Positioning diamonds as a symbol of perfection and a gift for the Millennium

De Beers
together with the Diamond Information Centre
and J. Walter Thompson's Silver Anvil Award for 2000.

Research.

The millennium is filled with rich semantic and emotional connotations. The symbol associated with the passage of time, new beginnings and hopes for the future turned out to be very close to the existing perceptions of diamonds. The task, though not an easy one, was to position diamonds as a symbol of perfection and a gift for the Millennium. The Diamond Information Centre (DIC) developed a comprehensive consumer and trade communications programme to foster these attitudes and manage consumer desires, while persuading, motivating and encouraging the trade to take advantage of this unique opportunity.

The idea of associating the purchase of diamonds with the millennium was not obvious enough, as they were never sold or bought on New Year's Eve. However, over time, diamonds have come to symbolise new beginnings. Before deciding on a Millennium campaign, the CIA, together with the Diamond Advertising Group (DAG), a division of the JWT advertising agency, began researching its target audience. In addition to extensive market research, two focus groups (one at the CIA and the other at Grey Mauer) tested the umbrella concept of diamonds and the millennium, and consumers were asked to evaluate ten different occasion concepts. The results of the research clearly outlined the situation and shaped the planning process. While the "anniversary" occasion proved to be the strongest purchase motive, the second and third most important occasions, Christmas and New Year, combined together, represented a great marketing and sales opportunity.

Planning

The aim of the programme was to position diamonds as a symbol of perfection for the coming millennium and to prove that they are the only gift that could forever preserve the meaning inherent in this event. Diamonds are an exceptional product that is a unique medium. The CIA's public relations objective was to increase the return on investment (the ratio of profit to capital employed in 1999) by 15% compared to 1998, while De Beers' business objective was to achieve double-digit retail sales growth (compared to 1998) for the 1999 US holiday sales.
Target audience: married women aged 25 to 54 (with an average annual family income of $75,000 and above), 75% diamonds are bought by men as gifts for women. The two different groups, married men and married women, had to have different motivations for buying. Women needed to be inspired by a passion for diamond jewellery to celebrate the millennium, while men needed to be convinced that the Millennium was a great occasion for a gift and helped to make the purchase.

Strategy: CIA and GRA jointly developed a comprehensive communications programme. Their client, De Beers, also periodically provided ideas and information. Taking into account the research findings, the strategic approach shaped the philosophy of parallel communications for each communication platform - consumer and trade media relations, as well as retail communications, advocacy and integration.
The 1999 basic strategy included three distinct phases, within which it was assumed

  • to reveal the connection between diamonds and the new millennium and to promote its development;
  • to inspire women's passion for diamond jewellery to mark the millennium;
  • a "key day" element was invented, between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, to help men make a purchase.

A similar plan was developed for the year 2000 to take advantage of the year-long "anniversary".
As part of a three-phase strategic approach, CIA developed a plan that combined Hollywood celebrities, a historic humanitarian partnership with the UN, international trade competition, the Internet, consumer outreach, collaboration with fashion houses, an international humanitarian event under the patronage of the Prince of Wales, the unveiling of a world treasure and the display of a De Beers diamond during the chimes at the New Year's Eve celebration in London's Millenium Dome. The messaging strategy included each of the five pillars (ideas) that the CIA traditionally works with.

  • Diamonds are perfection.
  • Diamonds are always in fashion.
  • Diamonds are not a casual purchase.
  • Diamonds are a symbol of love.
  • Corporate image: "De Beers is a global diamond expert".

Media relations: In addition, an extensive parallel programme was developed to stimulate ongoing positive trade press coverage that would convince retailers of the benefits of selling by the turn of the millennium. However, the trade press coverage was not sufficient to fully integrate the trade and the unique sales opportunity.

Marketing: The Diamond Sales Assistance Service (DSS), the unit within CIA that handles retailer communications, advocacy and training, developed the Millennium Management Programme for the occasion, which served as a blueprint for marketing and retailer preparation. For the first time ever, the trade was given the opportunity to use the "De Beers - Millennium 2000" symbol on a large scale, which was specifically designed to directly link retailers and their promotional programmes to the company's marketing platform. Subsequently, the BSPB developed many other marketing tools for retailers, fully integrating it into the millennium sales marketing, including: Millennium billboards, CD-ROMs with images dedicated to the new millennium, postcards and greeting cards, not to mention special certificates and labels for diamond jewellery.

Total budget: For 1999, including the MTPP activities, it amounted to USD 3.685 million.

Implementation

 

  • The CIA began the programme with an international charity event in London in June 1999 under the patronage of the Prince of Wales, which showcased magnificent diamond jewellery created by eight of the world's finest jewellery houses especially for the new millennium. The first-ever British catwalk show by Versace, featuring the best supermodels, created a huge media response.
  • A week later, in order to familiarise retailers with the Millennium marketing platform, the CIA and the GEMA organised a memorable Millennium celebration during a major jewellery show. Shortly afterwards, GRA launched the first phase of its advertising campaign to explore the emotional attachment a woman can feel to her diamonds when she celebrates the new millennium with someone she cares about.
  • A week later, the CIA unveiled a world treasure at an international press conference - the De Beers Millennium Star, an amazing 203-carat diamond that had been held back for the occasion.
  • At the same time, to stimulate the expected increase in the number of engagements to coincide with the Millennium, the CIA launched an interactive competition on its website www.adiamondisforever.com called "Design Your Own Engagement Ring". The contest offered a trip to London to celebrate the New Year in the Millennium Dome, where the Millennium Star diamond will be on display. Strong media support increased the number of visits to the website by 5 times. In Q4, the coverage was further enhanced by a TV commercial entitled "Click!" developed by GRA.
  • CIA then attracted the attention of the fashion world by presenting a collection of unique Millennial-themed jewellery created with the support of De Beers at the highly anticipated Alexander McQueen fashion show in New York in September. As De Beers does not sell cut diamond jewellery, a retail partner with a highly developed infrastructure was needed to implement the idea of increasing diamond sales by applying a commemorative mark to diamond jewellery to symbolise the new millennium. Zale Corporation, the country's largest jewellery retailer with 1,300 outlets, built its entire marketing and advertising strategy around this concept, resulting in unprecedented sales growth.
  • GRA then launched the second phase of its programme with the release of a new TV commercial, The Crowd, which aimed to create confidence that the diamond donation would prolong the magic of the Millennium indefinitely. During the third and fourth quarters, as well as in the first quarter of 2000. CIA carried out a number of strategic and tactical activities.
  • Entering 2000, CIA formed a strategic alliance with Lioma Godiva, coming up with the Millennium diamond jewellery series for the "Chocolate and Diamonds by Godiva for Valentine's Day" advertising campaign.
  • To exploit the remaining opportunities for the "anniversary occasion" during 2000, CAA and GRA developed a new product, the "Anniversary Ring with Three Diamonds", each symbolising the past, present and future, as opposed to the single-stone ring that went on sale in February 2000.
  • The CIA's programme includes cooperation with many different organisations and other luxury retailers. The UN partnership with the World Health Organisation is worth mentioning, in addition to joint projects with The Prince's Trust, Gilda's Club, Harper's Bazaar, the Liz Tilberis Foundation for Ovarian Cancer Research, Godiva Chocolatier, Zale Corporation, the Millennium Dome Experience Corporation, Details magazine, Alexander McQueen and Versace fashion houses, Fortunoff Jewelers, the Jewellery Industry Coalition, Jewellers of America and the Jewellery Vigilance Committee.

Problems:

  • The CIA faced numerous challenges, including an oversaturated market, the threat that relentless Millennial marketing could create a negative attitude towards diamonds among consumers, and intense competition from other luxury goods; all against a backdrop of 6 consecutive years of near double-digit growth in retail sales in the US diamond market.
  • In addition to all these traditional challenges, Global Witness, which has close ties to the media, has waged a long-running war against so-called blood diamonds, i.e. diamonds mined in countries where civil wars are raging. Although De Beers did not do business with countries subject to UN sanctions, it was constantly exposed to claims. To counter the threat to consumer confidence, the CIA enlisted the support of Nelson Mandela and other influential political leaders, and formed a united front by creating an alliance of diamond companies with numerous trade organisations. This project included media training for industry leaders and a direct mail campaign to all those involved in the mining, processing and sale of diamonds. By working with the media, the CIA succeeded in maintaining media support and communicating De Beers' plans.

Evaluation

The CIA uses a sophisticated computer program that quantifies and evaluates the effect of each propaganda (and, accordingly, advertising) move.

  • The CIA increased its return index (based on the 1999 budget) by 34% compared to 1998, far exceeding the originally planned 15% increase.
  • In terms of De Beers' goal of achieving double-digit retail sales growth in the US compared to the very successful 1998 holiday season, diamond jewellery sales were up 12-19% overall, with some very high-end exclusive retailers reporting retail sales up 85% over 1998 levels.
  • De Beers' sales of rough diamonds in 1999 increased by 30% compared to 1998, mainly due to the recovery in the US market.
  • According to research, which has identified the period between Christmas and New Year as the most opportune time for sales, this significant increase in sales was primarily driven by sales of diamond jewellery in the week between Christmas and New Year. Never before has the diamond jewellery retail industry been given such an opportunity. These results are clearly relevant to the strategic objective of positioning diamonds as a symbol of perfection and a gift for the Millennium. Already in 2000, retail sales of diamond jewellery for Valentine's Day became the largest in US history.

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