Diamond World (DW) May - June 2020

Personality
When we
come out of
this pandemic
– the world
will be more
disconnected,
because of the
norms of social
distancing which
have been forced
upon the whole
human race. In
such a world –
diamonds will
help strengthen
bonds and reestablish
these connections
Who exactly is the new target audience
you are catering to through this new
campaign?
The younger audience we want to address is
now connected globally. They’re all on digital
platforms. They’re all on smartphones. I
think over 80 percent of our traffic coming
onto our platforms is on mobile. Although
culturally they’re different in each market,
the consumer is very much engaging in
global content.
So that’s what we’ve got to speak to them
in. And they all have very similar values
because they are all digesting the same
content. They all want to know about
naturality and sustainability. They want to
know where things have come from. They
all have an obsession with celebrities of the
world. So, the world is getting smaller. And
we think that diamonds play a major part in
that world going forward.
You spoke about celebrities -- is
celebrity endorsement an option that
you’re looking at?
Celebrity endorsement is surely an option
we’re looking at. It’s very important that
these celebrities are able to tell our story.
We aren’t a product brand. So we’re not
showing off products
specifically, which
is typically how
and why product
placement doesn’t
always workwith
celebrities, because
you’re showing a
specific product.
So for us, it’s much more than just about
celebrities and it is about their ability to use
their voice to talk about the values of our
industry.
In India, gold is part of our culture.
The engagement diamond giving
trend, though growing, is still not
widely prevalent. What is your plan
to make diamonds more popular in
India?
I have been to India only twice in my current
role. The Indian market is fascinating.
I was quickly trained in the impact gold
hand in India. For me, diamonds present
a new opportunity. Engagement doesn’t
have the same importance in India, but
as cultures around the world become
connected with each other, there is an
opportunity for engagement rings to grow
in the future. It may not be the same size
as other markets for sure but you can
already see celebrities giving engagement
rings, so that in itself is a sign.
In ten years time, people in retrospect will
feel amazed at the size of the engagement
rings market. Also the connection
between people that diamonds create
is incredible. A diamond helps you
celebrate a moment – a romantic moment,
a gift for someone or marking the birth
of a child – there is nothing else in the
world that connects emotions, memories
and moments like a diamond.
When we come out of this pandemic – the
world will be more disconnected, because
of the norms of
social distancing
which have
been forced
upon the whole
human race. In
such a world –
diamonds will
help strengthen bonds and re-establish
these connections.
What are the budgets chalked out for
the U.S. and Asian markets?
We don’t talk budgets. We are fortunate
to have great financing from our member
companies and at this time of crisis they
are committed to us. All I can say is, it’s a
healthy budget, we are able to do great things
with it – we are already seeing ten times
more of traffic to our website as compared to
what it was a couple of months ago and the
engagement on our social media platforms
has also increased by hundred times. We
have the budget to make an impact and
once we demonstrate that, we will continue
to finance it well.
It is an incredibly tough time for our
industry all over the world. Yet, I believe
in presenting an optimistic vision because
I believe diamonds have a great future in
the long term and they will come back in a
healthy and positive way.
80 | may-june 2020 | DiamonD WorlD