A diamond was chosen forever as the advertising slogan of the 20th century. Its simplicity is perfect. On the one hand, this helped DeBeers to increase sales, on the other hand, so that buyers of diamonds were not interested in selling them, but in keeping them forever and reducing the diamond market. In the 1930s, the U.S. engagement ring market was in decline until DeBeers launched campaigns with their advertising agency NW Ayer in 1938.
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While young women were interested in things like the house, the washing machine or the car, buying a diamond was like throwing money away. Advertising agency NW Ayer was tasked with changing this by focusing on the marital component.
Since 1938, the press has continued to tell us about the characteristics of diamonds (cut, color and size) donated by royalty, millionaires, politicians and Hollywood actors. In addition, advertisements for "A Diamond Forever", the slogan of this agency by Francis Gereti in 1947, are shown. They were signed by little DeBeers, although until recently DeBeers cared little for their brand to be known, and what mattered to them was that there was a demand for diamonds.
In addition, advertisements appeared in which diamonds were compared to works of art by Dali or Picasso. Beginning in the 1950s, jewelry began to be loaned to participants in the Kentucky Derby and Hollywood Oscars. By 1951, sales were up 55%.
Do we remember how in 1957 DeBeers agreed with the Soviet Union to buy
all of their products, which were also smaller? Demand was fueled by the
reduction in the size of the diamonds shown in advertisements from one carat to
a quarter of a carat, and by the invention of the ring of eternity, combining
several small diamonds.
In the 1980s, an arbitrary rule was invented to encourage demand,
requiring a man to spend two months' salary on his bride's ring, which is often
considered a hard and fast rule. Already in the early 2000s, advertising began
to target single and even married women, showing how you can buy diamonds for
yourself.
It is estimated that in the United States in 1951, eight out of ten
women who got married received one or more diamonds as a gift. Today it is
about 75%. The US engagement ring market in 2012 was $ 7 billion.
The United States was not the only realm where DeBeers tried to increase
demand for diamonds, but since the mid-1960s it launched campaigns in countries
such as Japan, Brazil, and Germany. Japan may have been one of the countries
where it has been most successful in popularizing diamonds, showing them as
part of the West's success in modernizing the country. On the other hand, it
has not been as successful in markets like Brazil, Germany, Austria or Italy.
In recent years, DeBeers has started launching its own jewelry using its
brand that has been associated with the name of the diamond for decades, many
of these DeBeers jewelers are based in China, which in 2009 overtook Japan as
the second largest importer of diamonds.