The category investment will be incremental to De Beers' current brand activities and will see the return of the company's highly successful 'Seize the Day' campaign, with a modern sensibility to reflect the priorities and values of a new generation of end clients.
The $20 million investment will be used to support a broad media mix in the US and China, 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.
Further to running the campaign itself, De Beers is also making the materials available to the trade for their use free of charge. De Beers will work with leading industry organisations to communicate how retailers can access select campaign assets.
In parallel, De Beers confirmed that a recent Lightbox lab-grown 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.
De Beers' most recent consumer survey data for the US and China sees natural diamonds ranked in the top three most desired luxury items for women to acquire. In the US, four in five women see natural diamonds as carrying significant meaning and being the perfect way to mark an important moment in a relationship, while the primary motivation for LGD purchases is price. Four times as many luxury jewellery consumers state they would choose natural diamonds for special occasions compared with those choosing LGDs, while more than three and a half times as many say they would be proud to wear natural diamonds compared with those who would be proud to wear LGDs.
Al Cook, CEO of De Beers Group, said: "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."
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."
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About De Beers Group
Established in 1888, De Beers Group is the world's leading diamond company with expertise in the exploration, mining, marketing and retailing of diamonds. Together with its joint venture partners, De Beers Group employs more than 20,000 people across the diamond pipeline and is the world's largest diamond producer by value, with diamond mining operations in Botswana, Canada, Namibia and South Africa. Innovation sits at the heart of De Beers Group's strategy as it develops a portfolio of offers that span the diamond value chain, including its jewellery houses, De Beers Jewellers and De Beers Forevermark, and other pioneering solutions such as diamond sourcing and traceability initiatives Tracr and GemFair. De Beers Group also provides leading services and technology to the diamond industry in the form of education and laboratory services via De Beers Institute of Diamonds and a wide range of diamond sorting, detection and classification technology systems via De Beers Group Ignite. De Beers Group is committed to 'Building Forever,' a holistic and integrated approach for creating a better future – where safety, human rights and ethical integrity continue to be paramount; where communities thrive and the environment is protected; and where there are equal opportunities for all. De Beers Group is a member of the Anglo American plc group. For further information, visit www.debeersgroup.com.
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