds are conveyed in an engaging and relevant way.
De Beers, which owns 50 percent of Debswana, a rough diamond producer based in Botswana, will work with leading industry organisations to communicate how retailers can access select campaign assets. In parallel, De Beers confirmed that a recent Lightbox labgrown diamond (LGD) engagement ring test has now ended. Through the test the company deepened its understanding of LGDs and evaluated the changing landscape and consumer perceptions associated with them.
“Lightbox will continue to focus on where it sees the most promising future opportunities in the sector – in fashion jewellery and in loose stones at accessible price points – and will not sell LGD engagement rings. Further, the engagement
ring test reinforced existing insights into the wider LGD sector that indicate the commercial proposition for many LGD engagement ring offers is likely unsustainable, with retailers already needing to double the number of LGD carats sold every two years just to maintain a flat absolute gross profit,”said De Beers which became private 22 years ago.
“Natural diamonds have remained icons of love for centuries. And De Beers advertising has remained iconic over the decades. We’re proud to build on this tradition by reviving and refreshing one of our most successful campaigns. By investing ahead of the holiday season, we aim to support the industry, drive consumer demand and underline our confidence in the future of the diamond dream,”noted CEO, Al Cook.
Meanwhile, David Prager, Chief Brand Officer of De Beers Group, said: “For more than 75 years ‘A Diamond is Forever’ has perfectly encapsulated the symbolic promise of a natural diamond.
Through our category investments in both traditional media and influencer-created content, we will reintroduce the highly successful ‘Seize the Day’ campaign, modernised for a new generation.
De Beers is committed to supporting retailers to unlock the strong underlying desire for natural diamonds this holiday season.