As De Beers' proprietary Everlon Diamond Knot Collection heads into year two, the marketing message remains the same, but retailers can expect an expanded choice of Everlon designs - including new cuts and the use of alternative materials - and a heightened red-carpet presence, www.nationaljewelernetwork.com says.
In an interview with National Jeweler at the JCK Las Vegas show Sunday, Dominic Brand, head of global marketing for De Beers, shared some insights into De Beers' plans for Everlon as the holiday selling season approaches.
Touted as the "strength of love, forged in a knot," the Everlon program debuted last year. Similar to the beacon programs of the past, such as Journey and the Past Present Future campaign for three-stone diamond jewelry, the concept behind Everlon was to create a design that could be presented with a story that inspires diamond purchases.
Everlon designs debuted to lukewarm reviews in 2009, but this year, more daring knot looks have been popping up on celebrities all over the red carpet, from the diamond-intensive cuff worn by rapper and actress Queen Latifah to appearances at this year's White House Correspondents' Dinner to the multiple pieces donned by Hitch actress Amber Valletta at an Everlon party held in Las Vegas during the shows last week. Placing jewelry on stars is a practice that De Beers believes helps influence consumer buying behavior, and that practice will continue for Everlon.
"We'll continue to accessorize as many celebrities as we can," Brand said.
De Beers would like manufacturers to use the celebrity-favored designs as inspiration for the creation of more everyday pieces for consumer consumption this holiday season, he said. To make this easier, mixed metals and alternative materials such as silk and leather can now be used in Everlon designs, as well as princess-cut diamonds.
Last year, the Everlon program was put into place at the last minute as De Beers recognized that the diamond market needed fresh designs to boost holiday season purchases, Brand said. The short timeframe for manufacturing the pieces resulted in "relatively limited" number of designs. Meanwhile, cautious retailers tended to stay with safer designs - smaller diamond looks set in sterling silver - due to economic uncertainty, only to find that some of their customers wanted more, Brand said.
"Consumers were coming in asking for bigger diamonds and better quality diamonds," he said.
Everlon differs in that De Beers isn't funding the entire marketing program. Instead, manufacturers and retailers that wanted to carry Everlon had to shoulder some of the marketing costs while De Beers, in turn, trademarked both the Everlon name and its designs, and restricted the program to those companies that signed on to help pay for it - a departure from what it had done for Journey and other programs that were open to all.
Brand said this year's campaign will include the same television commercial that debuted with the collection last year, in which a couple is shown ice skating in a winter wonderland-type scene. The male- and female-targeted print ads will be similar to those that ran last year as well. The message behind the ads remains the same: De Beers will be pushing the emotional aspect of the purchase, Brand said.
Viewers should see the TV spot start popping up around Thanksgiving. While there are no firm dates set yet, plans call for the female-targeted Everlon ads to begin running in the fall while the ads directed at men - who, according to De Beers' research, typically wait until the last minute to do their holiday shopping - will be held until just before the Christmas holiday.
Also new this year for Everlon is a Facebook fan page, which currently boasts more than 400 people who "like" it, including a mix of both retailers and consumers.
Outside of the U.S. market, Brand acknowledges that there are opportunities for diamond marketing in India and China, both heavily populated countries with growing middle classes that are often pinpointed as the future hubs for diamond demand.
But, he notes, U.S. consumers still account for more than 40 percent of world diamond consumption.
"America still fuels global demand for diamonds," Brand said.
The marketing focus in other countries continues to center on proprietary products, such as De Beers' branded Forevermark diamond, while Everlon remains the focus in the United States, he says.
Gone are the days when De Beers, whose share of the global diamond market is now only about 40 percent, has an interest in generically promoting diamonds for the entire jewelry industry.
And far in the future, at least it seems, is the day when the diamond industry will band together to come up with a global generic advertising campaign to promote the stones. In July 2009, the International Diamond Board (IDB), an organization comprised of global industry heavyweights that could work together to sustain global demand for diamonds through marketing, was formed.
At one point, all the major mining players - De Beers, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Alrosa - were on board with the IDB. A change of leadership at Alrosa, however, has stalled the organization's attempts to move forward.
Brand said while most of the producers still are keen on having a unified global marketing message, there hasn't been any progress on the IDB front.
"It doesn't look like it's particularly imminent," he said.
