Charles Stanley, Forevermark U.S. President, talked with Rough&Polished about the new "Center of My Universe" design concept and its advertising campaign that Americans will see on TV, cinema, online and in-store beginning in November. He very generously took the time to discuss key trends in the diamond industry, why he believes in in-store, touch and feel shopping experience and why the U.S. is going to remain the single largest market for diamonds.
Can Russian diamonds be a part of the Forevermark Program?
Yes, we consider Russia one of the approved sources of Forevermark diamonds. The Forevermark model is a partnership model where we put together a marketing program that promotes Forevermark and what Forevermark diamonds stand for.
The way the model works is the Forevermark diamond stands on a simple promise that each and every diamond is beautiful, rare and responsibly sourced. Under the responsibly sourced promise we say any diamond that comes from what we consider to be trusted sources can be submitted if it follows the Forevermark Pipeline Integrity Standard. The Forevermark Diamond Institute inspects every diamond before it is granted Forevermark status.
Most of the diamonds today are coming from De Beers Group mines in Southern Africa and/or Canada, but I do know that we are receiving some diamonds into the program from Russia.
What is the main idea of your new product concept "Center of My Universe"? How does it differentiate from De Beers "Beacons"?
It's a concept that's based around the idea that the woman is at the core of her family's life. She's the one that holds it all together and the idea is that she is the center of his universe. She sits at the heart of the family and the relationship. The world and life revolves around her. We've tested this both with consumers and with our partners and it's very clear that this is very compelling.
The "Center of My Universe" is similar in some respects to De Beer’s past beacon ideas, but different in others. It is similar in that it takes a strategy whereby we identify a product concept that puts a twist on a classic design. It identifies a segment that's been around for a while, puts our twist on it, and wraps it with unique emotional focus bringing meaning and relevance around the design. That strategy is similar to that which we've done in the past with three-stone diamond jewelry.
Here we're focusing on a halo setting, which has been trending up now for the past year and we're wrapping our emotional concept, which we call "Center of My Universe".
The big difference between programs that we have done in the past to this is that "Center of My Universe" is a trademarked phrase which is only going to be available to our authorized partners, both the jewelers and suppliers.
I was just reading today's story about Forevermark expanding its presence in the media to promote the "Center of My Universe" concept. It really looks like you're going big with promoting this concept in the U.S. market. Can you share with us your plans and prospects for this campaign please?
Following the introduction of "Center of My Universe" at the JCK Show in Las Vegas last June, we feel very confident about this campaign, so we're moving ahead now and we've created a commercial. It will be offered to all Forevermark retail partners in multiple lengths to run in local markets on TV, cinema, online and in-store.
On a national level, we're going to feature the spot in a variety of high-impact digital video placements, including full-episode players and digital video on top websites. Then, in addition, last week we've announced in collaboration with NCM Media Networks, a national premium cinema placement program. We've bought space in about 2,200 movie theaters nationwide and these have been targeted to where our existing jewelry partners are located.
We're very excited and the initial feedback we've had from talking with some of our partners is that they're interested to take advantage and access the program. Each partner has the opportunity to be involved. It will be an eight-week run beginning in November and will run through the key Holiday buying season.
We felt cinema was a great media platform to help meet our business objectives because it gives us the opportunity to communicate an emotionally compelling message within an environment where we have a dual audience, either couples together or husbands and wives.
What response has the "Center of My Universe" been getting since its introduction at the JCK Show in Las Vegas last June?
The response has been overwhelmingly positive from our partners. We have just come out of an editorial event last week at which we'd asked a well-known designer here in New York, Waris Ahluwalia, to collaborate with us and create his interpretation of the "Center of My Universe" theme. He created a stunning piece which has a 14.58 carat oval Forevermark diamond provided by the Julius Klein Group at its center.
The feedback that we got from editors and style influencers on “Center of My Universe” has been extremely positive, both at the concept level and through the design.
De Beers recently announced a 50 per cent drop in profits in the first half of 2012, but said that Forevermark continues to grow, particularly in the core markets of the United States, China, India and Japan. What do you think you did differently that enabled you to succeed in these challenging times?
I guess it's probably not for me to comment too much on the specificity of the De Beers Group profit, but I think that all companies are cyclical in nature and I think that what I would like to talk about is really the strength of the diamond market today. Putting aside the ups and downs over the short-term, fundamentally we believe that diamonds hold incredible value and the future of diamonds is very bright. The U.S. remains a very strong solid market, where diamond beliefs and values are solid.
When we look to Asia, the increase in wealth and the growing middle classes in China and India are, over the long-term, going to continue to push solid demand for diamonds. We may be having challenges right now but over the medium to long-term, the diamond outlook looks essentially very good in my view.
How much revenue does the U.S. market contribute to your diamond business as a whole?
Diamonds in the U.S. still represent some 40 percent of global diamond demand and I think all our indications are that will probably remain pretty stable going forward over the next few years. Either way, the U.S. is going to remain the single largest market for diamonds despite, obviously, the growth that we will see from China and Asia.
You mentioned that the trademarked phrase "Center of My Universe" will only be available to the authorized Forevermark retailers. Do you think it can limit your market to a certain extent?
By definition, the fact that it is relatively exclusive and only available to partners that are in the program does mean that it's limiting. However, we operate a fairly open franchise in that people are welcome provided they meet and live up to the criteria we set for being an authorized Forevermark jeweler, manufacturer and supplier. We're always open and want companies to join what we think is a growing and expanding part of the diamond business.
Although we are no longer making our programs available for all, by putting a very significant effort into the marketplace, like we have with "Center of My Universe", it can tend to have a broader impact than our franchise, but people who want to get the direct benefit and be able to use "Center of My Universe" do need to be authorized Forevermark jewelers and manufacturers.
Do you see value in the sightholder system?
Yes, I think our client-based system is very important and indeed it underpins the Forevermark
supply base in that all the authorized Forevermark diamantaires are DTC sightholders.
What kind of development trends do you see for the diamond industry and market nowadays?
I think that from the U.S. perspective, one key area that we are seeing becoming increasingly important in terms of consumers buying decisions is what I would call the rise of the conscious luxury consumer. Increasingly today consumers want to know where the products are coming from. Consumers want to know when they buy a luxury product that they're actually doing good and that there's a sense that the source is giving back.
Our category in diamonds is potentially very vulnerable to negative issues surrounding where diamonds have come from. For a product which doesn't have or serve an essential need, you've got to be assured that you can stand firmly and with a great level of integrity behind your product.
Within Forevermark we conserve that chain of custody and we can illustrate the benefits that diamonds have brought to local communities, particularly, for instance, in Southern Africa.
I visited the Forevermark's website, but couldn't find any mention of "Center of My Universe" there, when are you launching it?
Yes, that's right because we haven't launched it to the consumer. We don't plan to do that until September/October.
I also heard that you are going to use a social media push on Facebook, Twitter and a new outlet Pinterest to promote "Center of My Universe". What can we look forward to from this campaign?
Beyond what I've already mentioned in terms of the cinema commercial and the use of that commercial online, we'll be running a full print campaign with full social media support. Indeed we've already started that and that goes across Facebook, Twitter and we've just recently been working with Pinterest. I think Pinterest is a nice way to visually see and share Forevermark in the varied designs they are offered by our partners.
We like to think we've been at the forefront of digital marketing. About 60 percent of our total media weight is spent in digital, since we believe that's where the consumers that we're trying to approach spend most of their time receiving news and searching for information, for what is a very considered purchase.
About a year ago in one of the interviews you said: “We’re not frankly expecting a lot of diamond sales to be made online. We fundamentally believe that to get the full experience of buying a diamond it needs to be done in store”. Do you still think the same?
Yes, I firmly do for those same reasons I outlined there. The notion of buying a diamond blind online makes no sense to me. I wouldn't buy a diamond online without wanting to look at it and see it. You can have two diamonds with the same grading report and it can be in theory, on paper, exactly the same, but in reality they can be very different. A grading report only covers a diamond's gemological characteristics. It's really important you see that diamond.
Aside from the level of service and support you get from a local jeweler, the diamond has to be placed in a piece of jewelry that you can be assured you're happy to live with and you're proud to wear forever.
Olga Patseva, Editor in Chief of the American Bureau, Rough&Polished
