De Beers Invests in Generic Advertising (With an Asterisk)

(jckonline.com) - Upon hearing that De Beers is wading back into generic marketing—with provisos, which we’ll get to—veteran industry writer Peggy Jo Donahue posted the following on Facebook: Remember, in June, when I told you jewelry industry friends about my young industry friend who shared a last-minute cigarette outside with Philippe Mellier, De Beers Group CEO, just before the Jewelers for Children Gala in Las Vegas? She didn’t know to whom she was speaking, and he only told her he “worked for De Beers.” She proceeded to read him the riot act about how De Beers’ lack of generic advertising had tanked diamond sales in the U.S.! She only realized who he was LATER—when he got up to accept his award as the dinner’s honoree…