JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The global diamond and jewellery industries will benefit from De Beers and the Diamond Producers Association’s (DPA’s) increased marketing budgets, says World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) president Ernie Blom.
Diamond miner De Beers on Tuesday reported that it would invest more than $140-million in marketing this year – its biggest investment in marketing since 2008.
“Taken together with the DPA's decision to increase its diamond jewellery promotional budget this year to $57-million, we are seeing very significant action in promoting diamonds in key markets. The diamond industry globally can take heart from these decisions as they will serve to boost demand,” Blom said in a statement issued on Wednesday.
He noted that, while De Beers will spend most of its marketing budget on promoting its own brands, Forevermark and De Beers Diamond Jewellers, all advertising would be good for the wider diamond trade, since it has a positive ripple effect.
“I am delighted that De Beers is also increasing its partnership marketing with the DPA and India’s Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council. It is extremely encouraging to see these steps being taken, with the industry uniting in recent times to tackle the issue of generic diamond jewellery marketing.
“Resources are very rightly being concentrated on the Millennials market because that is a huge consumer market which has not been targeted for advertising before. The DPA's research shows that these younger buyers believe in the value of diamonds because they symbolise rarity and value, and we wish the DPA and De Beers success for the benefit of WFDB members and the entire industry," Blom stated.