Let’s Talk Diamonds

Diamonds are forever. Diamonds are rare. Diamonds are unique. Diamonds are invincible. If diamonds are all that I just mentioned then why do we only concentrate on the 4Cs of diamonds and not these extraordinary qualities of this wonderful creation of the Earth? There’s so much of history and folklore attached to a diamond and it represents a lot of human emotions. Then, why to focus only on its technical aspects and not on its mystique? Why only promote diamond jewellery and not the product itself which brings the sparkle? What we have is a special product and it deserves a special treatment. Why not tell the stories about diamonds to the consumers? By Kavita Parab

The global diamond industry might be facing a lot of challenges at this moment. However, it is not the time to stay passive but active. We all have been talking about millennials and how their perception of luxury has changed and continues to affect the diamond industry sales. Instead of focusing on the problem why not focus on the solutions? Why not elicit interest about diamonds in the minds of the consumers? Why not promote diamonds in such a way that they will attract the end-consumers?

The recently concluded World Diamond Congress, too, looked for a united approach to promote diamond as a product. “The entire effort should be about how to remove the mystery from diamonds and bring back the mystic that has always been present. Promotion is the route to increase sales and bring back the consumer interest and upscale market share,” said Ronnie Vanderlinden, IDMA, President.

He also added that diamond promotion must be propelled from the top. Miners, manufacturers, traders and retailers need to take on the onus of promoting diamonds and diamond jewellery, eventhough the ongoing efforts of the Diamond Producers Association (DPA) are continually at work.

Let us go beyond the 4Cs
Today’s consumer is well-read and well-informed. Before making a purchase, mind you, they have done a thorough research regarding the specifications of the diamond they want. So, the industry needs to tell the consumer the facts that they don’t know about diamonds. Not all consumers are aware of the ‘Miners to Market’ journey of a diamond. Not all know of the folklore related to diamonds. What might work right now is instead of selling a product, selling a story that might attract consumers. After all, the diamond industry is in the business of emotions.

Diamonds have been treasured, loved and at times feared too. To put it in different words, diamonds have been attached with human emotions across cultures since they were discovered. They are unique, rare and invincible.

Ernie Blom, President of WFDB said, “I believe we need to really express as widely as possible the romance of the story of diamonds. They were created billions of years ago and rose to the surface where they can be mined. Finding them and then sorting, cutting and polishing them and setting them in jewellery for presentation to the end-buyer is a lengthy process that is done with enormous commitment and care. It is the fact that they are so special that they are bought to mark the milestone events of life. The industry really needs to put this romantic story to consumers so that they can fully understand why diamonds are so special.”

The industry across the globe employs millions of people in various capacities. It is the source of livelihood of many, which can be an aspect that needs to reach the potential consumers of diamonds. “All natural diamonds are equally unique, what we need is right and collective marketing. Besides, this industry is helping millions of people by providing them a livelihood,uplifting their standards of living, providing means of good health, education,” said Vipul Sutariya Director of Dhramanandan Diamonds.

Diamonds have always the priceless possessions. They are not just the most valuable product but also symolise undying love and commitment. “Diamond is a symbol of love, passion and commitment. When you are gifting a diamond to your loved ones, you are passing on the same love, passion and commitment to the person. Gifting a diamond is like showering 100 per cent love, promising a commitment for a lifetime,” said Sanjay Shah from Goldstar Group.

Promoting diamonds loud & clear is the need of the hour
Initially, when diamond promotions began, the idea was not to sell more products but to help consumers find their emotional connect with diamonds. We all know the world-famous advertising tag line ‘A Diamond Is Forever’ by De Beers. The effect of the promotion is known to all. The brand was not making any direct selling or it wasn’t trying to impress the minds of the consumers with a brand name. And it worked. According to news reports, between 1939 and 1979 sales figures increased from $23 million to $2.1 billion.

Talking about promotions, David Johnson, Head of Strategic Communications for De Beers Group said, “The De Beers Group has a long and highly successful legacy of marketing diamonds to consumers around the world. It has run some of the most successful advertising campaigns in history, with Advertising Age magazine voting our ‘A Diamond Is Forever’ advertising line to be the most successful advertising line of the twentieth century. We have run many different consumer campaigns, creating industry ‘big ideas’ that can help generate opportunities for the trade as a whole (such as ‘trilogy’ three-stone jewellery, the right hand ring and ‘journey’ diamond jewellery), as well as proprietary campaigns that benefit our own brands that are based on insights that we share with the wider industry (such as Forevermark’s Tribute campaign which was based on insights about female consumers shares in our 2017 Diamond Insight Report). We are also a major funder of the Diamond Producers Association, we run targeted campaigns (such as the campaign recently run in India to promote melee diamond jewellery) and undertake a range of other promotional activities.”

Manufacturers’, Miners’ and Retailers’ Role in promotion
While promoting diamonds, we cannot forget consumer awareness and manufacturers can play a major role in doing so. These are the people who are always up and close with the journey of diamond from a rough stone to a polished product. Other than the 4Cs, these are the ones who know how much effort goes into creating them. Even Evgeny Agureev, Director, United Selling Organization of ALROSA thinks that the history of diamond is so fascinating that it can be retold to consumers in an interesting way, which will interest the consumers. He said, “This is possible if you tell the consumer about the history of the diamond. Today a consumer can learn in a store about 4Cs, but still does not know anything about how this stone was born. We can tell the whole story, from the emergence of diamond in the bowels of the Earth and underground volcanoes, and to the place of its production, its traditions and people, about the process of mining and cutting, about the good made for communities due to diamond mining.”

Vipul Sutariya believes that being part of the diamond industry, one should not indulge in anything that will harm the image of the diamond as a product or the diamond industry. Further explaining the efforts taken by his company, he said, “We are the first diamond manufacturing company who introduced diamond traceability program called Diamond Time-Lapse (DTL), which provides consumer confidence toward diamonds. DTL explains how emotional a diamond journey is and how diamonds are rare. In addition to that, we at Dharmanandan, promote diamonds by creating consumer awareness and education program in association with many retailers. One of our close associates is instrumental to invent D-secure - an instrument that detects synthetic diamonds in studded jewellery as well as from a loose parcel, which has helped the industry to mitigate mixing of synthetics. Before the invention, mixing of synthetics with diamonds had hurt consumer confidence a lot.”

Dinesh Lakhani, Director, Kiran Gems Pvt. Ltd is of the view that there has to be a united approach between miners, manufacturers and retailers for diamond promotion. He said, “Miners, diamond suppliers and retailers can join hands together and run different programs to promote the diamonds. These campaigns if run in India and globally on an ongoing basis with continuous hammering will eventually uplift the business. The promotional activities and awareness programs should be executed not only where the diamond industry exists or is flourishing but also in the upcoming/emerging markets. A well thought out, detailed mapping of the campaigns if done and accomplished will gradually be profitable to the entire chain starting from the rough supplier to the diamond manufacturer and jewellery retailer.”

Diamonds V/S Other Luxury Goods
There might have been talks of how luxury industry is affecting the diamond sales as the young generation prefers other luxury goods over diamonds. One needs to divert the attention of these buyers to the fact that how a diamond product won’t lose its value with each passing year as against any luxury goods which loses its value once it’s sold. Sanjay Shah thinks that the industry needs to let the consumers know how diamonds are much valuable and would remain valuable at all times as compared to the luxury goods. “You might be spending huge amount of money in acquiring a luxury product but the moment you bring it home, you lose 50 per cent of its value. But if you buy a diamond, it not only fulfills your aspiration but also holds 80 to 90 per cent of its market value. With luxury goods, you lose value post selling while it’s not the same case with diamonds.”

If one buys the diamond from a trusted source at a close to wholesale price and it is a top gem quality stone, diamond is one of the best commodities you could own. Also, diamonds have earned itself value by being one of the only gemstone that has a relative standard price benchmark/threshold against which you could evaluate its value similar to gold.

The Diamond USP
Be its value or technical aspects, a diamond is very special. It symbolizes various human emotions like love, commitment, longevity, wealth, etc. So when the industry has such a beautiful product, it needs to capitalize on these aspects of it.

Diamonds do a lot of good and they have been making a difference in the lives of many which makes it a unique product. Ernie Blom said, “Again this goes back to what makes diamonds special. Their long history and how they are found. There is also the story that we must tell about the good that diamonds do. This is particularly the case in Africa where the diamond industry is responsible for putting food on the table for millions of people. There are also the very large numbers of people who make a living from diamonds in all the diamond centers, particularly in the major hubs of India, Israel, Belgium, Hong Kong, and New York.”

One of the most important qualities of diamonds is its uniqueness and same can be utilised to popularize it among the consumers. Sunil Nayak, CEO, Reliance Jewels said, “When it comes to natural diamonds, no two natural diamonds in the world are identical; each diamond is unique in itself whether it’s because of its colour or clarity or both combined. Rarity and exclusivity are the USPs and key qualities of natural diamonds.”