Is a diamond still forever?
When does one of the world’s most famous, most iconic, and most successful marketing campaigns “wear out”?
“A Diamond Is Forever” launched in 1948 by De Beers, and it helped the diamond engagement ring become a default part of betrothal. It’s so ubiquitous it feels more like a colloquialism than an ad campaign.
But in the past decade, lab diamonds have become plentiful, beautiful, and affordable. By one estimate, lab diamonds are now nearly 47% of all loose diamonds sold in the US.
That’s only about 20% of dollar share and 20% of engagement rings, but it has De Beers trying out a new campaign:
“Worth the Wait”. Because it sometimes feels like finding your True Love takes a couple billion years too.
This is a fascinating study of two things:
Campaign wear-out.
Product positioning.
On WEAR-OUT: most brands pull campaigns waaaaaay too soon. This is a great example of a campaign that’s had enough time to WEAR IN — which you should worry about a lot more.
De Beers should run “Worth the Wait” for a while, but keep “A Diamond Is Forever”. Kinda like “Winning Isn’t for Everyone” was Nike’s Paris Olympics campaign, but “Just Do It” is, uh, forever.
On POSITIONING: De Beers wants to make mined diamonds seem better:
💎 “Natural” vs. synthetic / artificial / manmade
💎 “Real” vs fake
💎 “Rare” vs common
💎 “Exclusive” vs everywhere
💎 “Special” vs ordinary
💎 “Ancient” vs new
💎 “Grown” vs fabricated / manufactured
💎 “Valuable” vs cheap
A diamond has ALWAYS conferred more symbolic value than inherent value. (They’re not _that_ rare or special.)
It’s a great example of what us biologists call “costly signaling”: a gift for your One True Love is SUPPOSED to cost 3 month’s salary (or whatever). It proves you really care.
Will “Worth the Wait” stick? Time will tell….
Now to some lessons:
1. You should be so lucky to have a campaign older than most grandparents.
2. Worry more about wear-IN than wear-OUT
3. Positioning is sometimes more about the SYMBOLIC value of a thing than its utility.
4. Expensiveness is itself part of the value of things that are supposed to be meaningful.