Embark On a Journey with DTC

The Diamond Trading Company (DTC), the marketing arm of De Beers, is set to launch their latest diamond promotion - journey diamond jewelry. According to the DTC's definition, journey diamond jewelry is a piece of jewelry containing at least four diamonds of different sizes, arranged in a graduated pattern from smallest to largest, with at least one stone of significant size.

The DTC is promoting journey diamond jewelry especially for bracelets, necklaces and earrings. Diamond rings are not included in the campaign, designed by the JWT advertising agency, in order to distinguish the concept from the DTC's other campaigns, including past present future, diamond right hand ring, and 'I forever do'.

The journey message symbolizes how a couple's love grows stronger and more intense over time – their unique journey. “From the launch of past present future, JWT saw that by infusing a compelling emotional story into an existing product category we can spark tremendous and rapid market growth,” said Richard Lennox, director-in-charge of the Diamond Marketing and Advertising Group at JWT.  “JWT will use this same model for the launch of journey diamond jewelry and will work with and encourage the trade to create innovative designs that resonate with consumers and drive sales.”

Though the main journey campaign will not be launched until September 2006, with a national print and television advertising campaign, the journey message is already being promoted. The Diamond Information Center (DIC) began endorsing it as the latest trend in diamond jewelry during its holiday media tour in late 2005. Plans are also in development to seed a variety of journey pieces during the Oscars in May and during the DIC's annual holiday event in July. The journey message will also be integrated into all public activities throughout the year.

In addition, advertising, marketing and educational materials will be available to retailers during the Las Vegas JCK Show and on the Diamond Promotion Center's (DPS) website www.DPS.org from mid-2006.

In conjunction with A.C. Nielsen, a leading international research firm, DPS has developed DesignMax, an evaluation program that puts consumers at the heart of product development.  When consumers validate designs before production, manufacturer and retailer investment can be optimized. 

DesignMax allows manufacturers to rate a set of styles against each other and also to compare these design scores to the industry average.  DPS is offering the DesignMax facility to the first 40 manufacturers who sign up at its web site.