Diamond Association targets millennials

The Diamond Producers’ Association (DPA) is aiming its first marketing campaign squarely at millennials. The campaign, launched in October, consists of two tag lines: “Real is Rare” and “Real is a Diamond.”

The DPA launched in May 2015, with members pledging to support a minimum initial annual budget of US$6 million. The association has already doubled that budget for 2016.

At the moment, the campaign is limited to the United States — the world’s largest diamond market accounting for 45% of demand and the market about which the DPA has the most research.

The marketing effort focuses on authenticity and connection in relationships rather than marriage or even engagement.

“What is better than a rare and precious billion-year old diamond that is as old as life on Earth to represent the uniqueness and sincerity of a genuine relationship? ’Real is Rare. Real is a Diamond,’ beautifully captures what makes diamonds meaningful in today’s world and why they will always be timeless,” said DPA CEO Jean-Marc Lieberherr in a release.

The campaign was born out of research the DPA commissioned on the millennial cohort in the U.S., which represents about 80 million people and the “cornerstone” of current and future diamond demand. Two main insights came out of that research — first, that real relationships are becoming more important the more digital the millennials’ world becomes, and second, that the cohort is resistant to conventional rituals and seek instead to demonstrate commitment in a more individualistic and personal ways.

Des Kilalea, a mining analyst with RBC Capital Markets that covers the diamond sector says a generic marketing campaign for diamonds is “essential” and way overdue.

“De Beers says that the millennials are buying diamonds, but the millennials will queue around the block to get a new iPhone — they won’t queue around the block to buy a diamond,” says Kilalea referring to research contained in De Beers’ 2016 Diamond Insight Report. “So we need to see an awful lot more work done on getting diamonds more front of mind. At the moment they’re just not.”

Kilalea adds: “A lot of people don’t get diamond engagement rings anymore. . . You need to persuade more and more brides to get engagement rings, and more and more self-purchase by females and males in the diamond space.”

In June, the DPA announced it would be collaborating with the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council of India (GJEPC) to boost demand for diamonds and to enhance the diamond industry’s image.

Separately, in October, De Beers and the GJEPC unveiled a marketing campaign promoting generic diamonds and diamond jewelry in India, where demand has stuttered due partially to a weak rupee and global economic slowdown. The campaign targets women from 25 to 35 and will initially run for three months.