‘A Diamond is Forever’ is back

Forevermark announced in Las Vegas that its holiday marketing campaign will use the famed slogan first coined in the 1940s but will make it ‘fresh’ for millennial consumers.

HCHannah Connorton hannah.connorton@nationaljeweler.com

Las Vegas--Forevermark is proving that it is not only diamonds that can be forever but marketing slogans as well, as the brand announced it would be rebooting De Beers’ famed “A Diamond is Forever” for its holiday marketing campaign.

The campaign will relaunch with “new meaning and relevance” to appeal to millennials, a key target audience for Forevermark--De Beers’ diamond jewelry brand--as they are the new generation of consumers who also are of marrying age right now.

The brand said it is developing new television ads, digital communications and in-store materials it aims to have ready for the holiday season.

“We’re doing a lot of work on creating new content for digital, both social media and our new website,” Forevermark CEO Stephen Lussier said. “If you don’t win in that space with the millennials, you won’t get your idea across.”

The announcement came at the Forevermark breakfast held Thursday at the Four Seasons in Las Vegas, with Lussier, Forevermark U.S. CEO Charles Stanley and De Beers Group CEO Philippe Mellier all presenting.

“A Diamond is Forever” was first coined in 1947 by copywriter Frances Gerty, and more than 50 years later was named the best advertising slogan of the 20th century by Advertising Age magazine.

Forevermark said research shows the saying is still relevant to today’s consumers, though its marketing will need to be revamped to appeal to millennials, an extremely informed and social generation.

Promoting the campaign on social media will be key, Stanley told National Jeweler, especially among the Pinterest and Instagram platforms because of their “very visual approach.” A new television commercial also will run on broadcast and cable networks, in addition to print and digital ads and a launch event in New York.

The Forevermark executives noted that aside from reaching millennials on the media they use, the brand needs to communicate why spending money on a diamond--and paying a premium price for a Forevermark diamond--is worth it.

“If you think about millennials and the marketing challenge for Forevermark and the industry, it’s the challenge of the temporary, the ever-changing, the disposable,” Lussier said. “Think of the Apple Watch; how many years until you want the new one, and how much will you get for the old one? It’s a cycle of constant change.

“The other side of this is something with constant value. It’s about enduring. So I think for us

Banner will be right here …

to hold our share in this category, we need the concept of constant--love, and the importance of owning things you don’t need to swap out every four years.”

Another challenge Forevermark faces is the fact that research shows that millennials prefer experiences over materials, e.g., they’d rather spend money on a trip to Europe than a piece of fine jewelry.

Still, Stanley said research shows the inscriptions on Forevermark’s diamonds--showing that each is not only individualized but has met a set of criteria that reach beyond the 4Cs--play to millennials’ desire to have something unique and different to symbolize their love.

“Millennials aren’t anti expressing love, but you can’t quite express love over time without an object. The (slogan) is quite simple … but if you want to inject meaning it, you have to get people to think about what it means,” Lussier said. “It’s not enough simply to bring it back. We need to recharge it and fuse it with the Forevermark promise … we need to make ‘A Diamond is Forever’ fresh for (millennials).”

Hannah Connorton