De Beers doubles down on natural diamonds

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.”